Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham Hotspur

File:Tottenham Hotspur Badge.png
Full name	Tottenham Hotspur Football Club
Nickname(s)	Spurs, Lilywhites
Founded	1882 as Hotspur F.C.
Ground	White Hart Lane Tottenham London N17 0AP England
Capacity	36,240
Chairman	Daniel Levy
Manager	Martin Jol
League	Premier League
2006–07	Premier League, 5th
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is an English professional football club which plays in the Premier League.

The club is also commonly referred to simply as Tottenham or Spurs, while their own fans also refer to them as the Lilywhites, because of their traditional white shirts. Its home ground is White Hart Lane, Tottenham, in the London Borough of Haringey.

Tottenham were the first club in the 20th century to achieve the League and FA Cup Double, winning both competitions in the 1960-61 season. In 1963, Spurs became the first British club to win a European trophy - the European Cup Winners' Cup.

The club's motto is Audere est Facere (lit: "To Dare is To Do"), and its emblem is a cockerel standing upon a football. The club has a long-standing rivalry with near neighbours Arsenal and matches between the two teams are known as the North London derby.

History

From formation to the first league title

In 1882 the Hotspur Football Club was formed by grammar school boys from the bible class at All Hallows Church. They were also members of Hotspur Cricket Club and it is thought that the name Hotspur was associated with Sir Henry Percy (Sir Harry Hotspur) who lived locally in the 14th century. The team later became Tottenham Hotspur to distinguish itself from another team called London Hotspur.

At first Spurs played in navy blue shirts. The club colours then varied from light blue and white halved jerseys, to red shirts and blue shorts, through chocolate brown and old gold and then finally, in the 1899-00 season, to white shirts and navy blue shorts as a tribute to Preston North End, the most successful team of the time.

In 1888 Tottenham moved their home fixtures from the River Lee marshes to Northumberland Park where the club was able to charge for spectator admission. They turned professional just before Christmas 1895 and were then admitted to the Southern League and attracted crowds nearing 15,000. Charles Roberts became chairman in 1898 and stayed in post until 1944.

In 1899 Spurs made their final ground move to a former market garden in nearby High Road, Tottenham. In time the ground became known as White Hart Lane, a local thoroughfare. Tottenham were the considerable beneficiaries of the escalating unionisation of the northern professional game in the 1890s. Both John Cameron and John Bell, formerly Everton players came to play for Tottenham as a result of the conflict caused by their organisation of the Association Footballers' Union, a forerunner of the Professional Footballers' Association. As a direct result of this in 1900, Tottenham won the Southern League title and crowned this achievement the next year by winning the FA Cup - becoming the only non-League club to do so since the formation of the Football League.

Tottenham won election to the Second Division of the Football League for the 1908-09 season, immediately winning promotion as runners-up to the First Division. Their record between 1910 and the Great War was poor and when football was suspended at the end of the 1914-15 season, Tottenham were bottom of the league.

When football resumed in 1919, the First Division was expanded from 20 to 22 teams. The Football League extended one of the additional places to 19th-place Chelsea (who would have been relegated with Spurs for the 1915-1916 season) and the other to Arsenal. This promotion - Arsenal had finished only fifth in Division 2 the previous season - was controversial, and cemented a bitter rivaly (begun six years earlier, with Arsenal's relocation to Tottenham's hinterland) that continues to this day. Tottenham were Division Two Champions in 1919-20 and in the following year, on April 23 1921, Spurs went all the way to their second FA Cup Final victory beating Wolves 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.

After finishing second to Liverpool in the League in 1922, Spurs experienced a steady decline, culminating in 1928's relegation. Spurs were unable to advance beyond the quarter finals of the FA Cup, getting that far three years running 1935-1938. On September 3 1939, as Neville Chamberlain declared war, Spurs were seventh in the Second Division. League Football was abandoned for the "duration".

Following the war, football was an extremely popular interest attracting thousands of supporters each week-end. By 1949 Arthur Rowe was manager at the club and developed the “push and run” tactical style of play. This involved quickly laying the ball off to a team-mate and running past the marking tackler to collect the return pass. It proved an effective way to move the ball at pace with players' positions and responsibility being totally fluid. Rising to the top of the Second Division, Tottenham ran away with their first ever league title, winning the First Division Championship in 1951. Playing heroes included Alf Ramsey, Ronnie Burgess, Ted Ditchburn, Len Duquemin, Sonny Walters and Bill Nicholson.

The 1960s and 1970s

File:Shirtbadge2.png

Spurs shirt badge from 1967-1983

Nicholson had joined Tottenham Hotspur as an apprentice in 1936. The following 68 years saw him serve the club in every capacity from boot room to president. In his first game as manager on 11 October 1958, Spurs beat Everton 10-4. This was their record win at the time and a sign of things to come. He subsequently guided Tottenham to major trophy success three seasons in a row in the early 1960s: the double in 1961, the FA Cup and European Cup Semi-final in 1962, and the Cup Winners' Cup in 1963. Key players included Danny Blanchflower, John White, Dave Mackay, Cliff Jones and Jimmy Greaves.

After 1964, the "Double" side began to disintegrate due to age, injuries and transfers. Nicholson rebuilt a second successful team with imports like Alan Gilzean, Mike England, Alan Mullery, Terry Venables, Joe Kinnear and Cyril Knowles. They beat Chelsea to win the 1967 FA Cup Final and finished third in the league.

Nicholson added the League Cup (1971 and 1973) and the UEFA Cup (1972) to Tottenham's illustrious history before he resigned at the start of the 1974-75 season due to both a poor start, and his disgust at seeing rioting fans in Rotterdam in a UEFA Cup final, which Spurs lost.

Nicholson had won 8 major trophies in 16 years and his spell in charge was without doubt the most glorious period in the club's history. However, what he left behind was an ageing squad and Spurs could no longer claim to be a true force in English football. Nicholson wished to select his replacement and lined up a 'dream team' of Johnny Giles and Danny Blanchflower to take over, but the Spurs board ignored his advice and appointed ex Arsenal player Terry Neill, who narrowly avoided relegation at the end of 1974-5. Never accepted by the fans, Neill left the club in 1976 and was replaced by his assistant Keith Burkinshaw that summer.

Tottenham slipped out of the First Division at the end of the 1976-77 season, after 27 years in the top flight. This was soon followed by the unwise sale of their Northern Ireland international goalkeeper Pat Jennings to arch rivals Arsenal, a move that shocked the club's fans and proved to be a serious error. Jennings played on for another eight years for Spurs' rivals, while Tottenham took until 1981 to replace him with a goalkeeper of genuine class in Ray Clemence from Liverpool.

Despite relegation, the board kept faith with Burkinshaw and the team immediately won promotion to the top flight. In the summer of 1978 Burkinshaw rocked the football world by signing two Argentinian World Cup stars Osvaldo Ardiles and Ricardo Villa which was the kind of transfer coup never seen before in British football. But it took time for a new team to be forged into a successful unit.

The 1980s

It was not until 1981 that Burkinshaw was rewarded with a trophy - the FA Cup - by beating Manchester City 3-2 in a replay, with Ricky Villa scoring his memorable solo goal. Spurs retained the trophy the following year again after another replay, beating QPR. During this season the club chased four trophies and only a fixture pile up prevented a much closer challenge for the league title. At Easter, Spurs had games in hand which, if they had won, would have put them top ahead of Liverpool. But it was too much to ask and they had to settle for a fourth place finish.

Spurs reached the League Cup Final and were just 3 minutes away from victory before Liverpool equalised and then won in extra time. In the Cup Winners' Cup a disappointing semi-final with Barcelona was lost by a single goal in Spain, following a 1-1 draw at home.

Most neutrals agreed though Spurs deserved a trophy and, while the Cup Final was not the most exciting (Spurs were in fact holding on for the entire second half), it was a just reward. Key players in this successful Tottenham side included Steve Archibald, Garth Crooks, Glenn Hoddle, Osvaldo Ardiles, and Steve Perryman who, in 17 seasons, played 655 league games for Spurs. These players inspired Tottenham to UEFA Cup glory in 1984, but several weeks before this victory Burkinshaw announced he would be leaving at the end of that season. Hindsight shows that the failure to hold on to Burkinshaw was a major turning point in the club's history. He had won three trophies in four seasons with a brand of football not seen for many years. It is worth considering that prior to the 1984 UEFA Cup win, Spurs had won eleven major trophies - virtually one trophy every two seasons. This remains a prime reason why many still regard Spurs as a major club and why success is still expected by the fans.

The board initially approached Aberdeen manager Alex Ferguson to succeed Burkinshaw and a deal came close to being signed, but when he opted to stay in Scotland the board turned to Burkinshaw's assistant, Peter Shreeves.

In 1982 the club was bought by Monte Carlo-based property tycoon Irving Scholar. He arrived in a boardroom which had seen just one or two proficient directors since the forties. The challenge for Scholar was to reinstate financial stability after the construction of the new West Stand which had almost bankrupted the club. Peter Shreeves was in charge for two seasons, achieving a third place finish in 1984-85 when Spurs were close contenders for the title all the way until Easter when a run of terrible home results ruined their chances. Shreeves lost his job after a slump in 1985-86.

Luton Town manager David Pleat was appointed the new manager, and for much of 1986-87 it looked as though it would be a very successful season. Playing with a five man midfield (Hoddle, Ardiles, Hodge, Allen, Waddle) supplying the prolific Clive Allen, Tottenham mounted a sustained challenge on all fronts. At one point in March, if they had won their remaining 13 matches, they would have claimed all domestic honours. As it was, they were defeated in an agonising League Cup semi final by rivals Arsenal. After faltering at the final hurdle in the league, Spurs' hopes hinged on the FA Cup. Spurs had never before lost a domestic cup final while their opponents, Coventry, had never before even reached a Cup Final. Spurs were the favourites but suffered a 3-2 defeat at the hands of John Sillett's team. That a season of such splendid quality could produce no honours was hard to take for Spurs, but the future still looked bright.

However, as was to become a pattern in years to come, just when things appeared settled a 'banana skin' appeared. Pleat quit in October 1987 following allegations about his private life. He returned a decade later, but his short spell in charge was one of the great 'if only' stories in the club's history. Former Spurs player Terry Venables was named Pleat's successor, and after two league seasons, guided the club to third place in 1989-90 and an FA Cup win in 1991. The new-look Tottenham team included two players who starred in England's run to the semi-finals of the 1990 FIFA World Cup – Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker.

Premier League

In 1990, a slump in the property market left chairman Scholar on the verge of bankruptcy. Venables joined forces with businessman Alan Sugar to take over Tottenham Hotspur PLC and pay off its £20 million debt, part of which involved the sale of Gascoigne. Venables became chief executive, with Shreeves again taking charge of first-team duties. His second spell as team manager lasted just one season, before he was dismissed in favour of joint coaches Ray Clemence and Doug Livermore. Tottenham's first Premier League season ended with a mid-table finish and Venables was removed from the club's board after a legal dispute with Sugar. Ossie Ardiles became the club's next manager in 1993.

Under Ardiles, Tottenham employed the Famous Five: Teddy Sheringham and Klinsmann up front, Nick Barmby just behind, Darren Anderton on the right and Dumitrescu on the left. Klinsmann was a sensation, scoring freely and becoming a firm fan favourite. Ultimately these expensive signings made little difference to Tottenham's form and Ardiles was sacked in September 1994.

During the 1994 close season, Tottenham was found guilty of making illegal payments to players and given one of the most severe punishments in English football history: a 12 point deduction, a one year FA Cup ban, and a £600,000 fine. Sugar protested and the Cup ban and points deduction were quashed.

Ardiles was replaced by Gerry Francis. He initially turned around the club's fortunes dramatically. Tottenham climbed to seventh in the league, and reached the FA Cup semi-finals, a mere 4-1 defeat against eventual winners, Everton, blocking them. Francis was unable to take the club forward from this point and his judgement in the transfer market was flawed.

1996-97 saw Tottenham finish in tenth place, and at the end of the season star striker Teddy Sheringham was sold to Manchester United after contract negotiations broke down. In November 1997, with Spurs second from bottom and in danger of relegation, Francis was sacked. Christian Gross, coach of Swiss champions Grasshoppers, was appointed. He failed to turn around the club's fortunes, however, and the team battled against the drop for the remainder of the campaign. Legendary striker Jürgen Klinsmann was re-signed in January, but initially failed to recreate the form of his first spell at the club. Four goals in a 6-2 win away to Wimbledon in the penultimate game of the season was, however, enough to secure survival.

Gross was sacked just three games into the following season, and George Graham was soon hired to take over. Despite heavy criticism from fans due to Graham's previous association with Arsenal, in his first season as Spurs manager the club secured a mid-table finish and won the League Cup. In the final against Leicester City at Wembley, full-back Justin Edinburgh was sent off after an altercation with Robbie Savage on the hour mark, but Spurs secured a dramatic victory through Allan Nielsen's diving header in the 93rd minute of the game. Spurs also reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, where they were beaten 2-0 by Newcastle after extra-time, after the referee had not given Spurs a definite penalty for handball in normal time. To cap a good season, star player David Ginola won both the PFA and Football Writers' Player of the Year awards.

However, another disappointing league finish followed in 1999-00. In 2001, Sugar's patience broke. He sold his controlling interest to ENIC Sports PLC, run by Daniel Levy.

Team management passed to Tottenham legend Glenn Hoddle who took over in April 2001 with the team lying thirteenth in the table. His first game saw defeat to Arsenal in an FA Cup semi-final. The club captain, Sol Campbell, defected to Arsenal on a Bosman free transfer that summer.

Hoddle turned to more experienced players in the shape of Teddy Sheringham, Gus Poyet and Christian Ziege for inspiration, and Spurs played some good football in the opening months of his management. Season 2001-02 saw Spurs finish in ninth place, as well as reaching the League Cup final, where they lost to Blackburn Rovers, having been the favourites after their 5-1 demolition of Chelsea in the previous round.

The only significant outlay prior to the following campaign was £7 million for Robbie Keane, who joined from Leeds United. 2002-03 started well, with Tottenham in the top six as late as early February. But with just seven points in the final 10 games, the club finished in tenth place. Several players publicly criticised Hoddle's management and communication skills. Six games into the 2003-04 season, Hoddle was sacked and David Pleat took over on a caretaker basis until a full-time successor could be found.

Robbie Keane prepares to take a penalty kick at White Hart Lane

In May 2004, Tottenham signed French team manager Jacques Santini as head coach, with Martin Jol as his assistant and Frank Arnesen as Sporting Director. Santini quit the club in bizarre circumstances after just 13 games. He was replaced by Jol. The big Dutchman became a favourite with the passionate Spurs crowd and in his first season he almost managed to secure a European place. In the event, Spurs missed out on the final day of the season, and finished in ninth place. It was clear progress was being made. When Arnesen defected to Chelsea, Spurs appointed Damien Comolli as Sporting Director.

During 2005-06 Spurs spent six months in fourth place but ended fifth. Going into the final game of the season, they led rivals Arsenal by a point, but were forced to play their match at West Ham with a team suffering from an illness picked up the evening before. Spurs lost and were pipped to a Champions League place, but it was success nevertheless in gaining a place in the UEFA Cup.

Season 2006-07

For the 2006-2007 season, Tottenham changed kit sponsors to Puma and shirt advertisers to Mansion. Spurs home shirt saw the removal of the blue shoulders, with the away kit changing from cyan shorts to navy shorts, and the alternate kit changing from yellow to chocolate brown. Spurs wore an 'all-white' kit where possible for European fixtures, continuing a long-standing tradition. A notable signing was Dimitar Berbatov from Bayer Leverkusen.

The season began with Jol losing holding midfielder Michael Carrick to Manchester United and club captain Ledley King to injury for the best part of the season. The acquisition of Pascal Chimbonda, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Didier Zokora, Berbatov and Steed Malbranque essentially meant a new side had to gel.

2006-07 was marred by injuries, particularly in defensive areas with Ledley King, Paul Stalteri, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Young-Pyo Lee, Anthony Gardner, Jermaine Jenas, Steed Malbranque and Teemu Tainio all suffering long-term injuries while Didier Zokora, Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane and Aaron Lennon all suffered injuries causing Jol to rarely have a settled XI to pick for a extended periods.

Premiership form in the first half of the season was erratic, although there was a rare home win over reigning-champions Chelsea in November. Away form was poor during the first half of the season but saw a vast improvement in the second half with just two away losses from January to the end of the season and just one defeat in their final six away games, against Chelsea just 36 hours after playing a UEFA Cup tie in Spain.

The improvement in Spurs' away form, good home performances and an excellent late season lifted Spurs into fifth position in the final table and therefore into the UEFA Cup for the second year running. Tottenham show definite signs of attractive and effective football as Martin Jol makes his mark on the squad. Spurs reached the FA Cup quarter-final round but lost to Chelsea 1-2 having drawn 3-3 away. The League Cup run took them to the semi-finals, where they faced Arsenal. The home leg ended 2-2, but hopes of glory ended in the away leg losing 3-1 in extra time. In the UEFA Cup, Tottenham progressed to the quarter-finals, where they faced the cup holders and eventual winners Sevilla in the quarter finals, and were eliminated from the competition 4-3 on aggregate (2-1 away and 2-2 at home).

The highly effective Berbatov-Keane strike partnership was rewarded when they were named joint Player of the Month for April, a rare occurrence in the history of the award.

Season 2007-08

Tottenham completed their first signing prior to the 2007-08 season buying the highly-rated 17 year old left back Gareth Bale from Southampton for an initial fee of £5 million which may rise to £10 million, depending on his and the team's performances. Robbie Keane was rewarded on May 28 2007 with a new five year contract with the club until 2012. Spurs also completed the signing of Adel Taarabt on a permanent basis following his loan from RC Lens. The fee was undisclosed. On 8 June Spurs signed defender Yuri Berchiche from Athletic Bilbao, who will be part of the Spurs Academy. On June 29, Spurs signed England forward Darren Bent, from Charlton Athletic, for the reported fee of £16.5 million (a club record) to be paid over a period of three years. Another major signing was French central defender and Under-21 captain Younes Kaboul from AJ Auxerre for a fee believed to be about £8 million. On 25 July Spurs announced the signing of 17 year old midfielder Danny Rose from Leeds United. German midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng joined from Hertha BSC Berlin on 31 July, 2007 for an undisclosed fee.

For this season, Tottenham will be playing in an all-white kit for the first time since the 1980s, as opposed to having navy blue shorts. The away kit is all navy blue, while the third kit is all yellow. There is also a shirt to celebrate the club's 125th anniversary, which is white and sky blue halves, and this will be worn for one game.

Regardless of their ambitious off-season transfers their season started slowly with an away defeat to Sunderland A.F.C. followed by a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Everton F.C. Despite this they finished the first week of the season by beating Derby County F.C. 4-0. They then lost 1-0 to Manchester United F.C.

Stadium

Tottenham Marshes

Tottenham played their first matches at Tottenham Marshes on the available public pitches and remained there for six years. It was at this ground that Spurs first played arch rivals Arsenal (then known as Woolwich Arsenal). Spurs were winning 2-1 until the match got called off due to poor light after the away team arrived late. There were occasions on which fights which broke out on the marshes, in dispute of the teams that were allowed to use the best pitches. Crowds were increasing and a new site was needed to accommodate these supporters.

Northumberland Park

In 1898 the club moved from the marshes to Northumberland Park and charged an admission fee of 3d. They only remained at this ground for a year as in April 1899 14,000 fans turned up to watch Spurs play Woolwich Arsenal. The ground was no longer able to cope with the larger crowds and Tottenham Hotspur were forced to move to a new larger site. They moved 100 yards down the road to their current ground.

White Hart Lane

Main article: White Hart Lane

White Hart Lane was originally a disused nursery owned by the brewery, Charringtons, and located behind a public house. The landlord realised the increased revenues he could enjoy if Tottenham played their matches behind his pub and the club moved in. They brought with them the terrace they used at Northumberland Park which gave shelter to 2,500 fans. Notts County were the first visitors to 'the Lane' in a friendly watched by 5,000 people and bringing in £115 in receipts, Spurs won 4-1. QPR became the first competitive visitors to the ground and 11,000 people saw them lose 1-0 to Tottenham.

In 1905 Tottenham raised enough money to buy the freehold to the land and became the permanent owners of the ground. As the club grew new stands were added. A new main stand was added in 1909, the East stand was also covered this year and extended further two years later. The profits from the 1921 FA Cup win were used to build a covered terrace at the Paxton Road end and the Park Lane end was built at a cost of over £3,000 some two years later. This increased the WHL capacity to around 58,000 with room for 40,000 under cover. The East Stand development was finishing in 1934 which increased the capacity to around 80,000 spectators and cost £60,000. The pitch was renovated in 1952 which uncovered a number of items from the old nursery on the site and one year later the first floodlights were introduced. These lights were upgraded in 1957 which required the cockerel to be moved from the West Stand to the East and then in 1961 floodlight pylons were installed.

The West Stand was replaced by an expensive (and far behind schedule) new structure and the stadium started its long modernisation process. Various developments and upgrades were implemented over the years and in 1992 the lower terraces of the south and east stand were converted to seating and the whole of the North stand followed to become all-seater the following season. The South Stand re-development was completed in March 1995 and included the first giant Sony Jumbotron TV screen for live game coverage and away match screenings. The capacity of the stadium increased to just over 33,000. In 1997/98 season the Paxton Road stand had a new upper tier added which included the second Jumbotron screen and increased capacity to 36,240 and was funded by a rights issue in 1996.

Future plans

Tottenham are known to be looking at improving the capacity of their stadium but no decisions have yet been taken on whether this would involve redeveloping White Hart Lane or a move elsewhere. ENIC have made it clear that they would first concentrate on building the first team squad and Academy before concentrating on the stadium. It was rumoured that Tottenham will leave WHL due to the poor infrastructure and transport links in the area. This appears to be the primary reason no redevelopment has occurred since 1997/98.

Crest

File:Tottenham Hotspur Badge.png

Club emblem 2006 - Present

File:Tottenham Hotspur crest.png

Spurs badge 1983-2006

Since the 1901 FA Cup final the Tottenham Hotspur crest has featured a cockerel. Harry Hotspur (from whom the club is said to take its name) was famed for his riding spurs and fighting cocks were fitted with spurs which can be seen in the crests. In 1909 a former player named William James Scott made a bronze cast of a cockerel standing on a football to be placed on top of the West Stand and since then the cockerel and ball have been the major part of the club's identity.

Between 1956 and 2006 the Spurs used a coat of arms featuring a number of landmarks and associations linked to local area. The lions flanking the shield came from the Northumberland family's arms. They owned large areas of Tottenham and Sir Henry Percy (Harry Hotspur) was a family member. The castle alludes to Bruce Castle located 400 yards from the ground and which now houses a museum. The trees are those of Seven Sisters which were planted at Page Green by the Seven Sisters of Tottenham and after whom a railway/tube station and main road are named. The arms featured the Latin motto "Audere Est Facere".

In 1983 to overcome unauthorised "pirate" merchandising the club's badge was altered by adding the two red lions as heraldic and the motto scroll. This device appeared on most Spurs' playing kits for the next 23 years.

To rebrand and modernise the club's image, in 2006 both this club badge and the coat of arms gave way to a professionally-designed logo/emblem. This revamp features a leaner/fitter cockerel and an old-time football together with the club name. The club claims that the rebranding kept much of the original meaning of the name, and emphasized its originality.

Kit

1883-84: First kit.

1884-86, and 125th anniversary replica kit in 2007-08.

1890-96.

1896-98.

The first proper Tottenham kit was a navy blue shirt and shorts after the first season did not have a specific design. In 1884 the club changed to a kit like that of Blackburn Rovers, whom the team saw win their second consecutive FA cup final after cancelling their last fixture of the season. Shortly after moving to Northumberland Road the kit changed to red shirt and blue shorts. Five years later after becoming a professional club they switched to a chocolate and gold kit (colours which made a re-appearance as the 2006-2007 third choice/UEFA Cup away kit). At the end of the 19th century the club switched colours again to the white shirts and blue shorts for which they are now well known for wearing, hence the nickname "Lilywhites". This colour choice is thought to be in homage to Preston North End who had recently done "The Double".

Tottenham's kit colours have remained ever since, although differing amounts of blue have been added and removed in the shirt's design. Some time after the First World War the cockerel motif was added to the shirt. In 1939 numbers first appeared on shirt backs and Holsten became the first sponsor on a Spurs shirt in 1983. When Thomson was chosen as kit sponsor in 2002 there was an minor outcry from Tottenham fans as the logo on the front was red, the colour their closest rivals, Arsenal. At present the impressive income from another red logo'd sponsor, Mansion, attracted almost zero comment.

Kit manufacturers

• 1978-1980: Admiral
• 1980-1985: Le Coq Sportif
• 1985-1991: Hummel
• 1991-1995: Umbro
• 1995-1999: Pony
• 1999-2002: Adidas
• 2002-2006: Kappa
• 2006-: Puma

Shirt sponsors

• 1882-1983: No sponsor
• 1983-1995: Holsten
• 1995-1999: Hewlett Packard
• 1999-2002: Holsten
• 2002-2006: Thomson Holidays
• 2006-: Mansion

Ownership

Since 2001 the key shareholder has been ENIC, an investment company established by the British billionaire Joseph Lewis. Daniel Levy, Lewis's partner at ENIC, is Executive Chairman of the club. In June 2007 ENIC International increased its holding to 66% by purchasing former chairman Alan Sugar's remaining 12% holding. It is widely believed by fans, players and management, that Levy has played a significant part in the club's turnaround, not least through the acquisition of players and of current Head Coach, Martin Jol. Stelios Haji-Ioannou has 9 per cent through Hodram Inc.

Social responsibility

Spurs are in the forefront among British football clubs in developing social and community programmes. The Tottenham Hotspur Foundation is unique amongst Premiership clubs and received the highest level of political support when it was launched. In recent years Tottenham has contributed over forty times more to charity than the next largest Premier League donor. In March 2007 the Club announced a partnership with the charity SOS Children's Villages UK. Player fines will go towards this charity’s children’s village in Rustenburg, South Africa with the funds being used to cover the running costs as well as in support of a variety of community development projects in and around Rustenburg.

Tottenham Hotspur ladies

Tottenham's ladies team was founded in 1985 as Broxbourne Ladies. They started using the Tottenham Hotspur name for the 1991/1992 season and play in the South-East & London Regional Women's League (the fourth tier of the game). The U12s won the London FA Youth Cup in 2007

Support

Tottenham have one of the largest fanbases in Britain, drawn largely from North London and the Home Counties, with home matches traditionally attracting high attendances in the thousands. In several seasons during the 1950s and 1960s, Tottenham had the highest average attendance in England. In the 2005-06 season, Tottenham has the third largest average attendance in London.

Away games

It has been a tradition for a number of years now that when playing away from home, the Spurs captain will switch ends if he wins the pre-game coin toss. For example if a Spurs captain won the toss at Anfield he would make Liverpool attack "The Kop" in the first half and his own team would attack that end in the second. It is unknown what may have started this "tradition".

"Yid Army"

The club has a large Jewish following and in the past this led to much provocation against Tottenham supporters of an anti-semitic nature. Away supporters would regularly chant “We’ve got to get rid of the Yids” or sing “Spurs are on their way to Auschwitz”.

Tottenham supporters, Jewish and gentile, united against this and adopted for themselves the name Yids, developing chants such as "Yiddos!","Yid Army!" and "Who Let The Yids Out, Who, Who, Who". This helped make sure that in the 1970s and 1980s, White Hart Lane was the only major football stadium in London where neo-nazis could not campaign openly. And adopting “Yid” as a badge of pride has helped defuse its power as an insult.

Some Tottenham supporters use the term with a political consciousness of the club as a bastion against racism and anti-semitism. For the overwhelming majority of Tottenham supporters, the term “Yid” or “Yiddo” is used with pride and as an occasionally ironical term of endearment. It is also used by Tottenham supporters in bonding and to distinguish themselves from other football supporters.

But the practice remains controversial and some argue that it is itself anti-semitic, or that the word “Yid” is offensive in any context, or that its adoption by Tottenham Hotspur supporters simply prolongs use of the term by others and justifies anti-semitic chanting.

A meeting took place on 19 March 2007, and was attended by representatives of the "Kick It Out" campaign, the club, its supporters' trust, the Community Security Trust, a Jewish community organisation, the Football Association, and the Premier League to discuss the use of the word "Yid" inside White Hart Lane stadium.

A similar situation exists as regards fans of Ajax, a team from Amsterdam.

See also: Jewish ethnonyms

Rivals

Tottenham have a rivalry with nearby Arsenal. Games between the two teams are called the North London derby.

Other local derbies include games against Chelsea, Fulham, and West Ham United.

Honours

Domestic Leagues

• Football League First Division / Premier League 2
  • 1950-51, 1960-61
• Football League Second Division 2
  • 1919-20, 1949-50
• Southern League 1
  • 1899-1900
• Western League 1
  • 1903-04
• Football League North and South 2
  • 1943-44, 1944-45

Domestic Cups

• FA Cup 8
  • 1901, 1921, 1961, 1962, 1967, 1981, 1982, 1991
• Football League Cup 3
  • 1971, 1973, 1999
• FA Community Shield 7
  • 1920-21, 1951-52, 1961-62, 1962-63, 1967-68, 1981-82, 1991-92

European Cups

• UEFA Cup 2
  • 1972, 1984
• European Cup Winners' Cup 1
  • 1963
• Anglo-Italian League Cup 1
  • 1972

Pre Season Tournaments

• Kirin Cup 1
  • 1979
• Peace Cup 1
  • 2005
• Vodacom Challenge 1
  • 2007

For honours at youth level, see Tottenham Hotspur F.C. reserve and academy squads

Statistics and records

Main article: Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Statistics

Players

Current squad

Players in bold have international caps. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	ENG	Paul Robinson
2	DF	FRA	Pascal Chimbonda
3	DF	KOR	Lee Young-Pyo
4	MF	CIV	Didier Zokora
5	DF	FRA	Younes Kaboul
6	MF	FIN	Teemu Tainio
7	DF	CAN	Paul Stalteri
8	MF	ENG	Jermaine Jenas
9	FW	BUL	Dimitar Berbatov
10	FW	IRL	Robbie Keane (Vice-captain)
12	GK	CZE	Radek Černý (on loan from SK Slavia Praha)
14	MF	EGY	Hossam Ghaly
15	MF	FRA	Steed Malbranque
16	DF	WAL	Gareth Bale
17	MF	GER	Kevin-Prince Boateng
18	FW	ENG	Jermain Defoe

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
19	MF	FRA	Adel Taarabt
20	DF	ENG	Michael Dawson
21	MF	ENG	Wayne Routledge
22	MF	ENG	Tom Huddlestone
23	FW	ENG	Darren Bent
25	MF	ENG	Aaron Lennon
26	DF	ENG	Ledley King (captain)
27	GK	ENG	Ben Alnwick
29	DF	ENG	Philip Ifil
30	DF	ENG	Anthony Gardner
32	DF	CMR	Benoît Assou-Ekotto
33	DF	POR	Ricardo Rocha
34	FW	ENG	Andy Barcham
35	DF	FRA	Dorian Dervitte
36	FW	ENG	Simon Dawkins
37	MF	ENG	Danny Rose

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
24	MF	ENG	Jamie O'Hara (on loan to Millwall until September 2007)
28	FW	ENG	Lee Barnard (on loan to Crewe Alexandra until January 2008)

For reserve and academy players, see Tottenham Hotspur F.C. reserve and academy squads.

Management

• Director of Football: Damien Comolli
• Head Coach: Martin Jol
• First Team Coach: Chris Hughton
• Development Coach: Clive Allen
• Goalkeeping Coach: Hans Segers
• Director of Goalkeeping Development: Pat Jennings
• Youth Coach: Alex Inglethorpe
• Skills Coach: Ricardo Moniz

Managers and head coaches

Listed according to when they became managers for Tottenham Hotspur:

1898 Frank Brettell 1899 John Cameron 1907 Fred Kirkham 1912 Peter McWilliams 1927 Billy Minter 1930 Percy Smith 1935 Wally Hardinge (caretaker) 1935 Jack Tresadern 1938 Peter McWilliams 1942 Arthur Turner 1946 Joe Hulme 1949 Arthur Rowe 1955 Jimmy Anderson 1958 Bill Nicholson 1974 Terry Neill 1976 Keith Burkinshaw 1984 Peter Shreeves

1986 David Pleat 1987 Trevor Hartley and Doug Livermore (caretakers) 1987 Terry Venables 1991 Peter Shreeves 1992 Doug Livermore and Ray Clemence 1993 Osvaldo Ardiles 1994 Steve Perryman (caretaker) 1994 Gerry Francis 1997 Chris Hughton (caretaker) 1997 Christian Gross 1998 David Pleat (caretaker) 1998 George Graham 2001 David Pleat (caretaker) 2001 Glenn Hoddle 2003 David Pleat (caretaker) 2004 Jacques Santini 2004 Martin Jol

Tottenham under Martin Jol

Total*

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost
138	65 (47%)	33 (24%)	40 (29%)

^{* includes his one match as caretaker manager after Santini's resignation.}

Season by season

Season	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Lge Cup	FA Cup	Europe	Home Win %	Away Win %	Lge Pos	Lge Pts	PPLG
2004-05	35	15 (43%)	9 (26%)	11 (31%)	5th	QF	N/A	55%	23%	9th	52	1.5
2005-06	40	18 (45%)	11 (27.5%)	11 (27.5%)	2nd	3rd	N/A	63%	29%	5th	65	1.7
2006-07	59	31 (53%)	13 (22%)	15 (25%)	SF	QF	QF	67%	38%	5th	60	1.6
2007-08	4	1 (25%)	0 (0%)	3 (75%)	-	-	-	50%	0%	-	0	0.75

^{Lge Cup = League Cup, Lge Pos = League Position, Lge Pts = League Points, PPLG = Points Per League Game. Win/Draw/Loss % based on all competitions.}

Martin Jol currently has the best record for any manager in 20 years at Tottenham based on the percentage of games won, drawn and lost.

2005-06 Season accomplishments
» Highest ever finish in a Premiership season and highest in 16 years.
» First European qualification via the league in 23 years.
» Best home league record for a season in 15 years and 16th best of all time. (65% wins)
2006-07 Season accomplishments
» First league victory over Chelsea in 16 years.
» Won the most consecutive home games (league) in over 13 years. (7)
» Won the most consecutive home games (all competitions) in over 25 years. (12)
» First domestic cup semi-final for 5 years and first European cup quarter-final for 15 years.
» Best home league record for a season in 16 years and 14th best of all time. (68% wins)
» Club and British record amount of consecutive wins in Europe. (8)
» Second successive European qualification via the league for the first time in over 20 years.

Top 10 managers of the last century

Based on win % in all competitions

	Manager(s)	Years	Played	Won	Win %
1	Arthur Turner	1942-46	49	27	55.10%
2	David Pleat ¹	1986-87	117	58	49.57%
3	Bill Nicholson	1958-74	832	408	49.03%
4	Martin Jol ²	2004-present	134	64	47.76%
5	Arthur Rowe	1949-55	283	135	47.70%
6	Jimmy Anderson	1955-58	153	72	47.05%
7	Doug Livermore & Ray Clemence	1992-93	51	23	45.09%
8	Peter Shreeve	1984-1986 & 1991-92	177	79	44.63%
9	Jack Tresadern	1935-38	146	65	44.52%
10	Peter McWilliam	1913-27	701	311	44.36%

¹ Includes caretaker manager stints in 1998, 2001 and 2003-04
² includes his one match as caretaker manager after Santini's resignation.

Noted former players

Listed according to when they debuted for Tottenham Hotspur:

• 1882 Bobby Buckle
• 1899 Jack Kirwan
• 1901 Vivian Woodward
• 1908 Billy Minter
• 1908 Tom Morris
• 1909 Walter Tull
• 1912 Arthur Grimsdell
• 1936 Bill Nicholson
• 1939 Ronnie Burgess
• 1939 Les Medley
• 1940 Ted Ditchburn
• 1945 Sonny Walters
• 1946 Len Duquemin
• 1948 Tommy Harmer
• 1949 Alf Ramsey
• 1954 Danny Blanchflower
• 1955 Maurice Norman
• 1955 Bobby Smith
• 1956 Terry Medwin
• 1958 Cliff Jones
• 1959 Les Allen
• 1959 Bill Brown
• 1959 Dave Mackay
• 1959 John White
• 1960 Peter Baker
• 1960 Terry Dyson
• 1960 Ron Henry
• 1961 Jimmy Greaves
• 1962 Phil Beal
• 1963 Jimmy Robertson
• 1964 Alan Gilzean
• 1964 Pat Jennings

• 1964 Cyril Knowles
• 1964 Alan Mullery
• 1965 Joe Kinnear
• 1966 Mike England
• 1966 Terry Venables
• 1968 Martin Chivers
• 1969 Steve Perryman
• 1970 Martin Peters
• 1971 Ralph Coates
• 1975 Gerry Armstrong
• 1975 Glenn Hoddle
• 1977 Chris Hughton
• 1978 Osvaldo Ardiles
• 1978 Mickey Hazard
• 1978 Ricardo Villa
• 1980 Steve Archibald
• 1980 Garth Crooks
• 1980 Graham Roberts
• 1981 Ray Clemence
• 1982 Gary Mabbutt
• 1983 Danny Thomas
• 1984 Clive Allen
• 1985 Paul Allen
• 1985 David Howells
• 1985 Chris Waddle
• 1986 Nico Claesen
• 1986 Steve Hodge
• 1987 Chris Fairclough
• 1987 Vinny Samways
• 1988 Paul Gascoigne
• 1988 Paul Stewart
• 1988 Erik Thorstvedt

• 1988 Nayim
• 1989 Gary Lineker
• 1989 Ian Walker
• 1991 Nick Barmby
• 1992 Darren Anderton
• 1992 Sol Campbell
• 1992 Teddy Sheringham
• 1993 Colin Calderwood
• 1993 Stephen Carr
• 1994 Jürgen Klinsmann
• 1994 Gheorghe Popescu
• 1994 Ronnie Rosenthal
• 1995 Chris Armstrong
• 1996 Steffen Iversen
• 1997 Nicola Berti
• 1997 Les Ferdinand
• 1997 David Ginola
• 1999 Øyvind Leonhardsen
• 2000 Serhiy Rebrov
• 2001 Kasey Keller
• 2001 Gustavo Poyet
• 2001 Christian Ziege
• 2002 Jamie Redknapp
• 2002 Jonathan Blondel
• 2003 Frédéric Kanouté
• 2004 Michael Carrick
• 2004 Noureddine Naybet
• 2004 Pedro Mendes
• 2004 Noé Pamarot
• 2004 Reto Ziegler
• 2005 Edgar Davids
• 2005 Mido

Hall of Fame

To this date there have been 24 Tottenham Hotspur Hall of Fame inductees, the latest of which being Martin Chivers in February 2007.

• Arthur Grimsdell
• Jimmy Dimmock
• Bill Nicholson
• Ron Burgess
• Ted Ditchburn
• Peter Baker
• Danny Blanchflower
• Maurice Norman

• Bobby Smith
• Terry Medwin
• Cliff Jones
• Les Allen
• Bill Brown
• Dave Mackay
• John White
• Terry Dyson

• Ron Henry
• Pat Jennings
• Alan Mullery
• Martin Peters
• Keith Burkinshaw
• Glenn Hoddle
• Gary Mabbutt
• Gary Lineker

Notes

References

• Tottenham Hotspur Official Handbook 2006-2007 *[2]
• Tony Matthews (2001). The Official Encyclopaedia of Tottenham Hotspur. Brightspot. ISBN 0-9539288-1-0.
• Phil Soar (1998). The Hamlyn Official History of Tottenham Hotspur 1882-1998. Hamlyn. ISBN 0-600-59515-3.
• Bob Goodwin (2003). Spurs: The Illustrated History. Bredon. ISBN 1-85983-387-X.
• Harry Harris (1990). Tottenham Hotspur Greats. Sportsprint. ISBN 0-85976-309-9.
• Julian Holland (1961). Spurs – The Double. Heinemann. no ISBN.
• Ken Ferris (1999). The Double: The Inside Story of Spurs’ Triumphant 1960-61 Season. Mainstream. ISBN 1-84018-235-0.
• n/k (1986). The Glory Glory Nights. Cockerel. ISBN 1-869914-00-7.
• Hunter Davies (1985). The Glory Game: A Year in the Life of Tottenham Hotspur. Mainstream. ISBN 1-85158-003-4.
• Alex Fynn and Lynton Guest (1991). Heroes and Villains: The Inside Story of the 1990-91 Season at Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-014769-1.
• Guy Nathan (1994). Barcelona to Bedlam: Venables/Sugar – The True Story. New Author. ISBN 1-897780-26-5.
• Alex Fynn and H Davidson (1996). Dream On: A Year in the Life of a Premier League Club. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-85509-3.
• Martin Cloake and Adam Powley (2004). We are Tottenham: Voices from White Hart Lane. Mainstream. ISBN 1-84018-831-6.
• Alison Ratcliffe (2005). Tottenham Hotspur (Rough Guide 11s): The Top 11 of Everything Spurs. Rough Guides. ISBN 1-84353-558-0.
• Alan Mullery and Paul Trevillion (2005). Double Bill: The Bill Nicholson Story. Mainstream. ISBN 1-84596-002-5.
• Steve E Hale (2005). Mr Tottenham Hotspur: Bill Nicholson OBE- Memories of a Spurs Legend. Football World. ISBN 0-9548336-5-1.
• Irving Scholar (1992). Behind Closed Doors: Dreams and Nightmares at Spurs. André Deutsch. ISBN 0-233-98824-6.
• Mihir Bose (1996). False Messiah: The Life and Times of Terry Venables. André Deutsch. ISBN 0-233-98998-6.
• Clive Allen (1987). There’s Only One Clive Allen. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0-213-16953-3.
• Osvaldo Ardiles (1983). Ossie. Sidgewick & Jackson. ISBN 0-283-98872-X.
• David Bowler (1997). Danny Blanchflower: The Biography of a Visionary. Orion. ISBN 0-575-06504-4.
• Paul Gascoigne (2005). Gazza: My Story. Headline. ISBN 0-7472-6818-5.
• David Ginola and Neil Silver (2000). David Ginola: Le Manifique. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-710099-X.
• Jimmy Greaves (2004). Greavsie: The Autobiography. Time Warner. ISBN 0-7515-3445-5.
• Glenn Hoddle and Harry Harris (1987). Spurred to Success: The Autobiography of Glenn Hoddle. Queen Anne. ISBN 0-356-12797-4.
• Harry Harris (1995). Klinsmann. Headline. ISBN 0-7472-1517-0.
• Dave Mackay and Martin Knight (2004). The Real Mackay: The Dave Mackay Story. Mainstream. ISBN 1-84018-840-5.
• Teddy Sheringham (1999). Teddy. Time Warner. ISBN 0-7515-2844-7.
• Mel Stein and Chris Waddle (1998). Chris Waddle. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-00495-6.
• Peter Waring (2004). Tottenham Hotspur Head to Head. Breedon Books.

External links

• TottenhamHotspur.com Official club website
• Tottenham Hotspur at the Premier League official website
• Supporters' Trust
• The Unofficial home of Spur's Captain Ledley King: Forum, Facts, Stats and Videos

News sites

• Tottenham Hotspur F.C. on BBC Sport: Club news – Recent results and fixtures
• Tottenham Hotspur Team news from Carling
• AIM: TTNM