A History of Spurring? The Story of Tottenham Hotspur FC

By Miller Bacon

One of the founding Members of the Premier League, the highest league in British Professional Football, Tottenham Hotspurs Football Club (FC) has consistently ranked as one of the top teams since the Premier League’s creation in 1992. The history of this “Big Six” football club, however, dates further back. Founded in the 19th century from a boy’s cricket club, Tottenham Hotspur has remained a major force in men’s professional football both before and after it entered professional division football in England. Though not possessing a Premier League Championship title, Tottenham Hotspur has remained a mainstay in Premier League soccer as a member of the “Big Six” teams. During its time in the Premier League Tottenham Hotspur has consistently ranked amongst the top 15 teams in the Premier League and even among the top 10 teams since 2008. Despite the lack of a Premier League trophy, Tottenham Hotspur has achieved many other accolades including two First Division trophies, eight FA Cup victories, and four League Cup wins. The also have achieved one UEFA Winners’ Cup victory, two UEFA cup/Europa League victories and seven charity shields. Even without a championship title, Tottenham Hotspur FC’s career has made it a formidable team in English Professional Soccer.

The history of Tottenham Hotspur FC dates over one hundred years before the creation of the Premier League. Tottenham Hotspur FC was originally just Hotspur FC, a football club formed by a group of boys from a local grammar school and the Hotspur Cricket Club led by Bobby Buckle. A year later Hotspur FC was reorganized during the presidency of John Ripsher, the bible class teacher at All Hallows Church, and the club adopted the club color navy blue and began playing its matches on the Tottenham Marches. Ripsher reorganized the club on the premise of helping the boys through their formative years. The name of the club was eventually changed to Tottenham Hotspur FC to avoid confusion with another older club also named Hotspur FC. Initially, the team played friendly matches against other local clubs, or sometimes between themselves, with the first recorded match taking place in September 1882 against the Radicals during which Tottenham Hotspur FC lost 0-2. By 1885 the newly re-named Tottenham Hotspurs FC had its first competitive match against St. Albans in the London Association Cup with the Spurs taking home a 5-2 victory. It was also at this time that the team colors, though only recently adopted, were changed from navy blue to white and light blue halves. Interestingly, it was due to this victory in the London Association Cup that Tottenham Hotspur had its first credit balance of just nine shillings. A few years after its first competitive victory over St. Albans, Tottenham Hotspur FC first encountered its long-time rival: Arsenal. Then Royal Arsenal, the match was abandoned 15 minutes from time due to “darkness” with the Spurs leading 2-1 at that time.

By the 1890’s Tottenham Hotspur FC was a different club than it had been just 13 years prior. With the moving of its matches from Tottenham Marshes to a private ground at Northumberland Park, where the first admission charge of 3d was charged to spectators, and the changing of the team colors to red shirts with navy blue shorts, the team was ready for to adopt professionalism in 1895. After its professional debut, Tottenham Hotspur was elected to the Southern League Division One, the third tier of professional soccer in England, leading to another team color change to chocolate and gold. This change was short-lived, however, as the club colors changed back to white shirts and blue shorts in 1898. By 1897 Tottenham Hotspur reached its first Cup Final, losing 0-2 to Wellingborough, the host team, in the local Charity Cup competition.

Due to increasing spectatorship, 6,000 in 1896 to 14,000 in 1898, the team moved to a new site. Originally a market garden, these new grounds had accommodations for 35,000 spectators and were named White Hart Lane and would become the long-time home for Tottenham Hotspur FC until well into the twentieth century. It was also during the 1897-1898 season that the Spurs first became a limited company, named the Tottenham Hotspur Football and Athletic Company, and signed their first official manager Frank Brettell. It was not Brettell, however, but his first signed player John Cameron, who would have the largest impact on the team. When Brettell left a year after his arrival, Cameron became the player-manager of the Tottenham Hotspurs. Under Cameron’s command the Spurs finally achieved success in 1900 and were named Champions of the Southern League. This victory was followed up in 1901 with a 3-1 victory over Sheffield United to win the FA Cup. This victory also held symbolic importance however as Tottenham Hotspur FC was the only non-league team to achieve this honor since the Football League’s formation in 1888.

Seven years after their FA Cup victory in 1908 Tottenham Hotspur FC secured entry into the Second Division of the Football League with an immediate promotion to the First Division during their first attempt in 1909. Tottenham Hotspur FC’s first four decades in the Football League were full of ups and downs with the team experiencing multiple rounds of relegation and promotion. This time was not without victories, however, as the new manager Peter McWilliam, who was hired in 1912, led the team through the difficulties of relegation. In 1920 Tottenham Hotspur FC set a record for points in its promotion back to the First Division, attaining 70 in a system where two points were needed for a win. In 1921 Tottenham Hotspur FC achieved its second FA Cup Triumph, beating the Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 at Stamford Bridge. This victory was followed up by a second-place finish against Liverpool in the league final of 1922. These victories were followed by a period of mediocrity as, except for reaching the sixth round of the FA Cup in 1938, Tottenham Hotspur FC was limited to the Second Division for much of the 1930’s and 1940’s due to relegation. During this time the team also completed the East Stand at White Hart Lane.

The Team’s trajectory changed greatly in the middle of the 20th century. In 1949 Former Spurs player Arthur Rowe was hired as manager. With this change in leadership came the adoption of a “push and run” style of play and new successes for Tottenham Hotspur FC. In his first season as manager Rowe brought the team out of relegation and back to the First Division. This was followed by a championship title in 1951 when Tottenham Hotspur FC was the champion of the First Division of the Football League for the first time. During this time one of the Spur’s most celebrated players, Daniel Blanchflower, was hired. It was in 1958, however, that Tottenham Hotspur FC entered its “glory years.” Following the retirement of Arthur Rowe, Bill Nicholson was hired as the new manager of Tottenham Hotspur FC. Nicholson is arguably the club’s most successful manager, leading the team to eight trophy wins during his tenure as manager. After signing players such as Dave Mackay, John White and Jimmy Greaves, Nicholson led the Spurs to victories in the FA Cup and Football League Championships in 1961. These victories caused the team to be the first to complete the “Double” since Preston North End and Aston Villa in 1889 and 1897, respectively. This was followed by a decade of victories with a second-place league finish in 1962 and multiple FA Cup wins in 1962 and 1967. In 1963 Tottenham Hotspur FC beat Atletico Madrid 5-1 to win the European Cup Winners’ Cup, making them the first British team to win a European Trophy. This victory was followed by two League Cups in 1971 and 1973, making Tottenham Hotspur FC the first club to have won the trophy twice. With a UEFA Cup victory in 1971 and second place finish in the 1973 UEFA Cup, Tottenham Hotspur FC was the first British Club to have played in three major European Finals by 1974.

The late 1970’s were a largely dismal time for Tottenham Hotspur FC. Beginning with the retirement of Nicholson in 1974 the Spurs experienced a period of decline with the club being relegated following the 1976 season. This ended, however, with the managership of Keith Burkinshaw. During the team’s first attempt, Burkinshaw promoted the team back to the First Division and built a new team with player such as Glenn Hoddle, Osvaldo Ardiles, and Ricardo Villa, which went on to with the FA Cup in 1981 and 1982 and the UEFA Cup in 1984.

Besides a return to topflight play, the 1980’s represented a time of further change for Tottenham Hotspur FC. Under the leadership of Irving Scholar as director, the club began to move in a more commercial direction with Tottenham Hotspur FC being the first football club to float shares on the London Stock Exchange. Changes occurred outside of the boardroom as well. In 1987 new manager Terry Venables signed players such as Paul Gascoigne, Gary Lineker and Paul Steward, representing Tottenham Hotspur FC’s first signing of a player for over a million pounds. Besides smaller victories and records set by the players, this new team of Spurs achieved victory at the 1990 FA Cup, making Tottenham Hotspur FC the first club to win eight FA cups. The Kit of the Hotspurs also changed drastically with a return to white shirts and navy shorts, the final iteration of the Tottenham Hotspur uniform. These changes also extended to the redevelopment of Tottenham Hotspur FC’s stadium, White Hart Lane. In 1982 the new West Stand was opened and in 1989 the East Stand was refurbished. In 1992 “The Shelf” became an all-seater enclosure and by 1998 the new South Stand and the new North Stand were completed to increase capacity to 36,257.

By 1992 Tottenham Hotspur entered its modern age with the creation of the Premier League. Tottenham Hotspur was one of the five founding members of the Premier League that replaced the Football League First Division as the highest division of English professional football. Despite this, except for League Cup victories in 1999 and 2008, the 1990’s and early 2000’s were a time of middling play and rotating managers with Tottenham Hotspur FC regularly finishing in fifth place in the Premier League. This changed in 2008 with the League Cup victory, which not only brought Tottenham Hotspur FC back to the forefront of Premier League soccer but also made them the first team to win a trophy at the new Wembley Stadium. These victories were the end of major wins for Tottenham Hotspur FC. Though regularly placing fourth in the Premier League and making it far into the League Cup Tournament, with a quarter-final placement in 2011 and finals placements in 2009 and 2015, Tottenham Hotspur FC has recently been unable to win championship titles or acquire trophies. Beyond its performance, the nature of Tottenham Hotspur FC changed drastically during the 21^st century. In 2001 ENIC Sports plc. purchased Tottenham Hotspur FC and Daniel Levy was appointed chairman of the organization. This led to the eventual appointment of Mauricio Pochettino in May 2014, which began another trend of rotating managers with Jose Mourinho in 2019 and Ryan Mason, Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte in 2021. Antonio Conte himself left the position in March of 2023 with the assistant coach Cristian Stellini acting as interim manager. The setting of the matches themselves experienced similar rapid changes. In 2012 the Spurs moved into a new training facility at Enfield and by 2017 the Spurs were playing their last match at White Hart Lane, besting Manchester United 2-1. For the next year all games were played at Wembley Stadium and by 2019 the team was moving into their new stadium: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Despite a brief hiatus in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tottenham Hotspur FC has remained a staple of British Football since its professional debut in 1895. With excellent performance in the Southern League Division One, Football League First and Second Divisions and now the Premier League, the Spurs have proven themselves a team with both longevity and ability. Tottenham Hotspur FC’s admirable performance over time translates into interesting developments within Spurs fandom. According to “A People’s History of Tottenham Hotspur” by Martin Cloake and Alan Fisher, “Spurs Fans were instrumental in shaping one of the world’s most famous clubs.” Cloake and Fisher write about the crucial impact that the cultural life of North London had on Tottenham Hotspur FC from its creation in 1882 up to WWII. It is this culture, they say, that answers questions such as why the club formed on the Tottenham Marshes and how the club survived its penniless early days to become the powerhouse of a club it is today. For example, in addressing the clubs changing location, Cloak and Fisher pay special attention to the local fans’ aghast reactions to the prospect of moving to a different London Borough and how that influenced club decisions going forward. The presence of Tottenham Hotspur FC on the High Road and in the N17 postal code was important to Spur’s fans because they associate those areas with so much of their history of and emotion with the club. It is this passion that, according to the authors, caused problems later when the football club was commercialized.

Historically Spurs fandom has been affected by forces outside of the club’s record or location. During the late 20th century, the influence of Thatcherism caused a recurrent theme of conflict within the club and created a rift with its supporters. The rise of Thatcherism affected the working class in England and brought significant changes to football as it was the time when the game started to become significantly monetized, which forever changed the relationship between football fans and the clubs they support. Tottenham Hotspur FC was not immune to these changes. It was from this period of change that a time of significant fan pride began to take hold, which included hooliganism as well as support-driven fandom in which fans write for fanzines and online blogs. Interestingly, another significant portion of Tottenham Hotspur FC fandom is the ties to the Jewish Community. As a large percentage of its fans are from the Jewish working classes of London, the Jewish Community has become inseparable from Tottenham Hotspur FC, with Spur’s fans even sometimes being referred to as “yids.” This has not only brought longevity to fandom in North London but has also sadly caused multiple anti-Semitic and societal issues that exist to this day as antisemitism runs rampant across social media and other forms of media.

As a new soccer fan, stories of passion and community associated with the various football clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur FC, are foreign topics. Though unfamiliar stories to a lay-soccer fan like me, this description of modern Spurs fandom matches what was described by Tottenham Hotspur FC fan Dr. Matthew Stanley. An avid Spurs fan, Dr. Stanley described the exact working-class pride and support-driven fandom as parts of his own fan experience. Dr. Stanley’s fandom began not from a search for a football club to cheer on, but rather from a random, personal encounter with the team. While on vacation in North London Dr. Stanley happened to be staying in a hotel near Wembley Stadium, which was the home pitch for Tottenham Hotspur FC as they were in the process of building their new stadium across town. Having a few hours to fill, Dr. Stanley decided to attend a match, and it was here that his fandom started. After experiencing the rush, roar, and raucous nature of Spurs fans whilst sitting among them in the stands Dr. Stanley made his decision, stating, “well, I guess I am a Spurs fan now.”

More important than the story of his origins as a Spurs Fan is Dr. Stanley’s description of what it is like to be a Spurs fan. Given a lack of personal experience or fandom, it is stories such as Dr. Stanley’s that provide the needed context and information in the same way as online blogs and reddit threads. According to Dr. Stanley, being a Spurs fan is like “being the bridesmaid, but never the bride.” With the team ranking consistently in the top six or seven teams in the Premier League, sometimes even in the top two teams, the Spurs always seem poised for a league title but are left on the sideline to watch other teams take home the trophy. This trend is so constant that it has caused many soccer fans to use the term “spursy” to refer to a mistake made despite technical skill and ability. While this lack of victories makes fandom difficult, Dr. Stanley says that it will make the victory that much sweeter when Tottenham Hotspur FC finally takes home the Premier League Title.

While not understanding the trend and impact of near victories fully, this idea translates to other experiences that are relatable. As an avid Chicago Cubs fan, I understand the feeling of cheering on a well-known team while also knowing they never bring home trophies. Similarly, as a fan of Razorback Baseball, the emotional impact of the trend of near victories has come into focus based on Dr. Stanleys comments. Despite possessing many skilled players, talent, and making it far into the tournament, timing, the Spurs can never seem to hold it together far enough into the season to take home the victory. This same trend has existed over the past decade of Razorback Baseball. Whether it be the infamous dropped long-out or the double SEC Championship team that lost in the super-regionals to a small college in North Carolina, Razorback baseball has regularly possessed the talent and timing necessary to win, but simply cannot hold it together long enough to win the College World Series.

In further comments on the Spurs Dr. Stanley addressed the “elephant in the room” of soccer fandom in the United States: where are football fans? According to Dr. Stanley soccer fandom in the U.S., while seemingly underground, represents a serious subculture across U.S. cities. Dr. Stanley demonstrated this trend through his descriptions of being a Spurs fan in Chicago. As a University of Illinois graduate Dr. Stanley spends great amounts of time in the records in Chicago, Illinois, and it is here that he was able to point to specific examples of this soccer subculture. When Tottenham Hotspur FC plays, for example, certain “Spurs” bars such as The Atlantic open up early to allow fans in to watch the game in the same fashion as NFL, NBA or MLB fans. With the games occurring early in the morning, as opposed to afternoon and evening, this causes the bars to “open up at six in the morning” and “serve beer and eggs” to the fans. While not purposefully supporting soccer fandom as a subculture, this activity in irregular hours for most sports fans may contribute to soccer’s inability to attain and retain fans in the U.S. This same type of rampant subculture can be seen in the various online chats and internet fan blogs devoted to Tottenham Hotspur FC. One Reddit community named “Come on You Spurs,” has more than 139,000 active members. Though not mainstream, the devotion and pride American fans feel for this seemingly random London football club is of the same caliber as that of NFL, NBA or MLB fan cheering on their own teams.

Though existing in as a subculture in the U.S., soccer possesses some high-profile fans both inside and outside of the British Isles. For example, Tottenham Hotspur FC plays host to an impressive array of celebrity fans. In England, celebrities such as Adele, Kenneth Branagh, Jude Law and Tom Holland all espouse strong fandom for Spurs. With some of these actors spending great amounts of time and even living portions of the year in the U.S., it would be easy to assume they represent the extent of the Spurs reach into celebrities in the U.S. This is untrue, however, as the U.S. itself plays host to many die-hard American Spurs fans. During matches figures such as John Cena, Jason Sudeikis and Mark Wahlberg have all proudly displayed the navy and white Cockerel as they cheered on Tottenham Hotspur FC. Jason Sudeikis took his fandom a step further with a set of commercials for the Premier League in which he portrayed the fictitious new coach of Tottenham Hotspur FC Ted Lasso, a character that he would continue to play in his successful Apple TV show.

Overall, given little personal knowledge of soccer or the various Premier League Football Clubs, reading and discussing the history of a prominent club such as Tottenham Hotspur FC has provided me a new understanding and appreciation for the sport. Besides experiences in the Honors College Soccer Seminar, conversations with Dr. Stanley, and this project, my exposure to the sport has been limited to the aforementioned Ted Lasso and a couple of watched FIFA World Cup matches this past year. These lessons and exposure have been educational and instrumental in shaping my fandom as, even including baseball, before I paid little attention to the different sports games and/or matches that passed across the phone or television screen. Beyond spawning a new appreciation for football as a sport itself, this past semester has also shed light onto the nature of football fandom. As a fan of solely U.S. sports, the idea of having multiple teams in one city, i.e. London and its various football clubs, let alone possessing six teams in the top division of the sport, the Premier League, is unimaginable. In the U.S., rivalries develop between states that are hundreds of miles away, not the 1.4 miles between Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Emirates Stadium, the home of the Spur’s rival, Arsenal. Despite this rivalry, Dr. Stanley made an interesting comment during his interview based on this proximity. He said that, though they are his team’s “rival,” he has trouble really hating them as they are “separated by a mile” and are the “same people” as Spurs fans. This was a novel perspective on fandom as, in the U.S., even surface level fans possess a near passionate hatred of their rival teams. Never could they say that their rivals were the same people or even that they do not hate them. In the end, this seminar has drastically changed my appreciation of soccer. Though I would not say I will immediately become a die-hard Spurs fan, or that I will even become a Spurs fan, I can say that I have a new appreciation and enjoyment of soccer. This new appreciation has even led me to join Barristers United, an intermural football club at the University of Virginia Law School. I genuinely hope this enjoyment continues and blossoms into genuine fandom, even if that is later in my life.

Miller Bacon graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Arkansas in 2023 with degrees in biochemistry and history. His research activities include forensic chemistry research, psychology research focusing on drinking games and alcoholism, as well as his thesis work in history which answered questions regarding perceptions of Civil War Medicine. He is currently a law student at the university of Virginia with plans to pursue a career in litigation.