Tottenham Hotspur FC - A Brief 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. An attempt to join an aborted Southern League, instigated by Royal Arsenal (later Arsenal), failed in 1892 when they were the only club of the 23 applicants to receive no votes. 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 1943.
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. The cup was presented to Spurs captain Jack Jones with coloured ribbons on, tied there for the first time by the wife of the Spurs director, Morton Cadman, thus starting the long held tradition of tying ribbons in Cup competitions, which continues to this day.
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.
COME ON YOU SPURS !