North London derby

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Gilberto Silva (far left) and Ledley King (far right), the matchday captains of Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur respectively, before the North London derby at White Hart Lane, on April 21, 2007. The match finished 2-2.

The North London derby is the name of the football local derby between the two major teams in North London – Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. It specifically refers to individual matches between the teams, but can also be used to describe the general ongoing rivalry between the clubs.

[edit] History

The first meeting between the two sides was a friendly on November 19, 1887, when Arsenal were located in Plumstead (then part of Kent but now in Greater London), and known as Royal Arsenal. The match was abandoned 15 minutes before it was due to end "owing to darkness" with Spurs leading 2-1.^[1] The first League match between the clubs was in the First Division, on December 4, 1909; Arsenal won 1-0.^[2]

However, a proper rivalry between the two teams did not begin until 1913, when Arsenal moved from the Manor Ground, Plumstead to Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, just four miles from Tottenham's White Hart Lane; by doing so, they became Tottenham's nearest neighbours and thus began a natural local rivalry. The two teams first faced each other as "north London" clubs (although Tottenham was actually in Middlesex until incorporated into Greater London in 1965) in a War Relief Fund friendly on August 22, 1914 at White Hart Lane; although Arsenal were in the Second Division and Tottenham in the First, Arsenal won 5-1.^[3] They would go on to meet regularly during World War I in the London Combination, the regional wartime competition of the time.

The rivalry escalated in 1919 when, after World War I, the First Division was to be expanded by two teams, and the League held a meeting of the clubs to decide the two clubs by means of a vote. 19th-placed Chelsea, who would otherwise have been relegated, were allowed to stay and thus they took the first of the two spots. The second spot could have been awarded to 20th-placed Tottenham, or Barnsley, who had finished 3rd in the Second Division, but Arsenal (along with four other clubs) also bid for the place, despite their only finishing 6th in Division Two - although an error in the calculation of goal average meant Arsenal had actually finished fifth, an error which was corrected by the Football League in 1975.

After an endorsement by League President and chairman of Liverpool John McKenna on account of their longer membership of the League, Arsenal won the vote by eighteen votes to Spurs' eight (Barnsley got five, Wolves four, Nottingham Forest three, Birmingham two and Hull City one) and were thus elected to the First Division.^[4] It has been frequently alleged that Arsenal chairman Sir Henry Norris used underhand dealings in order to bring this about, although nothing has been proven.^[5] The decision infuriated Tottenham and their supporters, although eleven years previously, Tottenham themselves had been elected to join the Football League Second Division despite only finishing 7th in the 1907-08 Southern League,^[6] at the expense of Southern League champions Queen's Park Rangers, who had also applied and had resigned from the Southern League in expectation of promotion.^[7][8]

Despite the setback, Tottenham were soon promoted back into the top flight after taking the 1919-20 Second Division title,^[9] and the derby was once again regularly contested. The first fully competitive derby match after Arsenal's 1913 move to North London was a First Division match that finished 2-1 to Tottenham, on January 15, 1921 at White Hart Lane. The early matches between the two were noted for their bitterness - a particularly vicious match in September 1922 led to both clubs being censured by the Football Association and threatened with being forced to play behind closed doors.^[4][10]

Tottenham played in the Second Division between 1928 and 1933, and 1935 and 1950,^[9] which naturally led to a drop in the number of matches between the two clubs in this period and a cooling of passions. Relations between the two clubs improved somewhat after the Second World War, after Tottenham allowed Arsenal to play their home matches at White Hart Lane while Highbury was requisitioned as an ARP station and subsequently bombed.

Since 1950 there has only been one season (1977-78^[9]) where Spurs and Arsenal have not been in the same division, meaning fixtures between the two are regular and this has maintained the rivalry to the present day; there have been many notable matches where the course of a title or the journey to a cup final has relied on the outcome of a derby match. As with most major football rivalries, there is much banter and gloating between the two sets of fans, many of whom work and even live together, and players who transfer between the two teams receive a bad reception from their former fans; the most recent example was defender Sol Campbell, who was nicknamed "Judas" by Spurs fans after he crossed the divide in 2001.

[edit] Notable derby matches

Notable derby matches, such as cup semi-finals and title deciders, include:

• Tottenham 0-1 Arsenal (May 3, 1971) – The final match of the 1970-71 league campaign, and Arsenal needed a win or a goalless draw to take the First Division title (a score draw would have meant Leeds United won on goal average). The game was tight with few real chances on goal, until the very end. With three minutes to go, John Radford's shot forced Pat Jennings into a good save; George Armstrong got to the rebound and chipped the ball across goal and Ray Kennedy headed home the winner. Spurs desperately tried to get a goal back but to no avail; Arsenal held on to win the title (the first half of the Double that season).

• Tottenham 1-2 Arsenal (March 4, 1987) – Arsenal and Spurs had drawn 2-2 on aggregate in the League Cup semi-finals; with no away goals rule in force, the match was replayed at White Hart Lane. Spurs went 1-0 up through Clive Allen but Arsenal substitute Ian Allinson equalised and David Rocastle scrambled home the winner to take Arsenal through to the Final, where they won their first trophy since 1979.

• Tottenham 3-1 Arsenal (April 14, 1991 at Wembley) – The first FA Cup semi-final between the two sides. Arsenal were chasing a second Double, but Tottenham's Paul Gascoigne scored after just five minutes with a free kick from 30 yards out. Gary Lineker made it two, and although Alan Smith pulled one back for the Gunners before half-time, Lineker scored again in the second half to make the game safe. Arsenal's Double dream was dashed, though they still won the League that season; Spurs went on to lift the Cup a month later.

• Arsenal 1-0 Tottenham (April 4, 1993 at Wembley) – The second FA Cup semi-final between the two, in which Arsenal gained revenge over their North London rivals for the 3-1 semi final defeat two years earlier. Tony Adams scored with a header from a Paul Merson free kick for the Gunners in the 79th minute; Arsenal prevailed despite Lee Dixon's sending-off, and went on to win the FA Cup in May, adding it to the League Cup to complete the first ever cup Double.

• Tottenham 2-2 Arsenal (April 25, 2004) – Arsenal were unbeaten in the Premiership and only needed a point to secure the title. The Gunners were 2-0 up after 35 minutes thanks to Patrick Vieira and Robert Pirès' goals. A famous win looked to be on the cards, but Spurs restored some pride by denying Arsenal victory; in the second half Jamie Redknapp scored from long-range, before Robbie Keane converted a 90th-minute penalty. Nevertheless, Arsenal still won the title at their rivals' home ground, repeating their triumph of 1971.

• Tottenham 5-1 Arsenal (January 22, 2008) - Tottenham's first victory over Arsenal since November 1999, with the largest winning margin since 1983, in a League Cup semi-final second leg match. After a 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium, Tottenham were 2-0 up by half time with Jermaine Jenas' strike and a Nicklas Bendtner own goal. After half-time Spurs added two more from Robbie Keane and Aaron Lennon; Emmanuel Adebayor (a substitute) pulled one back for Arsenal^[11], before Steed Malbranque scored a fifth goal in injury time, to put Tottenham into the 2008 League Cup Final, 6-2 on aggregate.

[edit] Statistics and records

As of January 22, 2008, there have been 159 competitive first-class meetings between the two teams since the first league meeting in 1909, of which Arsenal have won 66 and Tottenham 50.^[12] The most goals in one game were scored in the closely contested 5-4 Arsenal Premiership victory at White Hart Lane on November 13, 2004. The biggest winning margin was 6-0 to Arsenal on March 6, 1935, although Tottenham have twice won 5-0 (December 25, 1911 and April 4, 1983).^[2]

Tottenham's record for goals scored against Arsenal is shared by Billy Minter and Bobby Smith, with nine goals each.^[13] Arsenal's record is held jointly by Alan Sunderland & Robert Pires with eight each.^[14] Arsenal's long-time defender David O'Leary holds the record for most North London derbies played (35), while Gary Mabbutt and Steve Perryman shared the corresponding record for Spurs, with 31.^[14]

[edit] Summary of results

As of January 22, 2008

[edit] Crossing the divide

Perhaps due to the rivalry between the clubs, relatively few players have played for both Arsenal and Spurs since 1913. The players who have done so are listed below.^[13][15]

[edit] Arsenal, then Tottenham

In addition, former Arsenal winger Joe Hulme managed Tottenham Hotspur between 1945 and 1949, while ex-Gunner Terry Neill was Spurs manager between 1974 and 1976, before crossing back to manage Arsenal between 1976 and 1983. Most famously, George Graham was first an Arsenal player, then managed the Gunners between 1986 and 1994, before being fired and later taking up the reins at White Hart Lane between 1998 and 2001.

Clive Allen played three matches in Arsenal's 1980-81 pre-season friendly campaign, although never played a competitive league match for them.

[edit] Tottenham, then Arsenal

Additionally, Herbert Chapman played as an amateur at Spurs between 1905 and 1907, long before he was the Gunners' first title-winning manager between 1925 and 1934.^[16]

[edit] Played for both teams in North London Derby

The following players have played in at least one North London Derby for both teams:^[17]

Jimmy Robertson is the only player to have scored for both teams in North London Derbies.

[edit] Footnotes and references