Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham Hotspur

Full name	Tottenham Hotspur Football Club
Nickname(s)	Spurs, Lilywhites
Founded	1882 as Hotspur F.C.
Ground	White Hart Lane (Capacity: 36,310)
Owner	ENIC International Ltd.
Chairman	Daniel Levy
Manager	Harry Redknapp
League	Premier League
2009–10	Premier League, 4th
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (locally /ˈtɒʔnəm/), commonly referred to as Spurs, are an English professional football club based in Tottenham, North London, which currently plays in the Premier League. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane.

Tottenham Hotspur 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 they became the first British club to win a major European trophy—the European Cup Winners' Cup.^[1] In the 1970s, they won the League Cup on two occasions and were the inaugural winners of the UEFA Cup in 1972 (becoming the first British club to win two different major European trophies). In the 1980s Spurs won several trophies: the FA Cup twice, FA Community Shield and the UEFA Cup 1983–84. In the 1990s, they won the FA Cup and the League Cup. In 2008 they won the League Cup once more, meaning that they have won a trophy in each of the last six decades—an achievement only matched by Manchester United.

The club's Latin motto is Audere est Facere (lit: "To Dare Is to Do"), and its emblem is a gamecock 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

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 Royal Arsenal). Spurs were winning 2–1 until the match got called off due to poor light after the away team arrived late.^[2] There were occasions on which fights would break 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

Aerial image of 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 stand 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 ground's 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.^[3]

Minor amendments to the seating configuration were made in 2006 bringing the current capacity of the stadium to 36,310.

Plans

Tottenham are currently seeking permission to build a larger stadium. Originally it was thought that the team may move to a new site. One possibility for the club was the use of the area where the Olympic Stadium is going to be built after the London 2012 Olympics, although this would have involved a move out of Tottenham and the plan was dropped because the stadium will retain a running track.^[4]

The club stated in 2007 that it would announce its preferred option in the first half of 2008, but delayed this decision until the autumn.^[5] In April 2008 it was revealed in the press that investigations were taking place into the possible use of the adjacent Wingate industrial estate. If planning permission and the agreement of the current businesses there was granted, a 55–60,000 seat stadium could be constructed on the current White Hart Lane site.^[6]

In October 2008, the club announced that, if approved, it was planning to build the new stadium just to the north of the existing stadium at White Hart Lane, with the southern half of the new stadium's pitch located on the northwest corner of the Lane. The unique design of the build would allow the new stadium to be built adjacent to White Hart Lane as the old facility continues to be used for the team. During the summer after two thirds of the new stadium was complete, the northern and western stands would be demolished and a new pitch laid. The rest of the stadium would be built in the years to follow. If it is built, club chairman Daniel Levy has stated that it will not adopt the White Hart Lane name, but will instead be named after a sponsor.^[7] Tony Winterbottom, formerly of the London Development Agency, who worked on development of Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, is reportedly leading the development of the plans for the new stadium.^[8] In December 2008, the design for the new stadium, by KSS Design Group and Buro Happold was revealed.^[9] A projected completion date was predicted on 26 October 2009, as Spurs' chairman Daniel Levy stated that Spurs intend to move into the partially-built new stadium for the start of the 2012–13 season, with the final 56,250-seat venue ready for the following campaign.^[10]

Crest

Club emblem 2006 – Present

Spurs badge 1956 to 1983

Spurs badge 1983–2006

Since the 1901 FA Cup final the Tottenham Hotspur crest has featured a gamecock. Harry Hotspur (from whom the club is said to take its name) was famed for his riding spurs and his fighting cocks were fitted with spurs which can be seen in the crests.^[11] 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.^[12]

Between 1956 and 2006 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 heraldic lions 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.^[13] 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 emphasised its originality.^[14]

Kit

1896–98

1890–96

1884–86

1883–84: First kit

The first Tottenham kit was navy blue shirt and shorts, but after the first season the club did not have one specific design for many years.^[15] In 1884 the club changed to a "quartered" kit similar in style to that of Blackburn Rovers.^[16] Shortly after moving to Northumberland Road, the kit changed again to red shirt and blue shorts. Five years later, after becoming a professional club, they switched to a chocolate and gold striped kit.

At the end of the 19th century the club switched colours yet again, to the white shirts and blue shorts 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.

White and navy blue have remained as the club's basic colours ever since. Soon after the First World War, the cockerel badge was added to the shirt. In 1939 numbers first appeared on shirt backs, and in 1983 Holsten became the first commercial sponsor logo to appear on the shirt. The club were the first to wear long-cut shorts, an innovation at a time where football kits all featured shorts cut well above the knee.^[17] When Thomson was chosen as kit sponsor in 2002 some Tottenham fans were unhappy as the logo on the front was red, the colour of their closest rivals, Arsenal FC.^[18] In 2006, Tottenham then succeeded in securing a record £34m sponsorship deal with internet casino group Mansion.^[19]

In July 2010 Tottenham announced that they had agreed a two-year shirt sponsorship deal with software infrastructure company Autonomy. The deal is said to be worth £20 million, with the potential for a further £5 million.^[20] The club has also signed a deal with specialist bank and asset management firm Investec, who will become its shirt sponsor for the Champions League and domestic cup competitions for the next two years.^[21]

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
• 2006–2011: Puma

Shirt sponsors

• 1882–1983: No sponsor
• 1983–1995: Holsten
• 1995–1999: Hewlett Packard
• 1999–2002: Holsten
• 2002–2006: Thomson Holidays
• 2006–2010: Mansion.com Casino & Poker
• 2010–2012: Autonomy Corporation (Premier League)^[22]
• 2010–2012: Investec Bank (Champions League, FA Cup, Carling Cup)^[23]

Ownership

Since 2001 the key shareholder has been ENIC International Ltd, an investment company established by the British billionaire Joe Lewis. Daniel Levy, Lewis's partner at ENIC, is Executive Chairman of the club.

By June 2007 ENIC had increased its direct holding to 68% by purchasing all of former chairman Alan Sugar's remaining 14.7% holding.^[24] Stelios Haji-Ioannou held a 9.9 per cent stake through Hodram Inc in June 2006, but has since either sold all, or at least 70 per cent, of his holding. Apart from the majority shareholder ENIC, Michael Ashcroft the businessman and Deputy Chairman of the UK Conservative Party has around a 4 percent holding (comprising 3% Ordinary shares and 2% preference shares) which he acquired in April 2008.^[25] On 21 August 2009 the club reported that it had issued a further 30 million shares to fund the initial development costs of the new stadium project, and that 27.8 million of these new shares had been purchased by ENIC, increasing its overall share holding in the club to around 85%.^[26] The Annual Report for the year ending 30 June 2009 also indicates that ENIC now directly holds convertible redeemable preference shares giving it a combined overall 85% (2008: 82%) beneficial interest in Tottenham Hotspur plc.^[27]

Social responsibility

The club through its Community Programme has, since 2006, been working with Haringey Council and the Metropolitan Housing Trust and the local community on developing sports facilities and social programmes which have also been financially supported by Barclays Spaces for Sport and the Football Foundation.^[28][29] The Tottenham Hotspur Foundation received high-level political support from the Prime Minister when it was launched at 10 Downing Street in February 2007.^[30]

In March 2007 the Club announced a partnership with the charity SOS Children's Villages UK.^[31] 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. In the financial year 2006–07, Tottenham topped a league of Premier League charitable donations when viewed both in overall terms^[32] and as a percentage of turnover by giving £4,545,889, including a one-off contribution of £4.5 million over four years, to set up the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation.^[33] This compared to donations of £9,763 in 2005–06.^[34]

This commitment, along with the unique relationship that Aston Villa F.C. has with the Acorns Children's Hospice charity, which works with seriously ill children, and the Newcastle Foundation sponsored by the Newcastle United F.C., which uses the influence of professional footballers to create positive change with youth and young adults through football, are examples of professional sport supporting the communities and people who support and enrich them through their attendance and other participation and support. Aston Villa uniquely has donated the front of their kit shirts, usually reserved for high paying sponsorship deals, to Acorns Hospice to provide them national visibility and exposure. Spurs and these other clubs are leading the way in establishing greater responsibility and compassion in professional sport.^[35][36][37]

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 played in the South-East & London Regional Women's League (the fourth tier of the game). They won promotion after topping the league in 2007/08, and currently play in the South East Combination Women's Football League (the third tier of the game).

Support

Tottenham have a large fanbase in the United Kingdom, drawn largely from North London and the Home Counties. Five times between 1946 and 1969, Tottenham had the highest average attendance in England.^[38][39] There are also Tottenham supporters' clubs located all over the world. Tottenham were 9th in average attendances for the 2008/9 Premier League season, and 11th for all Premier League seasons.^[40]

Tottenham supporters have rivalries with several clubs, mainly within the London area. The fiercest of these is with North London rivals Arsenal. They also share notable rivalries with fellow London clubs Chelsea and West Ham United.^[41]

The club, as with many clubs in London, has a large Jewish following and this led to much provocation of an anti-semitic nature^[42][43] against Tottenham supporters. Tottenham supporters, Jewish and non-Jewish, united against this and adopted for themselves the nickname Yids, developing chants to support this. Many of the fans view adopting “Yid” as a badge of pride, helping defuse its power as an insult.^[44] Today it is mainly used to distinguish fans from other football supporters. Many fans, however, disagree with the use of the name "Yid", and believe it will only attract more racism.^[45]

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

Affiliated clubs

• SC Internacional

• Supersport United

• San Jose Earthquakes

• TOT-CAT F.C.

• South China AA^[46]

Honours

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

Statistics and records

Steve Perryman holds the appearance record for Spurs, having played 854 games for the club between 1969 and 1986, of which 655 were league matches.^[47][48] Jimmy Greaves holds the club goalscoring record with 266 goals in 380 league, cup and European appearances.^[49]

Tottenham's record league win is 9–0 against Bristol Rovers in the Second Division on 22 October 1977.^[50][51] The club's record cup victory came on 3 February 1960 with a 13–2 win over Crewe Alexandra in the FA Cup.^[52] Spurs' biggest top-flight victory came against Wigan Athletic on 22 November 2009, when they won 9–1 with Jermain Defoe scoring five goals.^[51][53]

Players

As of 2 September 2010^[54]

First team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Heurelho Gomes 2 DF Alan Hutton 3 MF Gareth Bale 4 DF Younes Kaboul 5 MF David Bentley 6 MF Tom Huddlestone 7 MF Aaron Lennon 8 MF Jermaine Jenas 9 FW Roman Pavlyuchenko 10 FW Robbie Keane 11 MF Rafael van der Vaart 12 MF Wilson Palacios 13 DF William Gallas 14 MF Luka Modrić 15 FW Peter Crouch

No. Position Player 16 DF Kyle Naughton 17 FW Giovani dos Santos 18 FW Jermain Defoe 19 DF Sébastien Bassong 20 DF Michael Dawson (vice captain) 21 MF Niko Kranjčar 22 DF Vedran Ćorluka 23 GK Carlo Cudicini 24 MF Jamie O'Hara 25 MF Danny Rose 26 DF Ledley King (captain) 28 DF Kyle Walker 30 MF Sandro 32 DF Benoît Assou-Ekotto 37 GK Stipe Pletikosa (on loan from Spartak Moscow)

Reserves and academy

Club management and support staff

Role	Name
Manager	Harry Redknapp
Assistant manager	Kevin Bond
First team coach	Joe Jordan
Assistant first team coach	Tim Sherwood
Goalkeeping coach	Tony Parks
Striker coach	Les Ferdinand
Head physiotherapist	Aaron Harris
Physiotherapist	Danny Murphy

For reserve and academy staff, see Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Reserves and Academy

Club directors

Role	Name
Executive chairman	Daniel Levy
Director	Matthew Collecott
Director	Sir Keith Mills

Former managers and players

Managers and head coaches in club's history

• Listed according to when they became managers for Tottenham Hotspur:

• (C) – Caretaker
• (FTC) – First Team Coach

Top 20 managers of the club's history

Based on win % in all competitions

	Manager	Years	Played	Won	Win %
1	Frank Brettell	1898–1899	63	37	58.73
2	Arthur Turner	1942–1946	49	27	55.10
3	Harry Redknapp	2008–Present	96	50	52.08
4	John Cameron	1899–1907	570	296	51.93
5	David Pleat 1	1986–1987	119	60	50.42
6	Bill Nicholson	1958–1974	832	408	49.03
7	Arthur Rowe	1949–1955	283	135	47.70
8	Fred Kirkham	1907–1908	61	29	47.54
9	Jimmy Anderson 2	1955–1958	161	75	46.58
10	Percy Smith	1929–1935	253	109	46.38
11	Doug Livermore Ray Clemence	1992–1993	51	23	45.09
12	Martin Jol 3	2004–2007	150	67	44.67
13	Peter Shreeves	1984–1986 & 1991–1992	177	79	44.63
14	Jack Tresadern	1935–1938	146	65	44.52
15	Peter McWilliam	1913–1927 & 1938–1942	750	331	44.13
16	'The Directors'	1908–1913	231	99	42.86
17	Joe Hulme	1946–1949	150	64	42.67
18	Keith Burkinshaw	1976–1984	431	182	42.23
19	Terry Venables	1987–1991	165	67	40.61
20	Billy Minter	1927–1929	124	49	39.52

^{* Stats correct as of 26 August 2010}

¹ Includes caretaker manager stints in 1998, 2001 and 2003–04
² Includes short caretaker manager stint
³ Includes his one match as caretaker manager after Santini's resignation

Notable former players

The following players have been inducted into Tottenham's Hall of Fame for their contributions to the club:^[55] The most recent two who have been added are Darren Anderton and Steffen Freund on 3 December 2009.^[56]

For other past players of note, see List of Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players.

Club Player of Year

As voted by Members & Season Ticket Holders. (Calendar year until 2005 – '06 season)

Superleague Formula

The Spurs car during Donington Park's 2008 round

Tottenham Hotspur has a team in the Superleague Formula race car series where football teams lend their name to cars. The team was operated by GTA Motor Competición in the 2008 season but in the 2009 season Alan Docking Racing is now operating it. The Tottenham Hotspur team has had 3 drivers, Duncan Tappy and Dominik Jackson in 2008 and Craig Dolby in 2009. Tottenham have been on the podium 7 times, including 1 win with Craig Dolby at Circuit Zolder.

References

Further reading

External links

• TottenhamHotspur.com Official club website
• Tottenham Hotspur News – Sky Sports
• Tottenham Hotspur Ladies Official ladies club website
• Tottenham Hotspur at the Premier League official website
• Supporters' Trust
• Spurs Canada
• Tottenham Hotspur Brasil
• Tottenham Hotspur Switzerland
• Spurs history 1882–1921
• Timesonline archive

News sites

• Tottenham Hotspur F.C. on BBC Sport: Club News – Recent results – Upcoming fixtures – Club stats
• Tottenham Hotspur Team news from Carling
• AIM: TTNM
• Tottenham Hotspur Stats
• British Pathe newsreels

Preceded by Atlético Madrid	European Cup Winners' Cup Winner 1962–63 Runner up: Atlético Madrid	Succeeded by Sporting Lisbon
Preceded by Inaugural Champions	UEFA Cup 1971–72 Runner up: Wolverhampton Wanderers	Succeeded by Liverpool
Preceded by Anderlecht	UEFA Cup 1983–84 Runner up: Anderlecht	Succeeded by Real Madrid