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As our rollercoaster season draws to a close, seemingly with a whimper rather than a bang, thoughts start veering towards next season and getting round to renewing the season ticket. Apparently we have until half -time at the Brum game on the last day of the season to renew. Given the rather poor 3G reception down at Spurs its probably a given that furiously trying to access the on-line ticket service at 3.40 PM (or 4.40 if its a 4 PM kick-off) instead of getting some beers in, is probably not the wisest of options. Yet again I am in a general state of apathy or laziness around whether to renew or not. I know I will but as the moment draws closer I start thinking is it really worth it , do I need another season where inevitably a lot of the time I go home down in the dumps and with a splitting headache. I used to play football on a Saturday morning and then shoot off to Spurs, I have given up the former ( being a newlywed I don’t think the wife would really appreciate me being out the whole day on a Saturday!) but am finding it exceedingly difficult to give up the latter.
It’s Spurs, its a family thing. Spurs have been a massive part of my life since I was five years old, I probably even supported them when I was an embryo. When I phone up the rents to see how they are doing, if the old man answers, its usually just a hello and passing the phone onto my mum. Unless of course there’s something Spurs related to discuss, when of course we’ll have a good old natter for ten minutes. Even my Mrs. watches Spurs games now and she’s from India which lets face it, is hardly known for being a hotbed for Spurs support. My Gran named her dog Jermain Defoe (actually I named it but she kept the name), though to be fair given the way he moves about he could teach the real Jermain a thing or two and if you shout out “Defoe” he’ll wag his tail and respond. Most of my mates are all Spurs, its strange how you choose the people you grow up with and become mates with. There was never a conscious effort to have the majority of my mates as Spurs but that’s the way it turned out, though then again thinking of it I grew up in London so its not really that odd. Most of the people who I think are right cocks usually turn out supporting Arsenal; not all of them of course, I’m actually good mates with quite a few decent Arsenal lads though that’s probably because my all round Spurs coolness has rubbed off on them but yeah in general a lot of knobjockey’s support the Country Bumpkins.
Obviously there’s the club itself , going there on matchday…the boozers:The Bill Nick with their pole dancers and shot girls in catsuits or Playboy Bunny outfits.The Bell and Hare with their beer garden which sells cans for £2.50.Rudolphs where my grumpy friend Matt refuses to budge from and reminds me that no matter how depressed I can get in the immediate aftermath of a Spurs game, he’ll still be even grumpier where if you stay long enough it turns into a Nightclub in Valentinos, a place where I frequented in my youth as a North London Rude Boy and saw the quite brilliant Chaka Demus and Pliers. I don’t care what anyone says, Tease Me and Murder She Wrote were classics for their genre.The Bricklayers where we met the Spurs Mad American “Soccer” Coach who’s wife sends him over to England to get rid of him a few times a year and once turned up with the team he coaches and we were singing Spurs songs until closing before ending up in Camden
Then of course there’s the dearly departed but not forgotten boozers like The Cornerpin, a place that was dingy and stank and garish but was so hopelessly devoted to Spurs just like me.Bar Latina, which had karaoke on a Saturday night and where I thrilled the crowds so much with my rendition of “Hey Jude” by the Beatles that they all rushed out of the pub whilst I was singing, no doubt to snap up a copy.Then of course no Saturday night at Spurs would ever be complete before moving onto Eros in Enfield, a place where if you get in and out without getting shot, its an achievement. But it was worth it to see a special appearance by Gary Lucy from Hollyoaks or some other Z list soap actor. Actually that bits untrue but the Krispy Kreme drive thru after an Eros night was something special.
Then of course there’s the fans, Spurs fans who always seem a bit cockier, flashier and have that London swagger that other football fans seem to lack. Its probably why the rest of the country seems to hate us so much. Spurs fans always have the last word. But they are the lifeblood of what makes the club so unique. As the song goes
TOTTENHAM BOYS WE ARE HERE SHAG YOUR WOMEN DRINK YOUR BEER
Our wonderful stadium, sadly now looking to be on her last legs as we look to move to something altogether more corporate, but on those sadly increasingly rare occasions where the stadium is rocking and the noise reaches a crescendo there can be no better atmosphere in England.
And finally of course there’s Tottenham itself. The area. People will call it a shithole and its not the world’s most salubrious area but its our shithole so give it some respect. There’s a vibrancy about the area, I’m of course biased because my formative years were spent in Tottenham. Its my hometown and it angers me when people run it down. It could be said I’m hypocritical now that I have left there and moved onto pastures new but there is a deep pride instilled in me about being from Tottenham and the area of North London as a whole. Tottenham Hotspur are one of the final links to a childhood long gone but remembered with such pleasure.
But is that reason enough to keep going back and paying now £690 for a season ticket. Because you may have noticed one thing I have failed to mention is probably the one thing that most football fans actually care about. The Football itself.
I’ll be honest until last season I have no memory of a Spurs team finishing higher than 7th in the league. I may prattle on and bore people silly about Spurs but I have never seen the Spurs glory days. I was of course around during the ’80s but barely remember the Burkinshaw team. My first vibrant Spurs related memory was the 1987 FA Cup Final which we lost to Coventry. Prior to that Spurs had been to seven FA Cup finals and won them all. Its probably a fitting start to what has been my memories as a Spurs fan; desperation, desolation, holding my head in my hands and thinking just when it can’t get any worse it does.
I was of course lucky enough to be at the 1991 FA Cup Semi against Arsenal and watch Gazza’s free kick and the sheer joy I felt. The mixture of the occasion, going to Wembley for the first time and just sheer childhood exuberance means as an isolated incident that is still my standout occasion in supporting Spurs. And guess what it was now 20 years ago. I have now gone from being a mere child to a married man, with a professional career and my own place, and I’m still as much in love with Tottenham Hotspur as I was then.
In that time I’ve been to five FA Cup Semi Finals which have all been lost.Been to Newcastle to see us lose 7-1 and 6-1. Yeah you read that right, to Newcastle!Watched us go 3-0 up to Man United and then lose 5-3If you thought that couldn’t be topped I then saw us go 3-0 up to to Man City and them have a player sent off, start thinking about getting tickets for the next round, only to see Spurs lose the game 4-3I went to Kaiserslautern in Germany and watched us drawing 0-0 to go through right up until the 91st minute, the final score was Kaiserslautern 2 Spurs 0, Spurs lost 2-1 on aggregate.Before I forget I also saw us lose 6-1 at home to Chelsea.And of course good old lasagne gate at Upton park in 2006. What a horrible journey back that was, particularly with the hordes of Arsenal fans celebrating.
There’s been some other stunning moments and believe there’s been a lot and in the immediate aftermath, every time I kid you not, I say no more…that’s it, that’s my lot. I’ve had enough.
But it’s not enough. Because for every one of those results there’s been a reverse. It may have been the 5-1 semis against Chelsea in 2002 or Arsenal in 2008. Beating Chelsea at Wembley in 2008. Beating Inter Milan and then AC Milan this season. Last years game at Eastlands, beating West Ham 4-3 at Upton park. For the casual observer these might be isolated results…there’s no trophy for beating West Ham. In fact in my adult life Spurs have only won one trophy, the 2008 Carling Cup and lets be honest for your average football fan they’ll pour scorn on it and call it a Mickey Mouse trophy. Sadly they don’t understand what supporting a club and particularly what supporting Tottenham Hotspur is about.
Supporting Spurs to me is about those moments, you can live with the fact that 9 times out of 10 Spurs will frustrate you, leave you close to collapse and devastate you. But then comes that glorious moment when the real Tottenham Hotspur turn up. The Spurs that you grew up hearing about, the legends who play football like no other team in England can, with swagger, with style, with glamour and with arrogance. With that spring in their step, a culture that transmits itself to each and every Spurs fan. The moment when the club becomes whole again and we are one. And that’s why I go.
“It’s not the despair, I can take the despair; it’s the hope that kills me…”
The John Cleese quote from Clockwise is commonly referenced by Spurs fans. We are the ultimate dreamers, forever hoping that our club can dine once again at football’s top table, only to see those hopes cruelly dashed, usually in what a Spurs fan would define as cruel circumstances but where fans of other clubs will laugh at us.
However I prefer to think of Hope as being positive. Hope is better than Expectation. Expectations if they aren’t reached, leave you disappointed. Hope helps you endure, and that’s what Spurs gave me from the time I was a little boy. Spurs gave me hope. Spurs taught me that Today might be the worst day of my life but all I can do is hope that Tomorrow will be so much better and that made me wake up and and embrace Tomorrow with new found zeal as who knows what’s round the corner.
I will be eternally grateful for the hope that Spurs gave me and continue to give me. Alongside my parents, Spurs defined me and helped me go from the boy I became to the person I am now. For that I thank Spurs and I’ll always have faith in them And that’s why I am about to click on the renew button on the website and go through that rollercoaster yet again!
This Article was originally appeared on my blog The Glory Game
