Tottenham Hotspur on this Day - 4th December 1968

Tottenham on this Day - 4th December

4th December 1968

 

Spurs 1 Arsenal 1 League Cup semi-final (2nd leg) [Lost 1-2 on agg.]

Scorer: Greaves

Jimmy Greaves scores the opening goal at White Hart Lane to bring the teams level on aggregate

 

Tottenham, one down from the first leg at Highbury through an injury time goal, played an unchanged team at White Hart Lane. This was only the second occasion that they had taken part in the competition and Spurs needed to win by two goals while the visitors would be satisfied by a draw. 

 

Compared to the dour struggle of the first match, this was a game of hard, crunching tackles which at times, early in the game, spilled over with some of the nasty incidents that can occur in local derbies.

 

Arsenal started the better amid all the tackles and put the home defence under early pressure as they controlled much of the first half. Mike England, playing at centre-forward, struggled against Ian Ure as Spurs created little, apart from three long-range shots from Terry Venables.

 

After the interval, Spurs showed greater endeavour and took control in midfield which enabled Jimmy Greaves to score his 25th goal of the season. It came as he turned in a chipped centre from Jimmy Pearce with just over twenty minutes remaining.

 

Spurs continued to put the visitors under pressure as they sought a second to secure their place in the Final at Wembley. Bob Wilson kept Arsenal in the tie and just as happened in the first leg, they again struck late to claim the victory. With three minutes left, centre-forward John Radford scored with a header from a corner to reach their second successive League Cup Final.

 

Venables and Arsenal defenders argue

Tottenham battled away in the time remaining but Wilson somehow managed to keep out a late strike from Alan Gilzean.

 

The attendance was 55,932, Spurs’ record home gate for a Football League Cup tie at White Hart Lane.

 

Team: Jennings; Kinnear, Knowles; Mullery, Collins P., Beal; Pearce, Greaves, England, Venables, Gilzean

 

Losing the semi-final was disappointing for Spurs but to lose to their greatest rivals was doubly disappointing, the only joy from the loss came later in the season when Arsenal lost in the Final for the second time, this time to 3rd Division, Swindon Town.

Tottenham’s early years in the Football League Cup

The competition started in 1960-61 but entry was not compulsory and it received a lukewarm reception from 1st Division clubs. Spurs, like a number of other clubs opted out, citing concerns about having too many matches and in that first season, Tottenham were focused on other major competitions.

 

It was not until the 1966-67 season that Spurs finally opted in, with the carrot of the Final being played at Wembley and a place in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (to become the UEFA Cup) for the winning team. The next year they again, didn’t take part as they were in the European Cup Winners’ Cup as FA Cup winners. Spurs have played in the League Cup in every season since 1968-69.

 

For the first nine years they competed in the League Cup, Tottenham’s record is rather unusual. They either won the trophy (twice - 1971 and 1973), lost in the semi-finals (three times - 1969, 1972, 1976) or were knocked out in the 2nd Round (i.e. the first match they played in the competition on four occasions - 1967, 1970, 1974 and 1975).

 

It was only in the 1976-77 season, the year they were relegated, that they broke that cycle and progressed beyond the opening round only to be knocked out before the semi-finals.

 

Tottenham Hotspur in Europe on this Day - 3rd December 1963

 

Tottenham Hotspur in Europe on this Day - 3rd December 

3rd December 1963

Spurs 2 Manchester United 0 European Cup Winners’ Cup 2nd Round (1st leg)

Scorers: Mackay, Dyson

 

Mackay, Brown , Greaves and Dyson search for the rest of the team, enshrouded in thick fog

 Match postponed due to thick fog

The match had been scheduled for the previous Wednesday evening but White Hart Lane was enveloped by fog just before kick-off. One newspaper report described the sudden arrival of the fog which caused the postponement of the match until Tuesday, 3rd December.

 

‘A fantastic blanket of fog wiped out the European Cup Winners’ Cup match at White Hart Lane. A minute before kick-off the game could have been played. Visibility was quite good. Sixty incredible seconds later it was hardly possible to see the near touchline from the stand.’

 

United had defeated Dutch side, Willem II, in the 1st Round while Tottenham as Cup holders, had received a bye to that stage of the competition.

 

Going into the game Spurs were third in the 1st Division table, having drawn at home to Sheffield Wednesday the previous Saturday to fall a point behind joint-leaders Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers. United were 5th two points behind Spurs after moving up four places with a win at Sheffield United.

 

Re-arranged match programme

United defended in depth throughout the game and only threatened in breakaways. It took over an hour for Spurs to break them down with a goal from Dave Mackay. Spurs had piled on the pressure roared on by a packed White Hart Lane crowd of 57,447. Cliff Jones started the move with a back-heel to Mackay who rushed in, took aim and smashed in a thunderbolt shot.

 

 This looked like being Spurs' only reward for all their attacking and pressure as United often had eight or nine men crowding their goal area. Three minutes from time a mistake by United full back, Tony Dunne, presented Spurs with a second. He met a long cross from John White and controlled the ball comfortably but then turned to pass back to his goalkeeper. He under-hit his pass which allowed Terry Dyson to nip in crash a shot into the net.

 

The second goal had improved Spurs' position for the second leg at Old Trafford. This was almost the last stand by the 'Double team' against age and injury - Danny Blanchflower had already played his last game - and loss of form.

 

Dave Mackay scores the opening goal after an hour with a thunderbolt of a shot

It was never going to be the same for Tottenham’s greatest ever team, the coming months would see many big changes.

 

Team: Brown; Baker, Henry; Marchi, Norman, Mackay; Jones, White, Smith, R., Greaves, Dyson

Tottenham Hotspur on this Day - 1st December 1990

• Tottenham Hotspur on this Day - 1st December

  1st December 1990

   

  Chelsea 3 Tottenham Hotspur 2 (1st Division)

  Scorers: Gascoigne, Lineker

   

  It could only happen to Spurs.

   

  

  
  Ten months earlier Spurs had won 2-1 at Stamford Bridge through goals from David Howells and Gary Lineker. The defeat on this day in 1990 turned out to be the first game in a long losing sequence. Spurs next win at Stamford Bridge didn’t come until April Fool’s Day 2018 when Christian Eriksen and a Dele Alli double brought a 3-1 victory, a run of 30 matches in all competitions at Stamford Bridge without a win.

   

  The signs surrounding this match were not promising from early on. The team, with manager Terry Veneables, stopped for lunch at a hotel in central London on the way to the game. The team coach was parked illegally, clamped and towed away with the team kit inside. As a consequence, the Tottenham party arrived late, by taxi, at Stamford Bridge, handed in their team sheet late and the match was delayed by 11 minutes. Spurs were later fined by the Football Association.

   

  On the pitch, it wasn’t much better. Chelsea were more up for the contest while Spurs were sluggish and by the time they woke up, it was too late. Tottenham had 18 year old youth international, David Tuttle making his debut in place of the injured Steve Sedgley. Inside five minutes he was left standing when former Spurs youth player Kerry Dixon, opened the scoring.

   

  Gary Lineker did have the ball in the net but it was disallowed for hand-ball. Chelsea were two up at the interval, scoring from close range with a minute to go, after Erik Thorstvedt had pushed out a shot from future Spurs’ signing Gordon Durie, only for Bumstead to score.

   

  For the second half, Mitchell Thomas replaced Tuttle in central defence with another young player, Justin Edinburgh, coming on at right-back. There was little initial improvement from Spurs as Wise struck the bar from a splendid free-kick.

   

  Paul Gascoigne with an even more remarkable free-kick pulled a goal back for Spurs to give them some hope after 54 minutes. Not for long though - two minutes later, a corner wasn’t cleared properly and Durie’s shot from the edge of the box bounced awkwardly in front of Thorstvedt and into the net.

   

  A minute later, Spurs should have been back in the game but Lineker having been brought down by the goalkeeper, put his penalty over the bar.

   

  Paul Walsh replaced Nayim and for the final half-hour Tottenham came to life and as Chelsea tired, Spurs put them under considerable pressure.

   

  A Gascoigne header from a corner was cleared off the line, Lineker was put clean through again but the goalkeeper saved at his feet and he then shot wide from a similar position. Spurs eventually got their second when Paul Stewart’s pass found from Lineker who scored with an acrobatic shot in the 82nd minute but it wasn’t enough to take the points.

   

  For all their late effort, it was too little, too late for Tottenham.

   

  Team: Thorstvedt; Thomas, Tuttle (Edinburgh, Mabbutt, Van den Hauwe; Howells, Allen Gascoigne, Nayim (Walsh), Lineker, Stewart

  
  

  
  

 

Tottenham Hotspur on this Day - 2nd December 1998

Tottenham Hotspur on this Day - 2nd December

2nd December 1998

 

On this day, 2nd December, 1998 Tottenham defeated Manchester United at White Hart Lane in a Worthington Cup 5th Round tie to progress to the semi-finals. Two headers from Chris Armstrong and a special goal from David Ginola helped Spurs on their way.

 

Tottenham Hotpur 3 Manchester United 1 Worthington Cup 5th Round

Scorers: Armstrong (2), Ginola

Chris Armstrong and David Ginola celebrate Tottenhm's goals against Manchester United

This victory enabled Spurs under George Graham to progress to the semi-finals of the competition where they were to face Wimbledon over two legs.

 

An injury-hit Spurs' team’s goals against an under-strength United came from Chris Armstrong who scored twice with two glorious headers in the space of eight minutes at the start of the second half. A final spectacular shot from David Ginola, five minutes from time, secured the win.

 

Spurs' first goal came two minutes after the interval. Allan Nielsen clipped a pass onto the head of substitute Ruel Fox who flicked it on for Armstrong to head powerfully past the goalkeeper. Eight minutes Ginola dazzled the United defenders with his footwork before whipping in a great cross which Armstrong met at the near post to head home.

 

Teddy Sheringham pulled a goal back but Ginola finished off United in the 86th minute with a left-foot strike from 25 yards which left the goalkeeper helpless. Spurs second half display had been too much for United.

 

Team: Walker; Carr, Young, Vega, Sinton; Anderton, Nielsen, Calderwood (Fox), Ginola; Iversen, Armstrong

 

George Graham had taken over from Christian Gross in early October and brought some much needed organisation and fight to the team. This was most evident in the Cup competitions as the team went on the win this competition and were unlucky to lose to Newcastle United in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

 

Commenting after the win over United, Graham said,

"In our position we can’t afford, like some other clubs, to pick and chose what we want to win. We would love to be in that position one day but right now we’ll take anything we can get because Spurs haven’t won a trophy for too long and it’s about time the fans were rewarded."

 

This was the only competition which United didn’t win that season, going on to lift the ‘treble’ – the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.