Robert Exley
Tottenham Hotspur have long been associated with the Jewish faith, the club however were founded in 1882 by a group of grammar school boys from bible class at All Hallows Anglican Church, situated in Church Lane, close by to their current home at White Hart Lane in Tottenham which has stood there since the eleventh century. Initially called just plain ‘Hotspur FC’, the same group were also members of Hotspur Cricket Club who chose Football to occupy themselves during the winter. The choice of Hotspur as a name derives from ‘Harry Hotspur’ - not Jamie Redknapp’s dad, but Sir Henry Percy who was a late medieval noble man, recognised as one of the most valiant knights of his day for involvement in battles against the Scots and the French, who also led a rebellion against Henry IV for the murder of Richard II and was killed at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403.
Percy was brought wider fame as ‘Harry Hotspur’ in William Shakespeare’s historic play on the life of Henry IV. It is alleged that Percy’s descendants owned land in the Tottenham area. The founders of Hotspur FC had intended for their side to produce fighting, yet entertaining and flamboyant football in the same vein as Sir Henry, adopting the Latin moniker of ‘Audere-est-Facere’ (To Dare is to Do). It turns out that there existed another side called London Hotspur FC and as a result the side changed their name to Tottenham Hotspur. The first fixture between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur took place at the Manor Ground in Plumstead on 9th November 1896 in the United League, which Arsenal won 2-1.
As everyone knows, this fixture wasn’t a North London derby on account of Arsenal then being based south of the river. It must be conceded therefore that Tottenham were the first side in North London. There are those among the Arsenal support who deny this fact on account of Tottenham being a part of the county of Middlesex until the redrawing of the boundaries in 1965, this however is splitting hairs as until the creation of the London County Council in 1889 everywhere within what is now known as the Greater London area, outside of the square mile of the City of London, previously lay in another county – and that includes both Woolwich (Kent) and Highbury (Middlesex).
At the time of Arsenal’s first meeting with Tottenham, they were at the time already members of the Football League. Their involvement in the United League was to provide additional midweek afternoon fixtures, which consequently were played out in front of much smaller crowds than that which Saturday fixtures attracted. Other sides in the United League at the time included Millwall, Luton, Loughborough Town, Kettering, Rushden Town and Wellingborough. The United League lasted until the turn of the century and one notable United League fixture involved a game with Tottenham at the Manor Ground, which was abandoned due to foul and abusive language from the crowd and was never replayed.
Spurs around this same period were members of the Southern League, the roots of which came from Arsenal’s attempts to instigate a southern version of the Football League which contained mainly northern and Midlands based sides, which had existed since 1888. Arsenal instead joined the Football League in 1893 effectively making it a national league, but the Southern League proceeded a year later and became a big success with sides like Tottenham and Millwall attracting crowds as big as 50,000. Despite being one of the biggest sides within the Southern League, Spurs only won the League once in 1899/1900.
Tottenham won their first FA Cup the following season in 1901 while competing in the Southern League and ever since have been falsely lauded as the only ever ‘Non-League’ side to win the trophy. The Southern League is now the seventh tier of English football, however was not part of a pyramid system in 1901 and therefore on a par with the Football League. In fact, it lacked the maximum wage of the Football League and frequently poached Football League players as a result, therefore you can say it actually had an advantage over Football League sides. Tottenham’s first glory period at the turn of the century in which they won the Southern League and FA Cup in successive seasons actually followed as a result of poaching Football League players who broke their restrictive contracts to play in the Southern League, such as John Cameron and Jack Bell, the latter heavily involved in the formation of the Association Footballers' Union, which was the forerunner to the PFA in representing Professional Footballers.
Turning out for Spurs during this period was future Arsenal manager Herbert Chapman, who was a Spurs player between 1905 to his retirement in 1907. The following season Tottenham won election to the Second Division of the Football League and in their first year won Promotion to the First Division, which led to the first league meeting between Tottenham and Woolwich Arsenal at the Manor Ground in December 1909, which Arsenal won 1-0. All Football League meetings between the two sides have occurred within the top flight, which Arsenal fell out of in 1912/13. Arsenal relocated to North London in 1913/14, which led to protests from Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs however became of victim of their own habit of crying wolf, as throughout this period they raising objections to what they felt was unwanted London competition while in the Southern League by attempting but failing to stop Clapton Orient joining in 1904, but successfully preventing Chelsea’s admission to that League a year later. Arguably also, given that Arsenal had taken on most of the financial risks required to developing professional football in London, such as becoming the first club in the capital to turn professional in the face of opposition from the London FA and becoming the only Southern based club in the first attempt at a nationwide Football League while sides like Tottenham were saving travel expenses in a Southern League which was effectively Arsenal’s brainchild, it seems only fair that the Gunners be allowed to pick a location of their choice within the metropolis to secure their existence, at a time when their extinction looked a strong possibility.
In Tottenham’s only two seasons of playing a division above Arsenal, they finished in seventeenth position in 1913/14 and rock bottom of the table in 1914/15. Famously, when Football resumed after the First World War in 1919/20 Arsenal were ‘invited’ back to a top flight which expanded from twenty to twenty two sides despite finishing fifth, at the expense of Barnsley and Wolves who finished fourth and fifth. Arsenal were originally endorsed for promotion by Football League President and chairman of Liverpool John McKenna on account of their longer membership of the League and won the subsequent vote by eighteen votes to Spurs' eight, while Barnsley got five, Wolves four, Nottingham Forest three, Birmingham two and Hull City one.
The reasons why Arsenal were granted promotion are shrouded in mystery with suggestions (though unproven) of corruption. In the early twentieth century, Professional Football and the Football League itself were much less established in the South of England and Arsenal’s location within the capital can be considered as big a reason as to why they were chosen ahead of provincial sides such as Barnsley and Wolves. Tottenham have long felt a sense of injustice over the fact that Football League promoted Arsenal rather than allowed Tottenham to stay up, however a team finishing bottom of the top division arguably has less of a right to retain a place among the elite than the side finishing three positions beneath a promotion place in the division below.
Tottenham however came back up to the top flight as a result of winning the Second Division in 1919/20 by six clear points. The first ever North London derby took place at White Hart Lane on 15th January 1921. Tottenham’s first visit to Highbury came a week later, which Arsenal won 3-2 with two goals from Jackie Rutherford. That season however Tottenham had won their second FA Cup with a 1-0 win over Wolves at Stamford Bridge. The following season Spurs also finished second to Liverpool in the league, however remained in the bottom half of the table until they were relegated at the end of the 1927/28 season, just as former Spur Herbert Chapman was beginning to build an Arsenal side which challenged for trophies.
Spurs remained in the second tier until gaining promotion as runners up in 1932/33, with a side which included former Arsenal star Jimmy Brain. On their first season back in the top flight a group of Spurs forwards featured in this piece for Pathe News. In their first season back in the top flight Spurs had a fairly impressive season finishing third, behind Arsenal who won their second successive title. That season Arsenal actually lost their home fixture against Tottenham 1-3 in January, though Arsenal were to beat Tottenham 4-0 in the final of the London Challenge Cup Final at Highbury. As Arsenal were to make it a hat-trick of league titles the following season however, Spurs were to fall out of the top flight again finishing the season rock bottom with Arsenal winning the fixture at Highbury 5-1 with a hat-trick for Ted Drake, a goal from Pat Beasley and an own goal from Tottenham’s Thomas Evans.
Tottenham this time were to remain in the second tier until after the Second World War, dropping to as low as tenth position in the old Second Division in 1936/37. The earliest available newsreel footage of an Arsenal v Tottenham game at Highbury however came from a benefit match to celebrate the Football League’s Golden Jubilee just prior to the 1938/39 season, which had been the Arsenal debut of their then record signing Bryn Jones. That day Tottenham however inflicted a 0-2 defeat on Arsenal. However, while Spurs couldn’t compete with Arsenal in the top flight, they had to content themselves with taking on a group of Boxers at Darts, as shown from this Movietone footage from August 1939.
While still languishing in the second tier, under the management of former Arsenal winger Joe Hulme, Tottenham managed to reach the Semi Final of the FA Cup against the Blackpool side of Matthews and Mortensen. A Stan Mortensen hat-trick gave Blackpool a 3-1 win. The following season Spurs met Arsenal at Highbury in the third round of the FA Cup for the first competitive fixture between the two sides for nearly fourteen years. Arsenal triumphed with a 3-0 win over second tier Spurs with goals from Doug Lishman, Ian McPherson and Don Roper. The following season however, as Arsenal won the FA Cup with a Semi Final win at White Hart Lane on route with a from Freddie Cox who joined the Gunners from Tottenham the previous summer, Spurs’ fortunes however changed on the appointment of Tottenham-born former player Arthur Rowe and his ‘Push and Run’ style of Football.
Tottenham returned back to the top flight by virtue of winning the 1949/50 Second Division title by nine clear points under a two points for a win system. Also, in their first season back in the top flight in 1950/51, Tottenham quite impressively won their first league title with a squad that included future Spurs manager Bill Nicholson and England World Cup Winning manager Sir Alf Ramsey. The following season Tottenham pipped a double challenging Arsenal side to the runners up spot on goal average, as an injury-hit Arsenal side lost 1-6 in a Championship decider with that year’s League Champions Man Utd at Old Trafford. Arthur Rowe’s Spurs side however would decline soon after, finishing in the bottom half of the table for four seasons in a row between 1952 and 1956. Rowe retired through ill-health in 1955, though their fortunes were to change again on the appointment of Bill Nicholson in October 1958.
The season prior to Nicholson’s appointment Arsenal and Spurs played out a 4-4 draw at Highbury, with goals from Danny Clapton, David Herd, Gordon Nutt and a Tottenham own goal while two goals apiece for Bobby Smith and Tommy Harmer were on target for Spurs. A month prior to Nicholson’s appointment Arsenal scored a 3-1 win over Spurs with two goals from David Herd and one from Gordon Nutt. Nicholson’s first game in charge of Spurs was an impressive 10-4 victory over Everton with Bobby Smith bagging four goals. As everyone knows, Tottenham’s annus miribulus came in 1960/61. That season in September, Spurs inflicted a 2-3 defeat on Arsenal at Highbury with goals from David Herd and Gerry Ward for the Gunners, while Les Allen, Terry Dyson and Frank Saul were on target for Spurs.
Credit where credit’s due, Spurs’ 1961 side won the title by eight clear points under a two for a win system and were the only side during the period of the maximum wage to win the ‘elusive’ League and FA Cup double, which the Football League officially abolished the following season. Spurs’ first visit to Highbury after winning the double in December 1961 however resulted in a 2-1 win for Arsenal, with goals for Mel Charles and Alan Skirton, with Dave Mackay on target for Tottenham. Playing in his first North London Derby that afternoon had been Jimmy Greaves, who scored a hat-trick on his Tottenham debut against Blackpool a week prior.
Though Arsenal spent much of the 1960s in the shadow of Tottenham, Spurs’ visits to Highbury were usually high scoring affairs. In 1962/63 Spurs inflicted a 2-3 defeat on Arsenal with goals from Cliff Jones, Tony Marchi and Bobby Smith for Tottenham, while Joe Baker and Geoff Strong were on target for the Gunners, that same season Spurs became the first English side to win a European trophy by defeating Atletico Madrid in that year’s European Cup Winners’ Cup Final. The following season, in October Arsenal played out a 4-4 draw with Spurs at Highbury, with two goals for George Eastham and one apiece for Joe Baker and Geoff Strong. On the scoresheet for Spurs had been Jimmy Greaves, Dave Mackay and two goals for Bobby Smith. In 1964/65 Arsenal scored a 3-1 victory over Spurs at Highbury, with two goals for Joe Baker and one from John Radford.
In September 1967 Arsenal scored their biggest win over Tottenham during the 1960s with a thumping 4-0 win with goals from Colin Addison, George Graham, Terry Neill and John Radford. Arsenal would also return to the hunt for trophies, setting up a second successive Wembley visit in the League Cup by defeating Tottenham in the Semi Final, winning the first leg at Highbury 1-0 with a goal from John Radford. The last North London Derby of the 1960s ended in a 2-3 defeat for Arsenal at Highbury, however resulted in a piece of history as former Spur Jimmy Robertson became the first player to score for both sides in a North London Derby scoring Arsenal’s second goal.
In Arsenal’s double season of 1970/71, Spurs visited Highbury in September with George Armstrong scoring both goals in a 2-0 win for the Gunners. At Christmas that year, Tottenham’s Alan Mullery on LWT’s Big Match Special went so far as tipping Arsenal to win the title that season (@04.46), which was duly delivered at White Hart Lane five months later. Mullery however would be on the scoresheet, along with Ralph Coates for Tottenham in a 0-2 defeat for Arsenal the following season in the last game of the 1971/72 season. This game however was a fairly meaningless fixture which took place on the Thursday following Arsenal’s Cup Final defeat, as Arsenal could go no higher than fifth and even after taking all three points at Highbury Spurs could not go any higher than sixth position.
