Robert Exley
Tottenham’s first visit to Highbury after returning back to the top flight occurred in April 1979, with Arsenal winning 1-0 with a goal from Frank Stapleton, as well as by the same score line on Boxing Day of the same calendar year, this time with Alan Sunderland on target.
By 1980/81 Arsenal had lost Liam Brady to Juventus, however Arsenal still triumphed against the Auld enemy at the end of August 1980 with a 2-0 win secured by goals from David Price and Frank Stapleton. Despite this, by the end of the season though Arsenal finished seven places above Spurs in third place, it was Tottenham that were to steal the headlines, reaching the FA Cup Final with a superb strike in the Semi Final at Highbury by Ricky Villa, as well the same player scoring a sublime winner to win the replayed 1981 FA Cup Final 3-2.
By the time of Tottenham’s next visit to Highbury in April 1982 much had changed. Ten days prior to the game Argentina had invaded the Falklands, leaving Tottenham’s Ardiles and Villa in a rather awkward situation not of their making. A few days later in Tottenham’s FA Cup Semi Final against Leicester at Villa Park, Ossie Ardiles received boos from the opposition fans as a result of the ongoing conflict. The Following week Ardiles was missing for the North London Derby, conveniently called up by the Argentine national squad to train for the upcoming 1982 World Cup, missing the rest of Tottenham’s domestic season as a result. Villa however did feature in the game in which Spurs inflicted a 1-3 defeat on Arsenal with two goals for Garth Crooks and one for Micky Hazard, John Hawley on target for the Gunners.
While Ardiles was out of the equation Villa remained behind in England, however on the eve of Tottenham’s appearance in the 1982 FA Cup Final, as the war raged on John Motson later described that: ‘two high ranking government officials arrived just as I was about to join Burkinshaw for dinner. They took him into a private room and a long conversation ensued about the wisdom of selecting Villa for the final’. The decision was made to drop Ricky for the game, in which Tottenham beat QPR after a replay. Spurs would also reach the League Cup Final that year, but would lose their unbeaten record at Wembley with a 3-1 defeat to Liverpool.
Though Tottenham would have a more successful early eighties compared to Arsenal, as with the 1960s the North London Derby would not be all one way traffic. On Boxing Day 1982 Arsenal would secure a 2-0 win over Spurs at Highbury with goals from Alan Sunderland and Tony Woodcock. Back to back FA Cup wins however did make Tottenham the glamour side of the early 80s and saw them picked by ITV for the first English League game to be televised in full on British television, against Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest in October 1983, which Spurs would win 2-1. That season though Arsenal’s own glamour boy ‘Champagne’ Charlie Nicholas would inspire a 3-2 win for Arsenal over Spurs in April 1983. Also among the goals for Arsenal would be Stewart Robson and Tony Woodcock, while Steve Archibald bagged two for Spurs.
The 1983/84 season however would bring another trophy for Tottenham, defeating Anderlecht after a penalty shootout. The following season Arsenal would top the table early on, however by the time of Spurs’ visit to Highbury on New Year’s Day of 1985 the 1-2 defeat which they inflicted on Arsenal took them to the top of the table, however the title that year would again end up on Merseyside rather than North London. Exactly twelve months on and a drab season for both North London sides would be summed up by a 0-0 draw on New Year’s Day 1986. The 1986/87 season would be different, however the first meeting out of five North London Derbies that season in early September would be another goalless draw.
Tottenham’s next visit in early February 1987 would be one for televisual firsts, as it was the first ever competitive live fixture to be televised from Highbury. It also would be Alan Hansen’s debut as a TV pundit. Tottenham would win the first leg, inflicting a 0-1 defeat on Arsenal with a Clive Allen goal which looked offside. Arsenal however would win the tie, as well as the League Cup in 1987. Tottenham reached Wembley too that year, however would lose an exciting FA Cup Final 2-3 to Coventry. Before the TV cameras again the following March, Tottenham’s visit to Highbury would result in a 2-1 win for Arsenal with goals for Alan Smith and Perry Groves after a succession of misses from the latter (the fourth time in succession in which Arsenal would defeat Spurs by a 2-1 score line in all competitions, home and away).
The next fixture between Arsenal and Tottenham at Highbury on January 2nd 1989 would also bring glimpses of the future to come. Prior to the kick off, George Graham and Terry Venables would unveil the Highbury Clock atop of the new executive boxes which would eventually hasten Arsenal’s exit from Highbury as a result of diminishing the Ground’s capacity, particularly after the Taylor Report which would follow a year later. This would also be the first ever televised 5PM kick off. Also in the crowd that day would be Arsene Wenger on his first visit to Highbury, as he wished to take in a game on the way back from a scouting mission in Istanbul, England being the only place in Europe playing Football during the Christmas holidays, upon which he first met David Dein and struck up a lasting friendship which brought him to Arsenal as manager seven years later.
On the day Arsenal won 2-0 with a goal from Paul Merson, as well as a late second from Michael Thomas ‘charging through the midfield’ as he had done four months later at Anfield. Tottenham visited reigning champions Arsenal again at Highbury twelve months on, this time a Tony Adams goal secured a 1-0 win and three points for Arsenal. In the weeks that followed a T-Shirt did the rounds on the stalls around the ground which proudly boasted of ‘Donkey wins the Derby’. Italia 90 would follow six months later, however no Arsenal players were called up for the England squad, though Tottenham’s Paul Gascoigne and gary Lineker would be the focal point of England’s World Cup.
The Arsenal players left behind in England during June and July would be itching to make amends by bringing the title back to Highbury, however their third match of the season against Tottenham on September 1st at Highbury would end in a 0-0 draw. Famously, Arsenal would win the title at a cantor losing just one league game all season, though would fail to defeat Spurs that season and even miss out on the double due to a 1-3 defeat in Wembley’s first ever Semi Final in April to Tottenham. A revenge of sorts would be enacted in December with a 2-0 defeat of Tottenham before the TV cameras, with goals for Ian Wright and Kevin Campbell. Although the real revenge would come in the repeat Semi Final two years on, with a Tony Adams goal securing a 1-0 win.
Tottenham would secure their last win away at Highbury in the final fixture of the inaugural Premiership season in 1992/93, with a 1-3 defeat for Arsenal with Teddy Sheringham on target for Spurs, as well as two for John Hendry and Paul Dickov getting Arsenal’s goal. The result was largely meaningless however as Arsenal played a mostly second string eleven ahead of the 1993 FA Cup Final four days later. At the end of that calendar year the two sides met at Highbury again, playing out a 1-1 draw with Darren Anderton giving Tottenham the lead and Ian Wright equalising for the Gunners. The same score line would prevail in 1994/95, with an Ian Wright penalty cancelled out by a Jurgen Kilinsmann strike.
The 1994/95 season would also be the last season in which Tottenham would finish above Arsenal, coming seventh, while Arsenal finished twelfth (although Arsenal would be more pre-occupied with their European Cup Winners Cup campaign which took them to the final, only to lose to Nayim’s strike from the half way line). In 1995/96, Tottenham’s visit to Arsenal in Mid-April led to a 0-0 draw. Arsenal would however secure their place in Europe over Spurs that season with a 2-1 win over Bolton on the last day with a goal from David Platt and a sublime strike by Dennis Bergkamp, both signed by Bruce Rioch at the start of the season.
After Rioch’s sacking in 1996, Wenger’s meeting with Spurs came at Highbury in November 1996, a game in which Arsenal triumphed with goals from Ian Wright and in the last two minutes from Tony Adams and Dennis Bergkamp, resulting in a 3-1 win. Early on in Wenger’s first double year, Arsenal played out a 0-0 draw with Spurs at Highbury in Late August which came just hours before the world was shocked at the death of Princess Diana in a road traffic accident in Paris. Twelve months on, the Footballing world would be shocked when George Graham took up Spurs’ offer of the vacant manager’s post. The first North London Derby after GG’s defection came in Mid-November 1998, but ended in an underwhelming 0-0 draw.
That game was also Tottenham’s last visit to Highbury of the millennium and by the end of that season GG had bagged the League Cup for Spurs with a 2-1 win over Leicester, marred by a male Spurs fan punching a female Leicester fan in a bust up just prior to kick off. On entering the twenty first century, the North London Derby became a more one-sided affair than it had ever previously been with Spurs failing to score any sort of win over Arsenal in all competitions for another eight and a half years. Tottenham’s visit in March 2000 ended in a 2-1 win for Arsenal, with Chris Armstrong scoring at both ends and a Thierry Henry penalty giving Arsenal full points. This fixture however would be George Graham’s last visit to Highbury as Spurs manager as fifteen days before the next North London Derby at Highbury, Tottenham would sack GG for revealing their limited transfer budget for the following season.
Twenty four hours ahead of the North London Derby at Highbury Spurs would announce Glenn Hoddle as Tottenham’s new manager. On the morning of the North London Derby however came the sad news of the passing of one of GG’s former protégés, David Rocastle. A minute’s silence in his honour was impeccably observed by both sets of fans. Rather aptly, Arsenal’s number seven Robert Pires gave Arsenal the lead. A Thierry Henry strike three minutes from time gave Arsenal a 2-0 win. The two sides were to meet again at Old Trafford for their third FA Cup Semi Final in ten years. Spurs fans were also expectant as the year ended in one and Tottenham took a first half lead through a Gary Docherty strike.
On this occasion however the year actually ended in tears for Spurs as Arsenal ran out 2-1 winners with an equaliser from Patrick Vieira and another strike for Robert Pires against Spurs. More humiliation was to follow three months later when Arsenal poached Spurs Captain Sol Campbell on a free transfer, much to the anger of Spurs fans for many years to come especially as by the time of Tottenham’s next visit to Highbury in early April 2002, Arsenal were edging closer to a third League and Cup double. Arsenal took the lead through a Freddie Ljungberg stike, though Teddy Sheringham back again at White Hart Lane after a spell with Man. Utd. equalised from the penalty spot for Tottenham with nine minutes left to play. A penalty however went Arsenal’s way four minutes from time which was coolly slotted away by Lauren to give Arsenal a 2-1 victory.
A more convincing victory over Tottenham at Highbury followed in 2002/03, Thierry Henry scoring Arsenal’s first after thirteen minutes which in terms of skill and style looked something akin to an extended version of Ricky Villa’s 1981 FA Cup winning goal for Spurs. Further goals for Freddie Ljungberg and Sylvain Wiltord gave Arsenal a 3-0 win. During the invincible season in November 2003 Arsenal’s unbeaten run came under threat with Darren Anderton opening the scoring to put Tottenham one up. Spurs held their lead until the last twenty minutes, when goals for Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg gave Arsenal a 2-1 victory.
The following season Spurs came to Highbury in April 2005, the points sealed for Arsenal with a goal from Jose Antonio Reyes, which gave Arsenal a 1-0 win. Twelve months on would be Tottenham’s last ever visit to Highbury before Arsenal moved a few streets away. For the first time in over a decade Tottenham had spent most of the season above Arsenal, with the Gunners needing to claw back the points deficit to retain their spot in the Champions League. Robbie Keane gave Spurs the lead after sixty six minutes, however six minutes from time Thierry henry bagged the equaliser in front of the North Bank, the match ending in a 1-1 draw. Arsenal would clinch the Champions League spot over Spurs on the final day with a 4-2 win over Wigan at Highbury for the last time, while Spurs suffering the after effects of a dodgy lasagne from the night before would suffer a 2-1 defeat at West Ham.
Tottenham’s first visit to Arsenal’s new ground came six months on in December, two Gilberto Silva penalties and an Emmanuel Adebayor strike gave Arsenal a 3-0 win. Spurs would visit again in the second leg of the League Cup Semi Final seven weeks later, the first leg ending 2-2 after Spurs took a two goal lead. A second string Arsenal side beat Spurs 3-1 after extra time with goals from Emmanuel Adebayor, Jeremie Aliadiere and a Pascal Chimbonda own goal. Tottenham’s next visit in the League just prior to Christmas 2007 saw Arsenal take the lead through an Adebayor goal, however Dimitar Berbatov equalised on 66 minutes and a Kolo Toure tackle in the box conceded a penalty, however Manuel Almunia saved from Robbie Keane. A Nic Bendtner header with his first touch of the game after coming on as substitute however gave Arsenal a 2-1 win and all three points.
In 2008 Tottenham would beat Chelsea 2-1 to win the League Cup under Juande Ramos, however the former Seville boss would not see out that calendar year and would be sacked as Tottenham would be languishing in the relegation zone. Veteran Harry Redknapp to over and his first game in charge would be against Arsenal at Highbury in late October, which would end with Arsenal conceding two late soft goals resulting in a 4-4 draw, Arsenal’s goals were scored by Mikael Silvestre, William Gallas, Adebayor and Robin Van Persie. Tottenham opened the scoring with former Arsenal wasteman David Bentley scoring an incredible goal from the halfway line, as well as goals for Darren Bent, Jermaine Jenas and Aaron Lennon.
