Groundwork now done to relive Spurs’ glory days
LEGENDARY Double winner Cliff Jones looks up at the giant cranes whirling above White Hart Lane and predicts that one day the new stadium will host 60,000-plus people watching a Champions League semi-final.
Just as he himself experienced in the current ground 55 years ago.
Jones will be celebrating with members of Tottenham’s 1960-61 League and FA Cup-winning side as part of the closing ceremony following Sunday’s final game against Manchester United in front of barely 30,000 lucky Spurs fans.
Chairman Daniel Levy’s vision for the stadium is one holding nearly twice as many and hosting the very biggest club games – and none come bigger than a semi-final second leg in Europe’s elite competition.
“It was certainly incredible,” said Jones of the night Eusebio and his Benfica side came to N17. “We were 3-1 down after the first leg after some decisions went against us, so we were really up for it.
“They scored and it is was 4-1 on aggregate but then we got two goals back. The ball just would not run for us – we hit the woodwork three times.
“The crowd were amazing. There were 64,448 people there and it is something White Hart Lane has never experienced since then.”
As a ‘cup’ side, most of Tottenham’s
EXCLUSIVE
success has come at Wembley. Jones, though, was also part of the last Spurs team to clinch the league title, in front of their own supporters on April 17, 1961.
“We beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1, that was special as well,” he said. “They were our main rivals at the time and could give as good as they got. But we did eventually break them down and, again, the crowd were fantastic, like a 12th man for us.”
Encouragingly, though, Jones sees similarities between the team built by Bill Nicholson and the current Tottenham side.
“I’m sure those glory days are coming back to the club,” said Jones, who was speaking at William Hill’s Tottenham Hotspur shop ahead of the last-ever game at the Lane. “I look at the club today and think about how things were in the 1959-60 season, everything was being set up. We had got the team together in terms of Danny Blanchflower, John White and Dave Mackay in midfield, they were our main people.
“And I see that today. Terrific management, we had Bill Nick, they have Mauricio Pochettino. Now they have the new stadium coming, so it is all set up for Spurs to do that Double again.
“And why not a European Cup semi-final again as well?”
Jones makes no bones that being away from White Hart Lane will be difficult, however. “They will miss this place next season but the players will adjust,” he said.
“I went to some of the Wembley games this year but the stadium seemed to lose the atmosphere a bit. That was the advantage of playing our European games at White Hart Lane.
“We were always very fortunate, because the second leg always seemed to be at the Lane.
“Even in the very first round we had lost 4-2 to Gornik Zabrze of Poland. But we beat them 8-1 in the return and I scored a hat-trick. If I had to choose, that would be my greatest match at White Hart Lane. To my mind, that was when the ‘glory’ days really started.” ●WILLIAM HILL is the official European betting partner of Tottenham Hotspur. LEGEND: Cliff Jones enjoyed many memorable moments at Spurs REPORTS