TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE
A lifetime of memories as Tottenham bid fond farewell to their legendary stadium
The curtain will come down on the old White Hart Lane after this weekend’s final home game, against Manchester United. Never to be forgotten, however, are the highs and lows woven into the fabric of football and set to be remembered on Sunday afternoon. From Jimmy Greaves to Paul Gascoigne, Danny Blanchflower to Ossie Ardiles, Cliff Jones and Dave Mackay to Bill Nicholson and Keith Burkinshaw, an ocean of magic moments have already been recalled as Tottenham fans roll back the years. A number of former stars and managers will return for the occasion, to share in the farewell to the stadium as we know it. They will recall Blanchflower’s leadership, Greavsie’s goalscoring masterclasses, Gazza’s genius, Gareth Bale’s wonder-goal against Inter Milan, and the brilliance of both Ardiles and Ricky Villa. The first recorded event at the ground was a military athletic tournament in 1899. Tottenham hosted their first competitive visitors, QPR, a month later and played their first game in England’s top flight in September 1909. The club’s trademark copper cockerel made its White Hart Lane debut in 1910 and, five years later, Spurs went on to win their first game with Arsenal there since their bitter rivals dropped the Woolwich prefix from their name. A teenage Greaves would begin dazzling fans there – for Chelsea – in the 1950s. Spurs would win 10 in a row in 1960 to kick off their historic Doublewinning season under Bill Nicholson.
Spurs finished eight points clear of Sheffield Wednesday and saw off Leicester 2-0 in the FA Cup final at Wembley. The feat made them the first club in England to complete the Division One and FA Cup double during the 20th century.
In 1961 Greaves kicked off his legendary nineyear stay at Spurs with a hat-trick on his firstteam debut at the Lane, in a 5-2 win over Blackpool.
As we all know, the striker went on to inspire Spurs to the FA Cup in 1962 and 1967, a secondplaced finish in 1963 and the European Cup Winners’ Cup – the first British team to lift the trophy – that same year with a crushing victory over Atletico Madrid.
Nicholson brought two League Cups to the Lane, in 1971 and 1973, and Alan Mullery’s strike clinched the first-ever UEFA Cup final in front of 54,000 at White Hart Lane in 1972. Burkinshaw won the UEFA Cup back in 1984, following their famous victory over Anderlecht at the Lane.
George Graham moved across north London from Arsenal to lead the club to the 1999 League Cup and Gary Mabbutt, who captained the club to FA Cup success in 1991, also recalled one of the best Tottenham teams not to win silverware.
“The ’87 side was fantastic.” he said. “We finished third in the league, semi-finals of the League Cup and the final of the FA Cup under David Pleat. We had a five-man midfield and Clive Allen up front. They were excellent.”
Fittingly, the club, under Mauricio Pochettino, have a current side with the potential to be compared eventually with the very best.
They will need no finer motivation to bow out on a high note against United than the presence of the men who carried all before them.