The footy club named after a rebellious knight
There are many trails in Britain, the longest being the 267-mile Pennine Way, so don’t start with that!
Closer to home, and shorter, you could tackle the Borders Abbeys Way, a 65-mile circular walk which takes in Kelso, Jedburgh, Melrose and Dryburgh Abbeys and the towns of Hawick and Selkirk.
And St Cuthbert’s Way is a 62-mile trail from Melrose, where St. Cuthbert started his religious life in 650AD, to the spectacular Holy Island (pictured) off the Northumberland Coast, his eventual resting place. SOMETHING has puzzled me for years – where did Tottenham Hotspur get their name?
Is it anything to do with the Hotspur comic? – D.
Tottenham Hotspur, known as Spurs or The Lilywhites, have no connection with the Hotspur comic.
On Tuesday, September 5, 1882, the Hotspur Football Club was formed by boys from the Bible class at All Hallows Church grammar school in London’s Tottenham area.
They were also members of Hotspur Cricket Club, and it may be that the name Hotspur was associated with Sir Henry Percy, a late medieval nobleman known as “Harry Hotspur” who fought in the Anglo/Scottish Wars and led a rebellion against King Henry IV.
He was killed in the Battle Of Shrewsbury in 1403, but had lived in what is now Tottenham.
Originally playing on Tottenham Marshes, the club moved to its present site in 1899. The ground was called Gilpin Park, but gradually became known as White Hart Lane.
Their first match at the ground had gate receipts of £115.
The following year, Spurs earned their first title, as champions of the Southern League.
In 1901, they became the only non-league side to win the FA Cup when they defeated Sheffield United 3-1 in front of 20,740 fans at Bolton’s Burden Park.
In total, Spurs have won the FA Cup eight times, the League Cup four times and been league champions on two occasions.