The Fighting Cock by Martin Cloake
There are some great independent Spurs blogs and podcasts being produced at the moment and I always try to make my small contribution to raising their profile when I can. Lately I’ve been picking up on The Fighting Cock and the 1882 movement. I’ve followed a couple of the lads involved on Twitter and recognise some names from back in the day on the old TopSpurs message board, and there’s a real energy to what they are doing.
I’m going to sound as old as I feel when I’m listening to the podcast now but it’s really encouraging to hear what sounds like a new generation creating something and questioning the blandification of modern football. The Fighting Cock is above all passionate about Spurs, but there’s a recognition of the bigger picture that chimes with a growing feeling that’s coalescing around the Stand Against Modern Football initiative. Having come from a generation at Spurs that, despite our fanzine experience and efforts with various independent supporter initiatives, has not really made the impression we once thought we could, what’s most encouraging is the can-do spirit that pervades The Fighting Cock crew. They are a reminder of what football supporters are capable of, and of a spirit that is, in one of the great Steve Perryman’s favourite words, “proper”.

Have Tottenham fallen foul of the ‘Big Fish in a Small Pond Syndrome’ again?
Say the names David Bentley, Darren Bent, Sergei Rebrov and Bobby Zamora to any Spurs fan and they’re likely to either a) laugh in your face or more likely b) give you a response along the lines of ‘what a waste of money’ (probably with a few expletives thrown in for good measure). Both responses are completely valid for two reasons; Bentley, Rebrov and Bent arrived at Spurs with reputations bigger than their transfer fees warranted, and Zamora came with the tagline ‘double promotion winning wonder striker’ (I paraphrase). But what all 4 have in common is they were massive […]