Ebbsfleet are on the brink of extinction and are pleading for help (http://fleet-trust.co.uk/donate-now.php )
However, did you realise that in their former life as Northfleet, they were our "nursery" club?
I dug this up as a potted history of those days, for whoever may be interested.
Tottenham’s relationship with Northfleet appears to have been initiated by the junior club in March 1922
when they attempted to recruit reserve full back Jimmy Ross from White Hart Lane as their manager.
Northfleet offered terms of £8 per week, suggesting that £1 of this might be paid by Spurs in return for
their having first call on any players over a three-year period. The offer was rejected, but in May of that
year a formal agreement was made between the two clubs, unfortunately the Tottenham board minutes
provide no further information on the nature of this deal. However, the Northfleet club were experiencing
financial problems and in February of 1923 the situation reached crisis point. “Northfleet are passing
through one of the worst seasons from a financial standpoint, that has fallen to them so far in their
history,” noted the Gravesend & Dartford Reporter. (3 February 1924) This was something of an
understatement, however, for the club was in grave danger of folding with expenses well adrift of the
income from gate receipts. The reasons given were familiar: high local unemployment and a run of poor
results were keeping the fans away and drastic surgery was needed. Manager Bert Lipsham was sacked,
star player ‘Jerry’ Barnett was sold to Spurs with W Pilcher moving from White Hart Lane to Northfleet.
The club now adopted a policy of playing a team of promising youngsters rather than experienced
professionals, thus reducing their expenses considerably, and this appears to represent the start of a more
formal relationship with Spurs. From the summer of 1923 up to half-a-dozen youngsters were placed at
Northfleet, the first intake including Harry Skitt and Bill Lane. The former Falkirk player Billy Houston
also arrived at the same time, apparently to take on the role of senior professional. Northfleet held an
annual pre-season trial match behind closed doors at White Hart Lane under the watching eye of the
Spurs’ management, but otherwise there was rarely any public recognition of the relationship between the
two clubs. Spurs were still farming out players elsewhere and the evidence suggests that the transition to
full nursery status did not take place until the summer of 1931. It is from this point that Spurs installed
Jimmy Anderson as trainer, from when the two clubs effectively shared staff, and also when the Spurs’
handbook officially acknowledges the existence of the relationship.
However, did you realise that in their former life as Northfleet, they were our "nursery" club?
I dug this up as a potted history of those days, for whoever may be interested.
Tottenham’s relationship with Northfleet appears to have been initiated by the junior club in March 1922
when they attempted to recruit reserve full back Jimmy Ross from White Hart Lane as their manager.
Northfleet offered terms of £8 per week, suggesting that £1 of this might be paid by Spurs in return for
their having first call on any players over a three-year period. The offer was rejected, but in May of that
year a formal agreement was made between the two clubs, unfortunately the Tottenham board minutes
provide no further information on the nature of this deal. However, the Northfleet club were experiencing
financial problems and in February of 1923 the situation reached crisis point. “Northfleet are passing
through one of the worst seasons from a financial standpoint, that has fallen to them so far in their
history,” noted the Gravesend & Dartford Reporter. (3 February 1924) This was something of an
understatement, however, for the club was in grave danger of folding with expenses well adrift of the
income from gate receipts. The reasons given were familiar: high local unemployment and a run of poor
results were keeping the fans away and drastic surgery was needed. Manager Bert Lipsham was sacked,
star player ‘Jerry’ Barnett was sold to Spurs with W Pilcher moving from White Hart Lane to Northfleet.
The club now adopted a policy of playing a team of promising youngsters rather than experienced
professionals, thus reducing their expenses considerably, and this appears to represent the start of a more
formal relationship with Spurs. From the summer of 1923 up to half-a-dozen youngsters were placed at
Northfleet, the first intake including Harry Skitt and Bill Lane. The former Falkirk player Billy Houston
also arrived at the same time, apparently to take on the role of senior professional. Northfleet held an
annual pre-season trial match behind closed doors at White Hart Lane under the watching eye of the
Spurs’ management, but otherwise there was rarely any public recognition of the relationship between the
two clubs. Spurs were still farming out players elsewhere and the evidence suggests that the transition to
full nursery status did not take place until the summer of 1931. It is from this point that Spurs installed
Jimmy Anderson as trainer, from when the two clubs effectively shared staff, and also when the Spurs’
handbook officially acknowledges the existence of the relationship.