Supporting Tottenham in the 60s.

  • The Fighting Cock is a forum for fans of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Here you can discuss Spurs latest matches, our squad, tactics and any transfer news surrounding the club. Registration gives you access to all our forums (including 'Off Topic' discussion) and removes most of the adverts (you can remove them all via an account upgrade). You're here now, you might as well...

    Get involved!

Latest Spurs videos from Sky Sports

The thing that many newer fans will find it hard to believe is the lack of information in the early sixties. On Saturdays there was the scores for the pools on TV and if you missed that it was difficult to get the result until the next day's newspaper.
On weeknights you were lucky to get the results at the end of the late news but at my age I had to miss that and wait for the next days Newspaper.
.

Weeknights it was impossible to find out the results unless someone at the game called you. I remember one season I'd had a big bet with a gooner at school that QPR would finish above them in the league. I was so sure, I gave him far too generous odds. From then on till the end of the season QPR could hardly get a point. The last game of the season? QPR playing Goons midweek. one point separating them. He found out the result and gleefully told me to get the dosh ready next morning. I was sick to my stomach with working out how to get the money together. Next morning I picked up the paper in a daze and saw that QPR had done enough to finish ahead of them. Bastard!!

I also remember going to matches and if you waited at your end station long enough you could get the Evening News footie section with all the write ups of the London matches.

I was away at Uni in Scotland, and my parents would cut out the match reports and stick them in the post with their weekly letter. When Spurs got to the FA cup final, it was on at exactly the same time as the Scottish Cup final, you had to drive down to Berwick to find a pub telly showing us.
 
Only went to 2 games in the sixties as I was too young to get there on my own and needed someone to take me. We won both though. When I got a car and passed my test started going regularly at the start of the seventies. That is the time I remember most.
The thing that many newer fans will find it hard to believe is the lack of information in the early sixties. On Saturdays there was the scores for the pools on TV and if you missed that it was difficult to get the result until the next day's newspaper.
On weeknights you were lucky to get the results at the end of the late news but at my age I had to miss that and wait for the next days Newspaper. I remember one day for some reason I asked my Mum to write down the score of the match. She wrote Spurs 2 Cardiff 3. Losing a match at home to Cardiff, couldn't be true and I was convinced she got it wrong. However when I finally saw the result in the paper it was correct. Just shows how the confidence levels were so much higher in those days. Every season I thought we had a good chance of winning the league.
When I now look back now perhaps with the players we had we should have won the league more than once in the sixties.

I much preferred the lack of 24/7/52 coverage back in the seventies. It is total overkill these days.
 
Only went to 2 games in the sixties as I was too young to get there on my own and needed someone to take me. We won both though. When I got a car and passed my test started going regularly at the start of the seventies. That is the time I remember most.
The thing that many newer fans will find it hard to believe is the lack of information in the early sixties. On Saturdays there was the scores for the pools on TV and if you missed that it was difficult to get the result until the next day's newspaper.
On weeknights you were lucky to get the results at the end of the late news but at my age I had to miss that and wait for the next days Newspaper. I remember one day for some reason I asked my Mum to write down the score of the match. She wrote Spurs 2 Cardiff 3. Losing a match at home to Cardiff, couldn't be true and I was convinced she got it wrong. However when I finally saw the result in the paper it was correct. Just shows how the confidence levels were so much higher in those days. Every season I thought we had a good chance of winning the league.
When I now look back now perhaps with the players we had we should have won the league more than once in the sixties.
Thanks everyone for the replies,yes mentioned on this post is the lack of information during that era and probably every other era right up until the mid naughties! No internet,sky sports ect so as mentioned results were only known the next day in some cases but what about transfers players bought players sold had you to wait til match day to get told anything? I know they issued programmes I've collected quite a few just the expensive friendlies to get but what else was available Mrs Perryman once mentioned a rattle or rosette I'm no sure if that was in jest? the 60s version of the mega store must have had more choice??? Just little things like that are quite intriguing,well to me anyway......;)
 
My first ever game was pikeys v Spurs at Upton Park in 1964' my grandad took me. We used to live in one the roads off Green St, so we walled to the ground. Lost 3-2 but still didn't put me off. My first home game was against Sheffield Utd a week before the 1967 cup final which we won 2-0.

Started going regularly on my own in 1969, up to then my uncle used to take me. Vaguely remember Spurs doing the double as my uncle came home celebrating, but do remember the 1962 cup final. Remember getting the special edition of the Evening News coloured front cover of Spurs team and on the back cover the Burnley team. Back then they always done the special editions for cup finals.
Also remember when we won the European Cup winners Cup, really a great time to be a Spurs supporter,
Also remember you could wait for the late paper for the football results, I remember waiting in our local news agents with my grandad for the van to deliver.
 
I became hooked watching the 1961 cup final against Leicester and funnily enough my first ever game was in 1964 at Leicester when John White scored the only goal which was his last appearance for us before his tragic accident

Venables couldn’t lace his boots tbh but a good manager
 
My old man was a regular from the double season on. Used to walk down with his mates. Managed to sneak off school for some of the afternoon matches (once he got a tap on his shoulders and turned round to find some of his teachers behind him, thought he was in trouble but they just told him to keep it quiet as the teachers had bunked off school too)

He was there when we beat Wednesday to win the league (if I've got that right) and claims he was on the pitch afterwards with everyone else.

Trouble is when your first team does the double it's all downhill from there, he's definitely got higher expectations than me for players. None of the later teams were up to that standard. Always goes on about Cliff Jones and his headers.
 
Also at away games in those days you would get the pink (a newspaper you dirty sods) and we would sit on a freezing ancient train rattling back to London reading the write up on our game. They almost always mentioned the 'invasion force from Tottenham' or 'hordes of Londoners' etc. It made you feel part of something and when you got off at Euston or Kings Cross at 10pm the roar to announce your arrival was fantastic. Happy days of following our glorious club.
 
My old man was a regular from the double season on. Used to walk down with his mates. Managed to sneak off school for some of the afternoon matches (once he got a tap on his shoulders and turned round to find some of his teachers behind him, thought he was in trouble but they just told him to keep it quiet as the teachers had bunked off school too)

He was there when we beat Wednesday to win the league (if I've got that right) and claims he was on the pitch afterwards with everyone else.

Trouble is when your first team does the double it's all downhill from there, he's definitely got higher expectations than me for players. None of the later teams were up to that standard. Always goes on about Cliff Jones and his headers.
It was Sheffield Wednesday yes.
 
One other thing people might not believe is that Spurs and Woolwich never played at home at the same time.
Not because of crowd trouble but so that locals could watch a match, one week Spurs the next goons!!
My uncle always went to both, the only entertainment available then...always loved Spurs best tho!
 
One other thing people might not believe is that Spurs and Woolwich never played at home at the same time.
Not because of crowd trouble but so that locals could watch a match, one week Spurs the next goons!!
My uncle always went to both, the only entertainment available then...always loved Spurs best tho!
I’ve heard of that scenario before! That wouldnt happen nowadays for any other reason than you couldn’t afford to do it,well some could but the majority couldn’t.
 
I couldn't imagine going to woolwich one week and THFC the next to be honest although i know it happened. The combinaiton games at Tottenham were more for me watching Ray Bunkell, John Cutbush, Tony Want, Phil Holder amongst others who didn't quite make it at Spurs. I knew every fact about our players in those days and would devour anything related to Tottenham. Now i just want us to win and couldn't tell you much about our modern team.
 
I’ve heard of that scenario before! That wouldnt happen nowadays for any other reason than you couldn’t afford to do it,well some could but the majority couldn’t.

It only cost a shilling or whatever to get in and men would come straight off building sites and factories in their work gear... not many Korean visitors then!
 
Wow, that is some claim to fame - have you mentioned it before? If that were me, every man and his dog would know about it.
I had a conversation with your great uncle, Danny's younger brother, Jackie at a Player of the Year dance. I didn't know much about him, but he told me that he was a survivor of the Munich air disaster. He came over as a really nice man and a character.
Would be great to hear more stories from your dad about the old days.
 
Back
Top Bottom