Why I am here?

[Mrs Perryman]

Posters that have been around for a while are probably bored by my story. But as you asked, dad was a Chelsea fan, watched the 67 cup final with him and he must have done something to upset me, so I supported the other side. Luckily for me Spurs won. Following season, I just watched out for the results in the paper. But then my next door neighbour took me and his daughter to WHL for the first time, and I was hooked from the minute I walked into the ground. Can't explain why, but all I know is that if I loved my exes is much as I love Spurs, they wouldn't be exes!

 

[MikeyPN]

I arrived in London in March 2011. In Australia we dont have a strong following of the premier league as much as the Aussie Rules where I'm from. I was keen to follow a team in London but didnt know whether to follow Tottenham, Chelsea, Woolwich, Fulham or the newly promoted Crystal Palace. My housemate was a Spurs fan and got me started watching a few games. I really like how Bale and Parker played back then. My first game was the October north London derby at home where we won 2-1. The atmosphere at WHL and the pubs afterwards celebrating with fellow fans was a memory I wont forget. I'm hooked for life! Since then I've seen us many times including beating Real Madrid at Wembley where grown men were hugging each other and crying in pure joy. Now the outcome of how my week can be dictated by the outcome of the team's performance. I've met a number of other lily whites overseas including where I live now in LA. Being a Spurs fan is definitely a rollercoaster of highs and lows but that's what the game is all about and I wouldn't trade it for any other team.

 

[Bill Madrid]

Nice stories!

Mine isn't the usual route either. My dad hated sport, he took me to a Norwich game when I first started liking football at about 7 or so (don't remember against who, no one famous, Norwich were in the low 2nd Division, maybe even the 3rd) but bless him, he didn't "get it" so we sat in the posh seats, he didn't get me a scarf or a programme or any of that stuff, didn't know who the favourite players were so we went, watched the game in near silence and then came home, I wasn't "caught". I also didn't know you could only support one team, so I picked three, because I liked the names - Spurs, Wolves and for some weird reason, West Brom (hardly an exotic name, but I suppose it must have seemed so to a young boy in rural Norfolk). I started to get Shoot magazine or whatever it was called in the late 60s, and Spurs were in it a lot, so I started going towards them and by the time I was 9 or so, that was my team.

A couple of years later, my sister went to London to go to Uni and started going out with a mad Spurs fan (now my Brother-in-Law). First time I went to London he took me to a Boxing Day game versus West Ham, he bought me a navy silk scarf with Tottenham on one side and Park Lane End on the other, takes me down the front of said end. Bill Nick came round, shaking people's hands so Ian pushed out mine and Mr Tottenham duly shook it.

No going back after that!

 

[stuart3455]

We are Tottenham. How did we get here? Lets hear your stories of how you became a yid.

I am 45. My family are all Liverpool and Woolwich about 50/50. Except my favourite aunt who has now passed sadly. She liked Spurs and I loved her. This was when I was about 4 maybe 5. She bought me my first kit.

About 1980. I was in from there. 7 years old. My first memories are 1981 FA cup replay and 1984 UEFA cup final. It was along time ago so forgive me. This is going to sound racist but it isn't really. My only memory of the 1981 cup replay is my aunt saying "You can only see his teeth" In reference to poor picture quality and Garth Crooks being in the shade at wembley. It's my first memory so i can't help it.

Second was the penalty shoot out against Anderlecht in 84. No memory of the game but i can still see Tony Parks celebrating the win.

I had a great polaroid of my my unc and my bro (both reds) after the 84 (Liverpool away) win as we left the ground. They were so gutted. Sadly i lost it. It would be my profile pic if i still had it.

Would be great to hear your stories.

All these cunt offs. You are passionate so lets hear why!

 

[HotspurKiwi]

Another foreigner, and long-time lurker. Growing up in NZ in the late 90s/early 2000s the only teams that seemed to get attention in the news were United and Woolwich. As a result, I'd say most kids grew up supporting those teams unless you were fortunate to have parents that let you stay up after midnight to watch matches on the weekend. Luckily, I was allowed to watch matches with my grandfather, a Spurs fan since he was a boy. While the results weren't always pretty, I loved watching Spurs and haven't looked back since. I wake up at all hours of the night to make sure I watch the boys play.

I'd been wanting to go to a match for so many years, to travel halfway across the world to see Spurs play, with my grandfather. Last year, on the day the Champions League draw came out, I said to my girlfriend "do you think we could be in Barcelona on December 11?" She said yes, and we booked our flights a couple of weeks later. We flew to London, and were there the day we pumped Chelsea, and we went to check out the new stadium. We watched the NLD in a pub in Granada, surrounded by Woolwich fans. And we were there to watch the boys perform the great escape at the Camp Nou. I get shivers everytime I think about us going nuts when we scored the equaliser, at the final whistle, and the moment we found out the Inter result. Unfortunately, my grandfather couldn't join us on that trip, but him and I have already made plans to see the boys play at NWHL in the next couple of years.

 

[Atomic knob]

Pure chance. As an (almost) elderly yank, I never played English football, and it was not on TV. But I love sports. Went on holiday to England in 1994, and wanted a team shirt. Went to Harrod's. I did not know that the name of the team was not prominently displayed, and did not want something that merely said Samsung, or AON, or Holsten. But, they had a nice T-shirt that said Tottenham Hotspur, which sounded great. Spurs were also mentioned in Bedknobs and Broomsticks movie that my kids watched.
I started reading about the team and loved their history. Games started to be televised and I was hooked. I love the game. I have seen the team twice over here, and got to speak to Harry Kane at a practice in 2015. Will be coming over to see a game in 2020. My whole family now supports Spurs.

 

[ralphcoatesstylist]

Xmas 1972 in the Cotswolds. My uncle sends the 8 year old me my first ever football kit. It was a Derby County strip as they’d just won the old Div 1. I put it on all excited and go running through to my dad who didn’t know much about footie and asked him who the kit was. He looked at white shirt, socks & dark shorts and told me it was Tottenham Hotspur’s from London. From that moment I was a “Tottenham fan” looked at everything in the newspaper & radio & tele (all black and white) for any details I could get. Told all my little mates I was a spurs fan for the next few weeks of Xmas holidays. It wasnt until the first Friday in February 1973 at primary school football practise when one of my football savvie pals told me the new “Spurs Kit” i was wearing was actually Derby. Too late I was hooked! I often thank the heavens my dad didn’t know much about footy, COYS....

 

[pennywise]

Foreign fan here (and long-time lurker). Really started following football around 2008 and rather unconventionally grew very fond of the Russian team at the EUROs in 2008 that knocked out the Netherlands in the QF (Arshavin, Zhirkov, Pavlyuchenko - that lot). After the tournament I wanted to keep track of the rising Russian stars who were now rumoured to join all the big European sides. Pavlyuchenko (even linked with Barcelona) and Arshavin were probably my favourite players and as soon as Pav joined Spurs I started watching all the games, sometimes on Danish TV or otherwise the early days of online streaming. Love at first sight though I spend a lot of time hating on the other strikers that were sometimes preferred to the great Pavlyuchenko. The great cliffhanger is obviously that Arshavin was rumoured to join Woolwich that exact summer - but it didn't happen before the following January. I sometimes wonder what might have been

I've watched pretty much all our games since that summer and moved to London for university the summer Pochettino arrived. Went to a few games at the Lane, first one was the 0-0-draw against Palace where Soldado missed a couple of sitters and Lamela was withdrawn at half time. The last season at the Lane was heavily affected by the limited availability but once we moved to Wembley I had the chance to go more regularly. I've now left the UK but follow the team more intensively than ever and successfully converted my otherwise non-football interested brother into an avid supporter. Can't wait to go to the new stadium and can't really imagine life without Spurs.

 

[ArtyB]

Isn't it great that we have this place where Spurs fans can come to from all corners of the globe...and call each other cunts...

 

[Thelonious]

The team name was unique and I loved Glenn Hoddle, that's all it took tbh. Neither of my parents were into football, my elder brother is a Liverpool fan but thankfully he never forced that on me.

 

[Mrs Perryman]

I was taken over there as a kid (about 9 or 10 years old) by my mum and dad and their mates. That would have been 1977 or 1978.
Man, did I love Spurs, I was Spurs mad. I loved Spurs, I still do. I still find it really painful when Spurs fans criticise Spurs players, especially at matches. Why go and criticise your own players ?
We had season tickets in the West stand. We stood in the north corner. Oddly, whenever we played Man City there was always a female Man City fan who used to ring a bell non stop. Does anyone else remember that ?

When they knocked down the West stand they moved us season ticket holders to the middle of the middle tier of the shelf. After that I never wanted to stand anywhere else again.

Things that stick in my mind from supporting Spurs:
The crush at Hillsborough, the game where Hibbitt dived, it was genuinely terrifying.
Ardiles doing that flick trick.
John Pratt scoring from a corner.
Matt Le Tissier terrorising us.

Yes I remember the bell ringing Man City fan, didn't know it was a she until now.
Remember all that other stuff too, apart from the John Pratt corner.
Certain things will stick in my mind until my dying day, and far too many to list here. But just a few for now.....
Glenn's goals against Watford away and Oxford at home.
Stevie's goals against Milan and Woolwich and his sending off against Watford (always hated Kenny Jackett after that).
Garth Crooks coming straight towards me in the north bank after he scored against Wolves in the semi final in 1981.
First time at Wembley against Man City, what a great feeling, never thinking that I would be sick of the sight of the place nearly 30 years later.
Going abroad for the first time in 1982 to watch us against Ajax, travelling independently with The Magic Bus Company, using coaches and ferries to get over to Amsterdam, staying in a hostel in the red light district for two nights, for the princely sum of £24 for the whole package.
Going to stop now as I'll be writing a book!

 

[Fidel Castro]

It was a 2 year stretch in the scrubs , had to share with " Paddy the bubble " who was more bent than Brentford nylons but had lovely pic of Ricky Villa above his bunk in his y fronts .
Only way to save my honour was to put on a Argie
accent and sing Chas and Dave in a Sombrero .Worked a treat as he hit on Limp Larry and Camp Freddy who would sink quicker than the Belgrano. Put his funny turns down to being worried about the Elgin Marbles and his old girls moussaka .
That was it , there was only one team for me .
Got out ,Tommy "suited and booted" got me into the FA cup replay , sat next to old Brucie and never looked back.

 

[spursmalc]

My grandma died on 26th December 1960 and my Grandad came to live with us. He used to do the football pools and we watched the football results every Saturday afternoon. He got me interested in football. Tottenham, Wolves or Sheffield Wednesday were the teams going for the first division title. Tottenham were the nearest team to me and so I started supporting them. Watching the 1961 cup final on TV was the first time I saw them play. My older cousin took me to see my first match at WHL in 1963 against Burnley. It was not until I passed my driving test and was mobile that I was able to go regularily in 1970,
So the first year I supported them we won the double.

 

[stuart3455]

Turning 17 I began following Spurs on my own. Trips up to London. Scared, I used to walk into WHL for about £10. Those were the days. Saw Lineker once and Gascoigne at a pre season friendly before he joined Lazio.

The rest of my journey through those days were terrible.

Walking up those steps was magical. I look forward to NWHL. I cannot afford a season ticket atm, but am hopeful of a low attendance in the future so I may attend.

 

[Joe Clash]

Lycanthropia?

I looked different on a full moon.

 

[kiersTHFC]

The old man brought me up on this great club and I have passed the love of it on to my sons, and even managed to hook a nephew too. And if I'm around long enough, any future grandchildren also.

 

[stevee]

My brother was a Spam fan, but only because he loved Martin Peters.
When Spurs swapped Jimmy for Peters he swapped as well (Thank God)

He took me to my first game 1977 vs Man City, I was10 yrs old and loved every second of it.
We nearly missed the train from Hayes, my brother and his mate held the door open and dragged me in as it was pulling away.

IIRC we were 2-0 up at half time and drew 2-2 (Spursy ?)

When we were relegated a lot of my "Spurs" mates switched to other teams, not me though.

I was never a season ticket holder but was a member and in those days you could get into every home game anyway.
I also remember being in the away at end at WHL against the dippers, we lost 4-1 (Rush was playing)

In 1991 my brother entered a competition in The Sun for 2 tickets for the cup final, he told me to enter as well and I said "Don't be silly 000s will enter, you've got no chance"
Of course he won the 2 tickets and off we went to Wembley.

 

[AcrossThePond]

Lacking the lifelong love for Spurs since we’ve only been able to watch for a few years. But I didn’t want to be a front runner and choose United, Woolwich or Pool like most yanks.

Went with Spurs because I love an underdog, but not so much of an underdog that I wanted to risk picking a team battling for relegation. Read the history, watched more games, got to know the players and Poch and have been a huge fan for the past few years. Can’t wait to get to the new stadium. Hopefully next season.

 

[Amoeba]

Brought up in Tottenham.
My dad took me to my first games in 1959 when I was seven years old.
He took me to see Woolwich as well so I could make up my own mind.
Even at seven years of age I knew shit when I saw it.

 

[Goz]

We are Tottenham. How did we get here? Lets hear your stories of how you became a yid.

I am 45. My family are all Liverpool and Woolwich about 50/50. Except my favourite aunt who has now passed sadly. She liked Spurs and I loved her. This was when I was about 4 maybe 5. She bought me my first kit.

About 1980. I was in from there. 7 years old. My first memories are 1981 FA cup replay and 1984 UEFA cup final. It was along time ago so forgive me. This is going to sound racist but it isn't really. My only memory of the 1981 cup replay is my aunt saying "You can only see his teeth" In reference to poor picture quality and Garth Crooks being in the shade at wembley. It's my first memory so i can't help it.

Second was the penalty shoot out against Anderlecht in 84. No memory of the game but i can still see Tony Parks celebrating the win.

I had a great polaroid of my my unc and my bro (both reds) after the 84 (Liverpool away) win as we left the ground. They were so gutted. Sadly i lost it. It would be my profile pic if i still had it.

Would be great to hear your stories.

All these cunt offs. You are passionate so lets hear why!

I was 45. About 35 minutes ago. Now I'm 46. So yes it's my birthday today and I'm off work tomorrow so still up

My Dad took me to Middlesborough at home in 1980. At 7 football hadn't really got me until that point. No older brother or anything like that and my Dad wasn't even with my Mum by that point so I sort of didn't get football.

But fuck me after one game in the old wooden West Stand watching us win 3-2 (I think?) I was hooked.

Didn't miss (barely) a home game after that for a decade, many away days too. The early 80s FA cup semis and finals, the UEFA final in 84 when as an 11 year old I cried like a banshee on several occasions, was all great. Saw Pleat build a fantastic side, Venables rebuild us and then we shot ourselves in the foot repeatedly. Was almost comical looking back.

Every time we got a sniff of getting back to the top table we would implode, often through reasons unrelated to the football pitch.

That's why I appreciate this current era so much and am acutely conscious it could change again and pretty swiftly because that's Spurs and that's football.