Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tottenham Hotspur were the first club in the 20th century to achieve the League and FA Cup Double, winning both competitions in the 1960–61 season. In 1963 they became the first British club to win a major European trophy—the European Cup Winners' Cup. In the 1970s, they won the League Cup on two occasions and were the inaugural winners of the UEFA Cup in 1972 (becoming the first British club to win two different major European trophies). In the 1980s Spurs won several trophies: the FA Cup twice, FA Community Shield and the UFEA Cup in 1984. In the 1990s, they won the FA Cup and the League Cup. In 2008 they won the League Cup once more, meaning that they have won a trophy in each of the last six decades—an achievement only matched by Manchester United.
The club's Latin motto is Audere est Facere (lit: "To Dare Is to Do"), and its emblem is a gamecock standing upon a football. The club has a long-standing rivalry with near neighbours Arsenal, and matches between the two teams are known as the North London derby.
History
Stadium
Tottenham Marshes
Tottenham played their first matches at Tottenham Marshes on the available public pitches and remained there for six years. It was at this ground that Spurs first played arch rivals Arsenal (then known as Royal Arsenal). Spurs were winning 2–1 until the match got called off due to poor light after the away team arrived late. There were occasions on which fights would break out on the marshes, in dispute of the teams that were allowed to use the best pitches. Crowds were increasing and a new site was needed to accommodate these supporters.Northumberland Park
In 1898 the club moved from the marshes to Northumberland Park and charged an admission fee of 3d. They only remained at this ground for a year as in April 1899 14,000 fans turned up to watch Spurs play Woolwich Arsenal. The ground was no longer able to cope with the larger crowds and Tottenham Hotspur were forced to move to a new larger site. They moved 100 yards down the road to their current ground.White Hart Lane
Main article: White Hart Lane
In 1905 Tottenham raised enough money to buy the freehold to the land and became the permanent owners of the ground. As the club grew new stands were added. A new main stand was added in 1909, the East stand was also covered this year and extended further two years later. The profits from the 1921 FA Cup win were used to build a covered terrace at the Paxton Road end and the Park Lane end was built at a cost of over £3,000 some two years later. This increased the ground's capacity to around 58,000 with room for 40,000 under cover. The East Stand development was finishing in 1934 which increased the capacity to around 80,000 spectators and cost £60,000. The pitch was renovated in 1952 which uncovered a number of items from the old nursery on the site and one year later the first floodlights were introduced.
The West Stand was replaced by an expensive (and far behind schedule) new structure and the stadium started its long modernisation process. Various developments and upgrades were implemented over the years and in 1992 the lower terraces of the south and east stand were converted to seating and the whole of the North stand followed to become all-seater the following season. The South Stand re-development was completed in March 1995 and included the first giant Sony Jumbotron TV screen for live game coverage and away match screenings. The capacity of the stadium increased to just over 33,000. In 1997/98 season the Paxton Road stand had a new upper tier added which included the second Jumbotron screen and increased capacity to 36,240 and was funded by a rights issue in 1996.
Minor amendments to the seating configuration were made in 2006 bringing the current capacity of the stadium to 36,310.
Stadium plans
Northumberland Development Project
Main article: Northumberland Development Project
The club stated in 2007 that it would announce it was considering options for increasing stadium capacity involving redevelopment of the current site or a move to a new site. Tottenham Hotspur advised in its 2007/8 Interim Financial Statement that the preferred option would be announced in the first half of 2008, but delayed this decision until the autumn.In October 2008, the club announced that, if approved, it was planning to build the new stadium just to the north of the existing stadium at White Hart Lane, with the southern half of the new stadium's pitch located on the northwest corner of the Lane. The unique design of the build would allow the new stadium to be built adjacent to White Hart Lane as the old facility continues to be used for the team. During the summer after two thirds of the new stadium was complete, the northern and western stands would be demolished and a new pitch laid. The rest of the stadium would be built in the years to follow. Club chairman Daniel Levy announced in November 2009 that the new stadium will not adopt the White Hart Lane name, but will instead be named after a sponsor.The club first submitted a planning application in October 2009, however following adverse reaction the application was withdrawn in favour of a substantially revised planning application in May 2010. Planning permission from Haringey Council to build a larger stadium and other associated developments utilising both the current White Hart Lane site and adjacent land which the club had purchased was evntually obtained in September 2010. The Mayor of London gave his approval to the plans to redevelop the stadium on 25 November 2010. As an intervention by the UK Government was now considered unlikely, the Club decision to proceed or not is still awaited.
Olympic Stadium
Back in 2006 the club had also considered a move to a new site. One possibility for the club was the use the Olympic Stadium after the London 2012 Olympics. As this would have involved a move out of the Tottenham area and because the stadium was required to retain a running track, in October 2006 the plan was reported to have been dropped.However, on 1 October 2010 Chairman Daniel Levy advised that the club had registered an interest in bidding for the stadium in conjunction with AEG (Europe) to keep its options open whilst there remained uncertainties about the success of the Northumberland Development Project.On 12 November 2010 the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) announced that the Tottenham Hotspur / AEG consortium had been shortlisted as one of the two preferred bidders to take over the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Olympics. The OPLC announced on 11 February 2011 that West Ham had been selected as the preferred bidder for the Olympic Stadium, subject to final govenmental ratification.
Crest
Between 1956 and 2006 Spurs used a coat of arms featuring a number of landmarks and associations linked to local area. The lions flanking the shield came from the Northumberland family's arms. They owned large areas of Tottenham and Sir Henry Percy (Harry Hotspur) was a family member. The castle alludes to Bruce Castle located 400 yards from the ground and which now houses a museum. The trees are those of Seven Sisters which were planted at Page Green by the Seven Sisters of Tottenham and after whom a railway/tube station and main road are named. The arms featured the Latin motto "Audere Est Facere".
In 1983, to overcome unauthorised "pirate" merchandising, the club's badge was altered by adding the two red heraldic lions and the motto scroll. This device appeared on most Spurs' playing kits for the next 23 years.
To rebrand and modernise the club's image, in 2006 both this club badge and the coat of arms gave way to a professionally designed logo/emblem. This revamp features a leaner/fitter cockerel and an old-time football together with the club name. The club claims that the rebranding kept much of the original meaning of the name, and emphasised its originality.
Kit
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| 1896–98 |
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| 1890–96 |
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| 1884–86 |
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| 1883–84: First kit |
At the end of the 19th century the club switched colours yet again, to the white shirts and blue shorts which they are now well known for wearing, hence the nickname "Lilywhites". This colour choice is thought to be in homage to Preston North End who had recently done The Double.
White and navy blue have remained as the club's basic colours ever since. Soon after the First World War, the cockerel badge was added to the shirt. In 1939 numbers first appeared on shirt backs, and in 1983 Holsten became the first commercial sponsor logo to appear on the shirt. The club were the first to wear long-cut shorts, an innovation at a time where football kits all featured shorts cut well above the knee. When Thomson was chosen as kit sponsor in 2002 some Tottenham fans were unhappy as the logo on the front was red, the colour of their closest rivals, Arsenal FC. In 2006, Tottenham then succeeded in securing a record £34m sponsorship deal with internet casino group Mansion.
In July 2010 Tottenham announced that they had agreed a two-year shirt sponsorship deal with software infrastructure company Autonomy. The deal is said to be worth £20 million.
In August 2010 the north London club signed a deal with leading specialist bank and asset management firm Investec to become its official shirt sponsor for the Champions League and domestic cup competitions for the next two years. The deal was reportedly worth £5 million pounds.
Kit manufacturers
- 1978–1980: Admiral
- 1980–1985: Le Coq Sportif
- 1985–1991: Hummel
- 1991–1995: Umbro
- 1995–1999: Pony
- 1999–2002: Adidas
- 2002–2006: Kappa
- 2006–2011: Puma
Shirt sponsors
- 1882–1983: No sponsor
- 1983–1995: Holsten
- 1995–1999: Hewlett Packard
- 1999–2002: Holsten
- 2002–2006: Thomson Holidays
- 2006–2010: Mansion.com Casino & Poker
- 2010–2012: Autonomy Corporation (Premier League)
- 2010–2012: Investec Bank (Champions League, FA Cup, Carling Cup)
Ownership
Since 2001 the key shareholder has been ENIC International Ltd, an investment company established by the British billionaire Joe Lewis. Daniel Levy, Lewis's partner at ENIC, is Executive Chairman of the club.By June 2007 ENIC had increased its direct holding to 68% by purchasing all of former chairman Alan Sugar's remaining 14.7% holding. Stelios Haji-Ioannou held a 9.9 per cent stake through Hodram Inc in June 2006, but has since either sold all, or at least 70 per cent, of his holding. On 21 August 2009 the club reported that it had issued a further 30 million shares to fund the initial development costs of the new stadium project, and that 27.8 million of these new shares had been purchased by ENIC. The Annual Report for the year ending 30 June 2010 indicates that ENIC continues to directly hold 76% of all Ordinary Shares and also 97% of all convertible redeemable preference shares giving it a combined overall 85% (2009: 85%) beneficial interest in Tottenham Hotspur plc. No other shareholder owns at least 3% of shares.
Social responsibility
The club through its Community Programme has, since 2006, been working with Haringey Council and the Metropolitan Housing Trust and the local community on developing sports facilities and social programmes which have also been financially supported by Barclays Spaces for Sport and the Football Foundation. The Tottenham Hotspur Foundation received high-level political support from the Prime Minister when it was launched at 10 Downing Street in February 2007.In March 2007 the Club announced a partnership with the charity SOS Children's Villages UK. Player fines will go towards this charity’s children’s village in Rustenburg, South Africa with the funds being used to cover the running costs as well as in support of a variety of community development projects in and around Rustenburg. In the financial year 2006–07, Tottenham topped a league of Premier League charitable donations when viewed both in overall terms and as a percentage of turnover by giving £4,545,889, including a one-off contribution of £4.5 million over four years, to set up the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation. This compared to donations of £9,763 in 2005–06.
This commitment, along with the unique relationship that Aston Villa F.C. has with the Acorns Children's Hospice charity, which works with seriously ill children, and the Newcastle Foundation sponsored by the Newcastle United F.C., which uses the influence of professional footballers to create positive change with youth and young adults through football, are examples of professional sport supporting the communities and people who support and enrich them through their attendance and other participation and support. Aston Villa uniquely has donated the front of their kit shirts, usually reserved for high paying sponsorship deals, to Acorns Hospice to provide them national visibility and exposure. Spurs and these other clubs are leading the way in establishing greater responsibility and compassion in professional sport.
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