People who don’t know me very well might wonder why a person like me would support a team like Tottenham Hotspur.
I wasn’t born in North London. I have no attachment to the Tottenham area. I don’t even have any relatives who support Spurs. In fact, most of my family and friends are barely aware that the English Premier League exists.
And I have to admit that up until the very recent past, I was no different. Like many young Canberrans, I was raised on a diet of rugby union and cricket.
Other sports existed, but only in the background. While I indulged myself in picking teams in other competitions, I rarely exalted in their fortunes or lost any sleep when they struggled.
They were just my teams on paper. And Tottenham Hotspur was one of them.
That changed in this calendar year thanks to a friend who bleeds Red. I wasn’t watching Spurs, so he dragged me off to watch Liverpool play a few games instead.
It didn’t take long for me to see that the intensity of the competition defied my preconceptions about soccer.
Contentious penalties, ninetieth minute goals, and personalities so vibrant and so arrogant that you could not help but feel drawn into the drama.
This Premier League is powerful stuff.
So this year, I started to watch Spurs.
Why Spurs? It would have been very easy to quietly defect to a bigger club now that I’d decided to take the EPL seriously.
Tottenham are a mid-table club. They might challenge the leading quartet more often than the bottom four, but they have played barely any Champions League, and haven’t finished above arch-rivals Arsenal since 1994-1995.
They also have no premierships to speak of.
So the question I sometimes ask myself is why didn’t I choose to support a club with a glorious history like Manchester United or Liverpool FC?
Why not support a wealthy club that would never want for quality players like Manchester City or Chelsea?
Why not support the artisans of attractive football and foreign (French) connections to which I can relate in the now-loathed Arsenal?
I think it really boiled down to a few justifications.
Firstly, there is the fact that they are an underdog club.
With very few exceptions, I detest teams that win too much.
Too often they can attract the kind of fans that lack humility, that lack grit, and that lack the kind of grace that people only get by having beaten into them. They gravitate towards success because they have no character to deal with defeat.
I didn’t want to be one of them. More than that, I wanted to prove to myself that I was not one of them.
That might sound a little precious and self-absorbed, but for me it was a question of authenticity.
I could never take my support for an adopted team seriously if I ever had that nagging doubt that I had only started supporting them because they were successful.
So Tottenham! There’s no bandwagon there. And should ever they rise from their mediocre returns, you can bet I will be there to relish it.
In the meantime, I don’t mind sucking it up to the disappointing losses, the changes in personnel, or the mid-table finishes.
There is, however, one thing I will not tolerate, and that is an overly-cautious approach that betrays the aggressive principles of the club and besmirches the name of Harry Hotspur.
That was the thing that made Tottenham stand out, you see, when I was going through names on a table to decide who to ‘support’ back in 2005.
Tottenham Hotspur – named in honour of one of the boldest, most aggressive English warriors of recorded history – shone like a beacon.
Those who care for literature know that like his namesake Football Club, the historical Hotspur’s success and ambition was checked by more powerful rivals of the establishment.
He went down in a fight to the death with his rivals in an honourable defeat.
Though he fell short, he is still admired for his fearlessness and his sheer audacity, and that’s what I expect when I hear the name ‘Hotspur’.
I might be new to Premier League football, but in my opinion, Spurs have let me down in the start to this season.
It’s not about the results. People pointing out the reasonable possibility of a top-four finish are missing the point.
For me, results are secondary to fulfilment. Spurs have a name to live up to and I want to see that in the field.
I want to see aggression and fearlessness. I want to see audacity. They may be less talented, but there is no excuse for spinelessness.
Forget about the ghost of Villas-Boas and embrace the spirit of Harry Hotspur, lads. Be brave and worry about the mathematics never. That’s all I want to see.
HardcorePrawn
Roar Guru
Towser, I remember only too well the days when Wednesday were amongst the big boys, it wasn't that long ago! The two cup finals against Arsenal, qualifying for the UEFA Cup back when it was a trophy worth winning, the days when the likes of Sinton, Waddle, Hirst, Walker were regulars for England, Di Canio pushing over the ref... I feel your pain.
Towser
Guest
Let me add Hardcore to the Spurs longer term history & the double in 1961 a tough achievement. In that double season Wednesday were formidable(yes it did happen) ,however Spurs were more formidable with a magic team on the park including their captain Danny Blanchflower. I still remember the buzz on the way to Hiilsborough to play them that season. Everybody went by tram in those days from the city centre,from memory we beat them,then again sometimes I have selective memory when it comes to Wednesday & football. Not long after that the Bribes scandal for the Owls,devastated the Blue & White section of the city,gave ammunition to the Red & White other half. Some Sheffielders say it was the end for Wednesday as a big club ,maybe but I tend to believe that Wednesday & many other big clubs just never really adjusted to the modern era of football,exaggerated when the big TV money came into play after the formation of the EPL.
HardcorePrawn
Roar Guru
Rob, you appear to be getting quite a kicking here, and I don't really want to join in, but... When you say that Tottenham "have no premierships to speak of" you're falling into the trap of thinking that English football started in 1992. Spurs have won the league twice (in 1951 & 1961), won the FA Cup 8 times (a feat only bettered by Arsenal & Man Utd), and were the first club in the professional era to have done the League and Cup double. They've also won more than their fair share of European silverware. While times may look hard for Spurs fans at the moment, like they also did for Liverpool fans a few years back, the club are unlikely to be relegated or go out of business, or even finish outside the Top 10. They are still considered one of the giants of the game, and still spend millions on big-name players. If you want to feel really hard done by, try supporting Darlington.
J.T. Delacroix
Guest
Rob, Spurs are not a mid-table club. Although, theyve paddled a bit in recent times. Football isn't my number one game, but I've followed it long enough, albeit it, casually, to know that they have been thereabouts for decades. Chelsea was making regular dips to the Second Division when Spurs had Perryman, Ardiles, Hoddle, Waddle etc. Only Man U, Liverpool, & Arsenal have been more consitentky prominent since colour TV came in. If you were to choose a true mid-table stalwart, then Everton, or even Man City might've been a better choice. Leeds, Newcastle, and Blackburn would've been only short term fixes. Forest too, but that's going back a long way. Also, I suggest not watching the '87 Cup Final against Coventry City. Although the John Motson commentary is classic. Anyway, stick with 'em. True supporters don't switch. Cheers.
Towser
Guest
Keep on scratching Mantis. Maybe we can have a mutual Scratchathon.
Mantis
Roar Guru
I scratch my head at people like you who think they are better than someone else because they have supported a team longer, or its in their blood. '4th generation support' has to start somewhere, and believe it or not one of your relatives was once a 5 minute fan
Mantis
Roar Guru
I laughed when I read that Spurs were an underdog club. I like the fact youre onboard with the EPL and soccer, but they are in no way an underdog or mid table club
Towser
Guest
nickoldschool Read it whichever way you like & I'll keep reading it my Towseroldschool way.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
:) Agree Towser. That's also the way I read the article at first. But then I thought instead why not read it as if Rob the author genuinely likes Spurs but is just a different kind of supporter we are used to. I have found out during my time here that the word 'supporter' has a very different meaning in Oz than it has in old Europe. Same with friend, love, hot, cold, pain, amazing and many other words. IMO, many ppl these days tend to exaggerate the real meaning of words. So if we water down the meaning we give to these words, maybe we will understand them better (that's what I do so that I don't get disappointed /carried away hehe). When I got here, I remember seeing so many local fans (all sports) telling me they would be 'gutted' or 'devastated' if their team loses. Then the loss happened. Was expecting a month-long depression, long faces etc. Instead I saw them with a smile and a beer 5 min after the loss. its just different.
Towser
Guest
Sometimes I scratch my head at "nouveau" supporters in Australia calling for "Harry Hotspur" & the like As a born & bred 4th generation Owls fan, I ask myself what can a 5 minute fan know about "football club following pain". Spare me the tears lad.
Mike
Roar Guru
I like your article there Rob. I'm a Chelsea man myself, and although they're definitely one of the elites, I didn't want to follow a team that I knew at the time was the greatest in Europe. It's good to have many wins, but they're not always guaranteed. I think things are a bit different here in Oz. In England, many people follow their local teams, regardless of which division. It's quite beautiful in a way. While they all want their teams to win, they're happy to stick it out if they're in League One or Two, or perhaps even lower. For us Aussies though, it's a lot harder to follow a team not in the top flight, and the main reason for this is the lack of broadcasting. Plus we don't have the local aesthetics like a small English town might have when it comes to their team.
brisvegas
Guest
It's always interesting to read about how people choose a football team to follow. I think you misunderstand the word mediocre, though. Try following a team that sometimes gets relegated and rarely gets higher than 10th in the EPL. Then you can come back to me and talk about disappointing results and mediocrity.
Scuba
Guest
Rob, your team has finished top 5 in the league in 6 out of the last 8 seasons, they're owned by a billionaire and they've just sacked their manager because they're coming 7th. I don't have a problem with your reasons for supporting Spurs but the notion that they are a "mid-table" club is a bit rich.