My favorite sports team is a soccer club from London, England. They are formally named Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, but are commonly known as ‘Tottenham’ or ‘Spurs’.
History
They are regarded as a relatively successful club in English soccer, as they have won the league and European competitions several times. They are the first club in English history to win the ‘cup double’, which means they won the league title and European title in the same year. They completed that feat in 1961, which is regarded as their greatest year in history. Spurs had some of their best players in their history play for them at that time. These players included Dave Mackay, Cliff Jones, Danny Blanchflower, and Bobby Smith. The special group of players were coached by Tottenham’s most successful every manager, Bill Nicholson. During that season, they maintained first position in the league for a record 41 straight weeks.
Since that season, Spurs have been successful in both England and Europe. Since the Barclays Premier League has been formed (1994), Spurs have finished in the top half of the table virtually every year. They have had some magnificent players over the years. Players such as Luka Modric and Gareth Bale were sold to Real Madrid for a combined sum of about $175 million. Spurs have used these funds to invest in young players. Also, they are pouring money into their stadium project, the Northumberland Development Project. The new stadium will house about 60,000 and will be a significant upgrade over the current stadium, White Hart Lane (built 1882).
Location
Tottenham is located in the Haringey county of London. It is located about 7 miles north of London City. North London was historically home to a large Jewish population, which is why Tottenham is regarded as a Jewish club. Although a majority of the supporters are not Jewish, the club still recognizes its origins.
About 1 mile to the south of Tottenham houses Arsenal Football Club, which happens to be Tottenham’s fiercest rival. When Tottenham play Arsenal, it is known as the North London Derby, and is one the biggest games in England. Historically, the matchup has always been pretty even, which makes it that much more exciting.
2014-15 Season So far
This season, Tottenham are doing quite well considering they have a brand new manager. They did not spend much money over summer on new players, as their manager (Mauricio Pochettino) wanted to develop youth players rather than buy foreign ones. Towards the beginning of the season, which began in August, Spurs did well and earned a lot of wins to solidify their place in the upper echelon of teams. In the Europa League, a young English striker, Harry Kane, emerged as a star for Spurs. He scored 7 goals in the group stage.
Harry Kane, who was relatively unheard of before the season, became Spurs’ most important player as the season went on. He scored important goals vs. Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester United to earn Tottenham victories. Harry Kane, who is only 21 years old, began to emerge as an international star. His tenacious yet elegant play has earned plaudits all round Europe.