Happy birthday Spurs (From Haringey Independent)

Happy birthday Spurs

9:07am Tuesday 2nd October 2007

• Print
• Email

I went to the Tottenham Hotspur 125 year 'celebrations' last night. I use the term celebration lightly because it depends on how you define it.

I'll bypass the 90 minute journey to White Hart Lane as unavoidable rush hour traffic. We eventually arrived (myself and my significant other) just in time for the 'celebrations'. Supposedly some Spurs greats were being cheered on to the pitch. I recognised Glen Hoddle (well he was with Chelsea too). Out of respect I clapped the rest.

Cue end of birthday 'celebrations' (worst party intro ever in my opinion) and the whistle blowing to start the first half.

I ended up having two options. Stand for 90 mins with a short pause at half time, or sit down and watch people's backs. Why why why when everyone is allocated a seat must they stand? Do people not realise that if everyone sat down we'd all be able to see?

Anyway everything was going ok, Berbatov hit one into the back of the net after 20 minutes, and the fans were in full form. Two minutes later it all started going wrong. Aside from slowly going from 1-0 up to 1-4 down the whole atmosphere changed.

You know how people often use the term 'there's always one'? You know, in most situations you can find the person this suits - someone who doesn't fit the mould, who breaks the rules, who challenges the norm. In this scenario the 'there's always one' is the guy who spends more of the match making it his duty to insult the away fans rather than watch the game. He shouts expletives, makes beautiful gestures with his hands, and looks like he'll fight anyone who disagrees with his song that Birmingham is a ****hole. (the opposition was Aston Villa to give it some context).

Well the 'there's always one', let's call him Kev, was sitting directly in front of me. What a treat. So not only did I get to watch a team gradually slump to the depths of football doom but it was accompanied by an array of eloquent tunes from Kev.

Well we all know what happened next, Spurs started to fight back. Kev went from loving Spurs to hating Spurs to loving them again within 70 minutes. His dislike for the Villa fans cleverly placed within inches of us remained a constant.

I did find some of the chants resonating around my cold ears amusing. When Spurs scored the first goal Kev and his mates started a tuneful rendition of 'sit down, shut up' to the opposition. I was kind of hoping that might go from being a chant to a rule.

Then when Villa took the lead they started singing 'sign up Mourinho'. Music to my ears. Not that I want Spurs to have the special one, but it felt a little more like my football home of Stamford Bridge.

Anyway all was looking rosy for the Lillywhites and it was better that way. I might not like them but it made my significant other perk up and it meant Kev was less likely to punch someone.

We left at 3-4. We heard the cheers for the equaliser from Tottenham High Road. What an apt end to a beautiful evening. Oh and Happy Birthday Spurs.

Note, Spurs were this week named the most stressful team to watch in the premiership. Now I know why.