The Almanac turns its pages to May and the end of the season. The month is dominated by dates that can’t be ignored but there are a few other stories that might otherwise slip through the net from testimonials and tours to the usual mix of firsts, last, records and birthdays. As well as hello and goodbyes there is a voting day and some wins at Highbury. 

Starting with the ‘must make a note of’ dates and they don’t come massively bigger than - The 6th in 1961 and Bobby Smith and Terry Dyson get the goals as we beat Leicester City in the FA Cup Final to complete the double.  Other FA Cup triumphs arrive on the 5th (1962) as we beat Burnley to become only the second team in the century to retain the FA Cup.  Then the 20th (1967) we beat Chelsea in the first all-London final.

John White would have turned 79 years old today. Tragically he was killed by lightning in 1964. 

John left behind him a legacy of being a key player of the glorious Tottenham side of the early sixties. Loved by those who knew him, adorned by those who saw him play. A timeless master who would grace any generation of the game.
 

With the Club not playing until Monday night here is a poser for you. What is the most important day in the clubs history? it’s a question that has divided fans over the years on many a long journey. Of course there is no real right or wrong answer. You may already have started a mental shortlist there are certainly eight or nine days you can make a reasonable argument for. Was it maybe the day we won the Double or won that first European trophy. I’ll suggest another date not just because of what happened that day but also the ramifications from it.
 

The fourth Championships (1972) were held in Belgium. The country only being awarded the tournament after qualifying for the finals. Neither of the other two countries that had been candidates (England and Italy) reached the finals. The tournament had grown this time around with Iceland the only country not to enter.
Tottenham had players represent five different countries, one of who would reach the quarter finals. UEFA planned to use the Home International as a qualifying group again but the British sides insisted upon being separated.

We signed Alex Young from Everton in June 1911, a move that caused outrage amongst Everton fans at the time but as we will see they had a good motive to sell him.  Alex would only stay with Spurs for a short while but earns a place in our history as being our only player that has been convicted of murder, that of his brother.

The story of Alex Young  is another where Tottenham may not play the lead role but it’s an interesting tale from our past and I think worthy of your attention.  If your thinking due to his short stay the title the Tottenham Murderer is a stretch, all I will say is when the Guardian ran a story on him they talked about his ‘deadly shooting ability'.

The most famous connection must be when we met Anderlecht in the 1984 UEFA Cup two legged final. The first leg ended 1-1with a goal from center half Paul Miller following a Mickey Hazard corner on the hour,(his first goal of the season)  and the Daily Star called his header a thunderclap of a goal.
They equalized in the last five minutes.  In a game of ‘robust tackling’ Steve Perryman was booked with twenty minutes to play and would miss the second leg. That match was a heart stopping game and will never be forgotten by anyone who saw the game.

A few people have reported difficulties in locating previous articles referenced due to some technical problems on the website. Whilst our team continue to attempt to correct the issue this article will act as a guide to my previous articles relating to Tottenham’s international connections and the club's links to the World Cup, the European Championships and The Olympic Games.

A few people have reported difficulties in locating previous articles referenced due to some technical problems on the website. Whilst our team continue to attempt to correct the issue this article will act as a guide to Spurs in competition and is updated regularly.

Given the current number of Belgium players at the club  (do you know one of them has played for two countries) and that our first connections go back over a hundred years you might think there would be more links than there are between the two parties. We have toured there and taken part in a competition we are probably pleased we did not win. The most famous meeting was the UEFA Cup Final in 1984 but we have met Belgium opposition on four other occasions in Euro action. There is also the Belgium who ended up playing for Wales and some firsts on the international scene.

After their glorious success in May 1963 winning the European Cup Winners Cup Tottenham set out to defend the trophy the following season, 1963 /64. For the first time England would have three teams in European action.

The two domestic trophy winners and Tottenham as the holders. Having been involved in the first all-British clash with Glasgow Rangers the season before Spurs would this time be in the first all-English meeting.

Exploring Tottenham’s connections to the Euros and in this episode we turn our attention to 1968 when the four home nations were placed together in a qualifying group. UEFA having introduced this instead of the straight knock out style and ruled that the Home Internationals for the two years prior to the finals would double as a qualifying competition. The eight group winners would play quarter finals and the winning four teams then proceeding to the finals. At this stage the host nation would be decided. There is also the first non-British connection.

Everyone is aware of Sandy Brown’s achievement of scoring in every round of Tottenham’s FA Cup run to the final and their triumph in 1901 and that it has never been matched.

There is however a much sadder tale regarding Sandy that occurred the following season. Everything looked so promising for him as he took the field on the 5th April in 1902. He was wearing the colours of Scotland and was about to play against England, winning his first cap at Ibrox Park in the British Home Championship.
Then tragedy struck.

The Almanac reaches April and we try and locate a few stories that have occurred this month in previous years that might otherwise slip through the net. Alongside some (hopefully) I did not know that’s, there are a few games to remember as well as some quirks of fate. As the season’s end is now in sight there are a few dates sneaking up that need to be celebrated. None more so than the 17th in 1961 we beat Sheffield Wednesday and won the Title and the first part of the Double in front of 61,205 at White Hart Lane.

So if you have your calendar and red pen to hand. 1901 and on the 20th we made our first appearance in the FA Cup Final, which of course was a draw. A World Record crowd of 114,815 watch the game. Then on the 27th we have the replay and our first triumph in that competition.