Teams in the World Cup over the years have worn different strips for various reasons. Some of them for scientific or motivational purposes. Some because they are just colourful. On occasion its because the kit man messed up. So why are the French side here wearing green and white shirts, blue shorts and red socks ? These tales of sartorial elegance start with the first tournament in Uruguay back in 1930.

After the last two competitions, the 1998 World Cup a saw an abundance of interest for Tottenham fans. Including past and future players nine teams have a Tottenham connection. England returned to the finals under the guidance of Glenn Hoddle. In his squad he had Darren Anderton, Sol Campbell, Les Ferdinand and Teddy Sheringham (then at Manchester United).

The Latymer Incident.

All teams at all levels seem to find their own nemesis. In the earliest days of ‘Hotspurs FC’, as they were at the time, the Tottenham and dropping the S came later, it is little surprise they found their nemesis in another group of schoolboys from the school down the road, called Latymer.  As Phil Soar describes them in the clubs Official History, they were ‘the Arsenal of the day‘.

From playing football behind her house to representing the Spurs ladies team. Tanvie Hans has been an inspiration to us all, not only by her drive and determination to succeed but also through her humble nature. A girl who reached her goals not by overcoming difficulties but by letting the difficulties guide her in the right direction. Tanvie is the ideal role model for anyone aspiring to become a professional athlete. 

The girl from Delhi talks about her times growing up and how sports was the only thing that she thought about. How playing football became her passion and how that drove her to play for Tottenham Hotspur. 

It is my honour and privilege to be able to write to you as Chairman with a summary of our first full season as a Supporters Club. When I first arrived in India a few years ago I thought I was the only Spurs supporter around. To my delight, on founding India Spurs we started finding each other and now we are several thousand strong. We are able to boast a whole string of achievements, some of which I refer to below. Our Club is a not-for-profit organisation and is run entirely on a voluntary basis, this makes all we have achieved even more pronounced.

The World Cup has produced some wonderful quotes over the years. Here are just a few. So if everyone could put their foot in their mouth. Lets start with one only a football manger could come up with. 
"We didn't underestimate them. They were just a lot better than we thought." Bobby Robson in 1990 after England had struggled to beat Cameroon. 

The third World Cup was awarded to France, it has been suggested with war looming across Europe this was an attempt to show harmony between the nations. The Spanish civil war was already ranging and this would be the last major sporting event before World War 2 started the following year.

The next World Cup would be in 1950. FIFA also had in mind the problems of the last tournament held in that continent and the traveling involved. Once again the South Americans were unhappy with the choice of venue. Uruguay and Argentina boycotted the competition.

On this flight we will meet a very special passenger, a true World Cup icon. Someone who changed the way we look at the whole world of sport and how it presents itself to us the fans. Not to mention how we spend our money.

It was 1966 and the world was ready for its first mascot superstar. So make sure your seat belt is correctly fastened its 1966 all over again and here comes World Cup Willie.

The USA were chosen to host the 1994 finals not on the countries footballing merits but with the aim of growing the game globally.

Many people were critical but the competition was very successful and drew record crowds. The competition has even been described as the re-birth of football after the disappointing Italia ‘90. This was aided by the introduction of the back pass rule preventing the goalkeeper from handling the ball. The tournament saw 141 goals the most since 1982.

In this weeks trip to the archives we remember a tournament we competed in sixty one years ago this month and round up a few more awards that Tottenham have collected over the years.

The Coronation Cup Tournament was held in May 1953 to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II the following month. This was a one off tournament held in Glasgow featuring eight teams, four from each side of the boarder.

All the teams fielded strong sides as they took the opportunity to test themselves against ‘foreign’ opposition in the days before European competition.

On this flight we have gathered together another collection of trivia and weird stories for your enjoyment.  There are a few Tottenham references and some fun images like this one, it seems you can now have your own Maradona!
So pay attention, impress your friends and win all the World Cup quiz's that will appear in the next few weeks.
Enjoy.

The World Cup returned to Italy in 1990, after its first visit in 1934 so becoming after Mexico the second country to host the event twice. For what promised to be a magnificent  competition, with every previous winner present.

The competition saw teams ruled by fear rather than a desire to win and at  2.21 goals per game it is the lowest scoring tournament.

England included two Spurs players in Gary Lineker and Paul Gascoigne. Also in the squad was Chris Waddle now at Marseille and Steve Hodge who had returned to Nottingham Forest, alongside fellow Forrest player Des Walker who had trained with us as a kid.

The 1986 World Cup will be remembered for two goals, both from Maradona in the Quarter Final with England. His first the famous ‘Hand of God’ goal, where he jumped and punched the ball past Shilton in the England goal, somehow none of the officials saw this. The second a few minutes later while England were still recovering, this time a splendid goal to win the game. The contrasting sides of his nature led France's L'Equipe newspaper to describe him as "half-angel, half-devil".  You decide at the clip below.

With Tottenham Hotspur celebrating Ledley King’s career this week, this trip to the archives takes a look back at some of the other testimonials and benefit games featuring Tottenham over the years. Normally they are played as a reward for long service to the club although in some cases to celebrate an individual or for people whose lives and careers were cut tragically short or had fallen on hard times in later life. 

An extra trip to the archives this week to reflect on some earlier ‘last days’ involving Tottenham. There was a time when just two teams were relegated and promoted at the end of the season. This meant that many teams went into the last weekend with little to play for and lots of players clearly already had their minds on the beach. The change to three down and the introduction of four teams entering the Champions League etc has seen the introduction of some serious nail biting in more recent times whilst trying to keep a breast of four other games either via on-screen graphics or a radio earpiece at the ground.

The World Cup moved on to Spain in 1982. Tottenham had an interest in ten of the players, either former, current or future taking part.

How many can you name?

Having discussed the proposal since 1970 the competition saw the expansion to 24 teams. The format became six groups of four teams. This was followed by four groups of three. The winners of these moving forward to the semi-finals stage.

As Tuesday marks the anniversary of the Double and White Hart Lane has played such an important role in our successes lets have another look (1) around 'The Lane' over the years. I've collected together some images and provided information where possible. If anyone can shed any further light on any off these or their background please add into the comments. I'm no historian but I've collected some information on our spiritual home. As usual different sources provide conflicting detail.

'The moment lasts a second, the legend lasts forever.' Read the Niki advert. How true of the World Cup. As the build up to this years Finals continues, enjoy this collection of great facts, weird stories, some images, a few Tottenham references and some adverts from the World Cup's previous tournaments. Please inform the cabin crew if you have enjoyed the in-flight entertainment.

Just as four years before Tottenham had little interest in the 1978 competition. There were of course two players in the Argentine squad that would later move to White Hart Lane. The only British team that qualified was Scotland. Like four years before their squad included Joe Jordan who would later join our coaching team and he scored one goal.
This time there was also Graeme Souness. A former Tottenham youth who made just one appearance for Spurs who was then at Middlesbrough. 

See the latest interview with Tottenham Ladies' Tanvie Hans, the First Lady of India Spurs. 

Speaking to BusinessLine last November Tanvie commented Getting noticed and selected in a country which takes its football most seriously was no easy matter, as up to 50 girls try out for each team. Tanvie says, “The girls in the UK seem to have a natural technical ability with the ball. The competition was up high. So it was certainly hard to stand out.”