As the new season approaches we take a look at Tottenham’s involvement in the seasons traditional curtain  riser, The FA Community Shield. Tottenham have won the trophy seven times in nine appearances. Plus two more victories in its predecessor.

Our most famous involvement came at the start of the 1961/62 season with our victory over a very thinly disguised England team posing as an FA XI at White Hart Lane. The Times led with the headline ‘Tottenham back in the old routine.’

I promised you I'd find you something special to kick off the new series of Talking Tottenham. I think you will agree that I've succeeded.  A couple of weeks ago we were lucky enough to secure a few minutes of Daniel Wynne’s time.

Daniel a passionate lifelong Spurs fan is of course the voice of Spurs TV match day commentaries. Supplying a welcome connection to the club for all of us especially those far from ‘The Lane.’ He agreed to answer some questions about his role at Tottenham and his love of the club shone through.
I started by asking him how and when he became a Tottenham fan.

The World Cup draw for the next competition takes place on the 25th of this month. In the latest in this series looking at connections between Tottenham and the England side we discover which seven Tottenham players scored for England on their debut prior to Harry Kane.
Then we explore the links between the Tottenham managerial hot seat and the national side. There is also another assembly of non international games and a few little gems. 

As you will already know from our news pages yesterday was the anniversary of the tragic death of John White. John is one of the true legends and is widely regarded as one of the best players to have graced the history of both the Tottenham and Scotland teams.

I recently came across this piece written by his son, Rob, to mark the 50th anniversary last year.
Rob. has kindly agreed to let us share it here. I'm sure you will find it as interesting and moving as I did.

Talking Tottenham takes a totally different approach this week. During my summer sojourn I undertook the obligatory pilgrimage to North London and White Hart Lane. I had promised before my trip I’d share some of my thoughts from that day. It was intended to concentrate on the current building work as the club prepares for the next 100 years.

I suppose not unsurprisingly my thoughts kept turning back the years. It had been two years since I had been here last but there was still the comfortable feeling of returning home. As it should given the hours I'd spent here.

As I scribbled a few notes that evening for what was planned as a critical analysis I found myself penning instead a cross between a love letter and an eulogy. So if you will indulge me, I'd  like to share a few memories if  you would care to join me as we go down to 'The Lane.'

In the previous two articles, ‘Two Seasons’ and  ‘Five Seasons,’ we  explored Tottenham’s early adventures and sucesses in the Football League and the period leading up to start of First World War.

In this final part of the mini-series we turn our attention to what happened to the club during that conflict. How the club survived and that in turn led to the events previously described in “Tottenham and the Roaring 20’s.”

Today we go back to the years 1916-1919 and  “Ten things you don’t know about…The  Lost Years.”

Yesterday in 'Two Seasons' we reviewed those first two campaigns when Tottenham first entered the Football League and gained promotion to the top flight at the first attempt.
Today we examine how the club fared over the next five years up until the outbreak of World War One.  How the club struggled to establish itself in the top flight and recall some memorable games and events.
There is also a match fixing scandal that did not involve Spurs but they would be the victims. 

Today its  “Ten things you don’t know about… 1911 – 1915.”

Top Image - Billy Minter scorer of our first hat trick in the First Division.

1 – Having secured 15th place in the table after flirting with relegation the previous season Tottenham would again finish 15th in 1910/11. The following year they rose to 12th their best finish in this period. The next two years it was 17th. Then in 1914/15 a team that was already finding it hard to impose itself on the division was hit harder than a number of other teams when players enlisted in the army. However it still took a match fixing scandal between Liverpool and Manchester United to send Tottenham to the bottom of the table.

2 – The FA has proven the Good Friday match in 1915 between Liverpool and Manchester was fixed so that United would win and thus avoid relegation. The players were seen in the same public house before the game and some placed bets on the result. At one point in the game United were awarded a penalty and this was struck according to the match reports closer to the corner flag than the goal.  Then when Liverpool captain hit the United bar he was jousted by his own team mates. After the game the FA cleared the two clubs but banned for life seven of the players involved.

3 – Our first top flight double was achieved on January 7th 1911 when we beat Bristol City away 3-2 with a Billy Minter hat trick. Following on from a 2-0 win at home earlier in the season. It was also our first Division One hat-trick.

4 – In games against that team from south of the river, our first league win came in the first meeting in the top flight over Woolwich Arsenal on 3rd December 1910 as we won 3-1  at home, our goals coming from Darnell, Minter and Humphries. The following Christmas Day we celebrated by beating them 5-0 at home. Then on December 13th 1912 came our first league win away south of the river by 3-0. A draw later in the season at home saw them finish bottom of the table and relegated (1). In November 1913 we beat them in the semi-final of the London Charity Cup. We also played them in April 1912 to raise funds for the victims of the Titantic disaster and in 1914 for the Army Relief Fund.

5 – The London FA Charity Cup is noteworthy as we won the trophy in 1910/11.  This despite in the first round being fined 10 pounds when we did not field a complete team in the game with Clapton Orient  a game we won 1-0 (2).  Then in 1912/13 we beat Bromley in the first round and were drawn against Crystal Palace in the next round. We won the game 2-0 but a replay was ordered as Cantrell (who scored) was not properly registered at the time. The replay was a 3-3 affair. A second replay away saw us lose. Then in 1914 we were beaten finalists.

Over the last season we have looked at various aspects of Tottenham’s history from a hundred years ago when events changed not just football but the world. The one area we haven’t examined is the clubs footballing progress. This week’s mini-series that runs over three parts starts with us entering the Football League and carries us over the next ten years until the end of World War One. 
Today we start with those first two vital seasons and
“20 things you don’t know about …1908 – 1910”.