In 1947 Club Director G. Wagstaffe Simmons wrote his history of Spurs. In it he referred to the club as a whole ‘In the future may its star of destiny shine with even more effulgence than its enviable past.’ I think he would approve of my use of that statement not just as Spurs set out on a new season but as the White Hart Lane he knew gives way to the newer structure that will carry his club into the 21st century as we continue our celebration of our famous home. In previous articles we examined how the club came to reside at The Lane and how they set about converting it ready for football. This time around we look at some of the developments that saw the ground evolve towards the home we know and some images from across the years.

In this series attempts to undercover a few pics that you (hopefully) may not have seen for a while rather than the same ones that keep coming around. We seem to have spent a lot of time in the treatment room so there's also some fresh air and a brisk round of golf.

Starting in October ’62 its flu jab day as Peter Baker goes under the needle much to the enjoyment of his team mates.

In this second selection of Tottenham's links to the commercial world, in its widest  definition, we look back at goalkeepers and some of the activities of our lads away from the pitch.
There is also some trivia, quotes and did you knows to fill in the gaps. 

We start with this one form earlier this year with Harry Kane and a Niki photo shoot for England. The question you should ask is just what is the device doing?

Danny Blanchflower famously told the Spurs Chairman, Fred Bearman, that they would win the Double for him at the start of that famous 60/61 season. Without taking anything from the great man or his team what you might not realize is that this wasn’t quite the amazing act of foresight it might at first appear. The Double had long been a dream of many and we know for a fact that Danny had been talking about the feat since the summer of 1958 (at least) and that summer (before Nicholson took over) he was telling people that he thought Tottenham would be the team that would achieve it.

I had the sense I’d stumbled into an old spy film. Here I was sitting outside a nondescript house in a quiet residential area of North London. I had been told to arrive after 10am, (it was ten past )and I knew I was being observed from several windows of the neighboring houses. I was to meet someone who would recognize me but I had not seen since I was in short trousers. I walked up the path and the door opened before I knocked. “Morning I’m’ That’s as far as I got. The woman, somewhere in her eighties who didn’t look like a Russian spy, laughed ’I know who you are, I’m told you want me to show you into Aladdin’s Cave.’

Over this coming season we will continue our salute to the clubs home since 1899 with many tales and memories from across those years.

As well as various interesting images from around the stadium over the years looking  back to how the ground started to develop towards how it is today. 

We also have a culinary note for you to savor.

When exploring the history of our great club you can stumble across various stories that seem incomplete and leave you wanting more.  
You can end up roaming through various sources, printed or on-line as well as old VHS tapes and such like.
When that fails you go in search of wise heads that might enlighten and guide you. 

These then are the Tottenham Mysteries. The latest in this series is the strange case of The game time forgot.

I’ve collected together a second collection of ‘Tottenham Tattoo’s ‘for your delight for your summer entertainment after the first collection certainly proved a winner with the readers.
Another item that proved a big success was the various ‘Superstitions’ that appeared in Talking Tottenham across the ages. I have gathered them together for the first time for your pleasure, well there isn’t too much you can say about tattoo’s is there.
There will be some more ‘Talking’ specials during the summer break. Don’t worry footie will be back shortly.

As we continue our celebration of White Hart Lane we turn our attention to some unusual visitors who have graced the hallowed pitch. The club undertook a series of games that could easily slip past us unnoticed. 

Dating back to before the First World War and carrying on into the 1920’s Tottenham would turn out sides to play teams of Music Hall Artists in aid of various charities and benefits.

This top image is from the 1923 game where the team appear to be wearing 'bearskin' hats and beards.

To next stop in our summer of fun is another delve back into the world of the newspaper cartoonist.
The previous collection seemed to go down well. I hope your enjoy this diversion as much.

This top image from Jon appeared in the Daily Mail back in 1962 and from the gas holder in the background we can assume this is the Oval. A quick check shows that Pakistan and Australia were the visitors that summer.

The picture below right is from the Evening News in 1945 and the artist is Joseph Lee. I would expect this is attempting to show that Spurs play very pretty footy but with little result. However, the Wartime Football League was still in operation at that time and Tottenham won the title in 1944/45 before slipping to mid table the following season. 

I've slipped some more trivia around the images.  Sadly the website is still giving us some headaches with editing the images! Sorry but out tech bods are working on it.

A number of the clubs fans, including myself, had written to the club over the years suggesting the establishment of a Hall of Fame which the club finally agreed to and this came into being in March 2004.
At that time Bill Nicholson and twelve players from the glorious winning Double side of 1960/61 were inducted. In the years since that number has now grown to forty five.

In case you need a break from the endless unbelievable transfer stories here is a short commercial break.  Some of these appeared in the previous incarnation of Talking Tottenham, indeed they often drew more response than the serious stuff. I've also dug out a pile more for your enjoyment.

So settle down with your cuppa for a few moments. Don't worry the nonsense stories will be back shortly.

This first image was when we had Holsten as our sponsors and someone thought if they projected the shirt on this tatty old building just down the road!

The new season will see Tottenham’s last at the current White Hart Lane. After a brief sojourn we will return to find our home regenerated to carry us into the next phase of the clubs history but with the same beating heart that has being an integral part of Tottenham since we first moved the couple of hundred yards from Northumberland Park in 1899.

As we continue to celebrate our stadiums amazing life we turn our attention away from the football and peep into the Boxing Ring.  

The next chapter of our Talking Tottenham’s summer of fun takes another look at a subject that gathered a reasonable amount of interest first time around and that was the Tottenham on the move special.  Since then I’ve gathered a few more pictures and stories of Spurs and transportation over the years which I trust meets with your approval. As we motor towards the new season there is also another dip into the trivia files to pass the journey.