As we continue our celebration of White Hart Lane over the years we turn our attention to one of the most controversial games played at the ground.

Tottenham were not even involved as on 4th December 1935 when England met Germany. The German National Socialist party had arranged for a massive ten thousand fans to travel to England for the game.

Our next look back at White Hart Lane concentrates on the pitch. We find out what it takes to produce the magnificent pitch but before that we go back to the summer months of 1952 and some discoveries under the pitch. Whilst the ground had grown up around the pitch that John Over had prepared all those years before the actual playing area had suffered.

Tottenham have been involved in a number of postponements and abandoned games over the years.  From our days on Tottenham Marshes through to 2012, a number of these matches carry a tale behind the decision.  We start with the first game to be abandoned at our own White Hart Lane which fell on this day back in 1899.

Tottenham secured their highest win in their league history on 22nd October 1977 when they scored nine against Bristol Rovers at White Hart Lane.

The match saw two hat tricks, one from Ian Moores the other from Colin Lee who had only signed for the club from the fourth division two days before.

After an absence of six years Tottenham returned to European action in 2006/07. Slavia Prague were our opponents in the first round.  That first game would be our 100th in European competition. It was however a game that nearly did not take place. Later in the competition there was a tie that was not played. Spurs would progress to the quarter finals. Along the way the group stage would see us take on Bayer Leverkusen with their former star Dimitar Berbatov playing a major role.

Spurs certainly had a week to remember in October 1920.  They played Chelsea twice, won both scoring nine goals and delivered a royal performance in front of the King as well as 120,000 other people.

The first game on the 9th saw Chelsea visit White Hart Lane and Tottenham won by 5-0. Tottenham were by far the better team but the Chelsea defence “was strong enough for much shooting.”  Bert Bliss finally opened the scoring just after the half hour and that was the score at half time.   

A special game took place at White Hart Lane on the 17th October 2002. On that day Spurs met DC United from Washington USA, the game was played in aid of the Tottenham Tribute Trust. The Trust had recently been set up with the aim of supporting former players.

Tottenham sent out a team of current players and some past masters to enthrall the crowd. The legends on display may have lost a yard of pace since their first team days but none of the guile as each took turns to display a few party tricks.

Each receiving a standing ovation from the assembled supporters as they departed. Paul Gascoigne stopping to kiss the badge on his shirt as he did so.

This Talking Tottenham turns its attention to an area of the Spurs memorabilia industry that I know little about, but was pleasantly surprised to it find alive and flourishing.
In addition to what I hope you will find an interesting detour on the way to the next match I have dipped into the trivia well  to fill in the gaps where my amazingly limited knowledge has left gaps in the text. 

As we enjoy another international break we look back at one of the few men to have played for England at football and cricket. One of those has a Tottenham connection as the clubs caretaker manager.

Wally Hardinge stepped up from reserve team coach to caretaker during the 1930’s.  Despite just a fleeting spell in charge of the team his previous sporting endeavours warrant his inclusion in this series.  

This next glimpse into the history of White Hart Lane finds us turning our attention to some of the happenings at The Lane during that six year period from September 1939 that covered the Second World War.
As war was declared and football became a secondary consideration we can be forgiven for not thinking of the clubs as businesses who still had bills to met.

With England meeting Malta this week we take a look at the connections between ourselves and the George Cross island. While we have not met them in competition or signed any players from that country we have visited the island on three occasions.
On the international front we provided England's captain when the two countries first met.
Left - Alan Mullery.

International football is back and England have a new manager. We take another look at some of the connections between Spurs and the national side.  This time around we discover the one goal wonders. How many of the eleven can you come up with? 

There is also some penalty shootouts and the B team.

October would see Spurs start with a trip to Wolves. The team they had defeated at the end of the previous season to prevent them winning the Double and one of the top sides in the recent past.  Few if any expected Tottenham to win with ease, even given their amazing start to the season but this day’s display was even better than the one the week before. As they cut open the home defence with intricate passing.  Spurs showed new invention and flexibility as White (left) was described as the best player in the British Isles covered every inch of the pitch, a Goliath in David’s cloak.

The Almanac finally reaches October and we look back at some big anniversaries and some stories that might otherwise slip past us. There is a mixture of birthdays, boxing, goals that counted and some that didn’t, as well as Spurs acting badly. We have visitors from North and South America as well as Hull.

We have games to remember and some to forget but we start with birthday boy Michel Vorm who turns 33 on the 20th.