Hotspur Towers 19

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.

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Tottenham played the Edinburgh club Hibernian at the Glasgow Rangers ground, Ibrox Park on the 11th May.  This was twelve days after the domestic season had finished. Tottenham were invited having been Champions two years earlier and runners up in the previous season. The season just finishing Spurs had come 10th in Division 1 and reached the FA Cup Semi finals.   

A crowd of 45,000 (1) were present as Hibs took a 10th minute lead when Gordon Smith scored with a ‘hooked shot’. The equaliser came on the stroke of half time and was another ‘grand affair’ Bailey, easily the Spurs’ best forward, split the Hibs’ defence wide open with a through pass to Walters, who shot a terrific grounder past the diving Tommy Younger. It seems clear the reporter enjoyed the game. The Tottenham team that night was Reynolds, Baker, Nicholson, Marchi, King, Brittan, Walters, Bennett, Duquemin, Bailly, McClellan. Peter Baker had only made his first team debut at the end of the league season.

Hibernian were a very strong team in those days, They had finished the season as runners up behind Glasgow Rangers on goal average. They were one of the earliest clubs to use floodlights and played friendlies with European opposition. Three years later in 1956 they reached the semi -finals of the first European Cup competition. 

The tie was then replayed the next night, at the same ground and both teams fielded exactly the same sides.

Can you image that happening these days?

Only 12,000 attended the replay as well as the match reporter who wrote “It was early evident at Ibrox that here were two of Britain’s best footballing teams. Hibs however, were the better side.

1. Sonny Walters

Over the 90-minute period a draw was a fair result, but in the extra time Hibs came away with a great onslaught on the Tottenham goal’. He further commented “A combination of a bare, bumpy pitch and what seemed to be a light ball did little for the standard of the play, although, as in the first match, the Scottish side was much superior to the English.

Typically, though, Spurs opened the scoring in 28 minutes through outside-left McClellan and then tried to hold on to that lead by packing their defence. Gradually, though, Hibs raised their game. Lawrie Reilly equalised in the 60th minute with a header from a Jock Govan free-kick. Just when the crowd was expecting the match to go into extra-time, he repeated the effort, this time from a Bobby Johnstone cross, to give his team a 2-1 victory and a place in the semi-final.

The first game was played the same night as Glasgow Celtic were beating Arsenal across the city at Hampden Park and would win the final at the weekend beating Hibs. Tottenham did not return straight home, as three days later they played the other Edinburgh club, Heart of Midlothian away. Losing to Hearts 2-0. 

3. A future award winning manager of the year.

In the  last part of the look at the various awards won by Tottenham individuals (2) over the years we look at managers, and the Barclays player awards.

We have won the Barclays Manager of the Season once, in 2009/10 with Harry Redknapp.

Harry is one of only three managers to win the award without lifting the League title the same season.  The monthly award has come to us on eight occasions.

Redknapp again leads the way with three wins, Glenn Hoddle and Villa Boas have lifted the award twice. The other winner was Martin Jol.

Redknapp is also the only Tottenham winner to feature in the League Managers Awards (LMA) which are presented annually. Harry won the PL divisional award, again in 2010.

In the Barclays Player of the Month, Gareth Bale leads the way with three wins. Other Spurs players to have won the monthly award are Jurgen Klinsmann, David Ginola, Ledley King, Jermain Defoe, Van der Vaart, Scott Parker and Jan Vertonghen whilst back in April 07 the award was shared between Robbie Keane and Dimatar Beratov. The only Tottenham player to win the Player of the Season award was Gareth Bale in 2013.

Former player Jamie Redknapp recently won an award in the world of entertainment. He appears on a show called 'A League Of Their Own.' This year it was named best Comedy Entertainment Programme.

Notes - 1 -  You wont be surprised to learn that different reports give different but similar figures for these games.
2 -  Hotspur Towers, 14 & 15.

Images- 1 & 3 - Press Association, Thanks - Scottish football historical archive,  Glasgow Celtic FC. Bob Goodwin, Premier League, League Mangers Association. UEFA, Daily Mail.

About the author:
Keith Harrison,
Nilgiris, TN
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