Hotspur Towers - Cup Adventures

This trip down to the archives is a short collection of wonderful moments taken from our rich FA Cup history. There is our first penalty shootout in the competition and a ten goal thriller in a replay.

We discover why one season in the competition's past  is unique. There are a few interesting snippets from the Cup's rich tapestry and a couple of  Tottenham magic moments from different trips to Wembley.
As well as that have you ever wondered why Wembley?

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Top image its 1967 and goal scorer Frank Saul and Dave Mackay fill the Cup for a toast.

Tottenham were drawn away to Peterborough United in the Third round of the 1993/94 FA Cup. The first game ended in a 1-1 draw.  Jason Dozzell scoring a late equalizer for Spurs to take the tie to a replay. The visitors were bottom of the First Division while Tottenham were in the lower half of the Premiership. In the replay eleven days later less than 25,000 turned up to watch a poor match in which we took the lead through Nick Barmby.

Walker saves Peterborough's' fourth penalty

The visitors equalized and the game went to extra time and then a penalty shootout. The first since we had won the UEFA Cup on the same ground in 1984. Shootouts had been introduced to avoid ties going to third and fourth games with addition extra time.

Tottenham scored all five of their shots from the spot from  Barmby, Darren Caskey, David Keslake, Darren Anderton and Steve Segley for Tottenham. The Tottenham hero that night was Ian Walker who saved Peterborough's fourth spot kick. Tottenham would lose at Ipswich Town in the next round.

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The 1945/46 FA Cup competition (the 65th) was different from every other running of the competition. It was the first to be held after World War 2 and the Football League would not recommence until the following season. To help the clubs gain additional revenue a two legged tie was introduced for the only time in its history. This would operate from the first to sixth round proper. If the scores were level after two games then a replay would take place at a neutral ground. Thus White Hart Lane saw Nottingham Forest  lose to Watford in a third round tie. 

Tottenham were drawn at home to Brentford. The first game was a 2-2 draw.  Ron Burgess (left) and Willie Hall (1) scoring for Spurs in front of 30,000. The second leg was played on the Thursday and we lost 0-2. 



So why Wembley? The Crystal Palace ground that had been used for the Cup Finals and where Spurs played in 1901, had been taken over by the army and used as a munitions dump during World War 1. After the war it was decided it would be more cost effective to build a new stadium rather than restore Crystal Palace. In fact the Palace ground, which has no connection to the club of that name was never used for football again. The Cup Finals after the first World War had been played at Stamford Bridge. This was because it was the largest ground in London, however much of it was uncovered and it was also a club ground. There were already plans for an Imperial Exhibition and a stadium to be built at Wembley. In 1921 The FA visited the site and signed a contract to use the then un-built stadium on a 21 year contract. Before the first Wembley stadium was built the site had been the home of a structure known as ‘Watkins Folly’ There was a plan to build a copy of the Eiffel Tower on the site, but it never ‘got off the ground’ The area then became the home of Wembley Golf Club until 1922 when the building of the stadium began.

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More than 21.000 were inside Tranmere Rovers Prenton Park ground on 10th. January 1953 when the Third Division North side played Spurs in the 3th round. Tottenham had won the league two years earlier and been runners up the year before.  At the time it was Tranmere's second highest attendance in their history.
Les Bennett scored for Tottenham and Iceton’s goal meant a replay on the Monday back at White Hart Lane.

right -  action in the Tranmere goalmouth during the replay. Our no 11 is Les Medley, the mastermind and unlucky not to get on the score sheet.

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After a close first game Tottenham made sure with Les Medley masterminding the attack. Tottenham made four changes with Harry Clarke, Ron Burgess, Les Bennett and Charlie Walters all suffering injuries. Colin Brittan, Sid McClellan (2), Roy Hollis and Eddie Gibbons coming in. The last two for their first team debuts. Baily opened the scoring then McCellan hit a hat trick, Baily again and two each from Duquemin and Hollis (who had signed from Norwich a month before) gave us a 9-0 lead. Several reports claim the biggest cheer of the day came in the dying minutes when the Tranmere captain pulled one back. Tottenham would go all the way to the semi-final that season.

The manager of the Royal Engineers side that reached the final in 1872 found he had an unusual problem, several of his team had been posted overseas by the Army..... When Cardiff won the Cup beating Arsenal in 1927 they did so without scoring, the FA recorded the only goal as an own goal against the Arsenal keeper...

A Magic Cup moment - 1981 Ossie Ardiles and Johnny Wallis salute the fans after our victory at Wembley. Johnny was with Spurs for 58 years. A schoolboy international he signed amateur forms with Spurs. A member of the ground-staff he played 9 times for the first team in 1940 before joining the services. He managed the A team and the reserves before becoming the first team trainer/ physio. He was later kit manager and then returned to the ground-staff. Johnny Wallis was awarded an MBE and the club played a testimonial game for him.

In the next Cup Tales we remember the possibly the most dramatic cup game in our history and there is a warning for people building stadiums.


For more Cup Tales visit the three part series - The Cup from December 2013 that looks at the genesis, the magic and the dream of the competition. Other tales can be found in Platform 13, Rocket Ronnie, Hotspur Towers 31, and The Roaring 20's mini series.

notes- 1- see also Hotspur Towers - Willie Hall
2 -  see also Hotspur Towers 26

COYS
Keith Harrison.
t- Keith 16024542
f- peter shearman (old non de plume reserved for THFC matters)
ht59

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