Talking Tottenham with Marina Sirtis

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to do a Q&A with Marina Sirtis about her support for Tottenham. I know what you are thinking lads, what a rotten job. I have to be honest when I approached her hoping for a few minutes I wondered if we would be successful. I was surprised not just with the speed of her replies but the passion she has for the club, it leaps out at you and hits you like a Sandro tackle.

Afterwards I thought it might be a nice New Years present for our members. So remembering this was before recent events occurred. I started by asking when she first got into football and the Spurs.

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“It was in 1966 when England won the World Cup. That same year I went to Tottenham High School and as the ground was only a couple of miles away, supporting Spurs was a no-brainer. I used to go to all the home games and on alternate weekends I'd go and watch the Reserves.” She then added “My friends and I would also go to Cheshunt to watch the youth team and pre-season training”.

I had to stop for a moment there because I followed the same routine around that time.

“My first game was the Jimmy Geaves testimonial. (Yes that's how old I am. Lol). I think my most memorable games were the 2 League Cup Finals and the UEFA Cup final.”

I wondered about personal worse moments that all Tottenham fans have had to learn to suffer.  

“ That Team From Woolwich" beating us to win the League in 1971”  She then mentioned the famous Tottenham ability to drag defeat from the jaws of victory, for instance being 3 goals up and still losing.

When I asked who her favourite players had been it was clear she likes the flair players that Tottenham is famous for.  “I loved Martin Chivers and had a huge crush on Joe Kinnear,“ then added “There are many other players I adored...Martin Peters, Glenn Hoddle, Gazza, Gary Lineker and of course the superlative Gareth Bale, What a hole he's left in our team but I can only wish him well.”

Now she is based in LA does she have trouble following the team, assuming she did not get up about 4am to watch.  “Thanks to the magic of DVR I can tape the 4am games but anything later and I get up to watch. There's a supporters cub here in LA that meets at a pub“.

Turning to this season I asked how she thought it was going ?

“I'm a little disappointed this year at our inability to score in open play but I'm pretty sure that will change when all the new players gel. I'm definitely hopeful for a top 4 finish and next year I'm convinced we can win the League!. As a Spurs fan we're nothing if not optimistic“. 

I have to ask about the tattoo, when she had it done and what reaction did it get?

“I had wanted a tattoo for ages but as I knew I would only ever get one, it had to be ink that meant something special. 2 years ago, on my birthday, I was in London and saw someone who had a huge tattoo on his back and realised that nothing meant more to me than my Spurs! My husband accused me of loving the team more than him but I told him I'd just loved them longer! The rest of my friends and family accepted it as just more proof that I'm Spurs mad!”

I decided not to ask what she thought of "That team from Woolwich"

I mentioned that we had recently discussed superstitions and rituals and wondered if she had any in her own career ? “ I read in a Spurs programme years ago that a lot of the players put their right boot on first. Since then I have always put my right shoe on first.”   Did she have any projects coming up or anything we would be seeing her in soon?“As of a few months ago, I am now the Mossad Director on NCIS. This is a recurring role so people will just have to watch ever week to catch me when I'm on.”

You can’t talk to someone like Marina and not mention a certain programme. It doesn’t help that I have followed Star Trek since the days of Kirk. I said I had read recently that Ricki Villa sometimes felt that he had only ever scored one goal for Tottenham because that’s all he is ever asked him about. Did she feel the same way as I am sure everyone asks you about ’that programme’?  like I just had! Quick pause hoping I hadn’t blown it while I expect she rolled her eyes. “I have to say that my role as Deanna Troi on Star Trek:The Next Generation really was the part of a lifetime. During the 7 years of the series and the 4 feature films, I managed to get most of the Americans on the cast into football. LeVar Burton is now a fully fledged Spurs fan and even goes to watch them at the pub.”
Marina added “Patrick Stewart is a Huddersfield Town fan (bless!) and I amazed him by naming Trevor Cherry and Frank Worthington from the 70's team who made it into the then First Division.”  Patrick is of course from that part of the world so we should forgive him.

Did she have any plans for her future?  “So, here I am in LA and I must admit I miss London madly especially going to The Lane. I have a few movies in the pipeline but I would dearly love to work in England again.” 

I expect that is due to professional and family reasons, and not just the more convenient kick off times. Was there anything she wanted to add or any message to her fellow Spurs fans?

“ I would also like to thank AVB for sending me a Spurs shirt with my name on the back. It is my most treasured possession and to all the fans reading this I have only one thing to say.....COME ON YOU SPURS!!!!!!! “

I spoke to Marina again a few days ago, prior to finishing this article, which she was very pleased with. She mentioned the couple of heavy defeats we had suffered recently but that things were starting to look up for Tottenham and she was looking forward to the new year.

I just wanted to thank her personally for the time she clearly is as lovely off screen as on. 



About the author:
Keith Harrison, Nilgiris, TN
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