• Home
  • About Us
  • Recruitment
  • Contact Us
  • Gallery
  INDIA SPURS:
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Recruitment
  • Contact Us
  • Gallery

The Flower of The South - part 1

9/10/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
In Tottenham’s first season at White Hart Lane they had celebrated by winning the clubs first major honour, the Southern League. The press had dubbed them the Flower of the South and at last thought they had a team to match the dominance of the northern sides. Few however would have expected John Cameron’s Tottenham to go even better that following season while each step brought records and controversy.

Cameron’s side only contained four men who had played at Northumberland Park two years earlier and none had been at the club more than four years. Cameron made one change to his side that season bringing in Sandy Brown (1) to replace Tom Pratt who had returned north to join Preston, claiming he was homesick however contemporary reports suggest he was not satisfied with the terms offered by Spurs. As for the Flower of the South, the player born nearest to Tottenham was Tom Morris from Lincolnshire, the team containing five Scots, two Welshmen and one Irish.

The new season had not started well for Spurs and they were looking unlikely to retain their title. Then in January the draw for the FA Cup meant in the first round Spurs would entertain Preston North End, the side that had put them out in the same round the previous season in Lancashire. The games were scheduled for the 26th but on the 22nd Queen Victoria passed away and the FA delayed the start of the completion. The various leagues did not follow suit and on that day Spurs beat Bristol Rovers in a Southern League game at White Hart Lane.
Picture
The rearranged match was played on 9th February (2). Tottenham had welcomed back David Copeland just before the game, his absence since the start of the season had been one of the reasons we had struggled for form which had improved in recent weeks.

The pitch was cleared of snow before the game but was still slippery however a good game followed ‘play was very fast and exciting, both teams catching the infection.’

Left - Keeper - George Clawley

Preston started well and in front of more than fifteen thousand, led by ex-Spur Pratt, they took the lead just before the half hour when Clawley was unsighted by a long range effort following a corner, having earlier hit the crossbar. Some reports suggest North End then sat back on their lead whilst other reports suggest Spurs pushed them back. Spurs missed a number of chances before with ten minutes left Brown headed home, ‘to the great delight of the excited crowd.’ The gate receipts are reported as £849, the third best of the 16 ties.
Picture
Interesting puzzle, one report I read stated Spurs wore blue and white strips to avoid a colour clash (3).  whilst another claims that the four thousand traveling fans were surprised when Spurs appeared in White followed closely by North End in a ‘Garibaldi strip.’

left - Ted Hughes, on the morning of the Bury game he was named in the Welsh national squad.


The press said both teams paused for photographs but till now I’ve not traced either. On the Monday the draw for the second round meant the victors would entertain the Cup holders Bury in the next round.

The replay on the Thursday afternoon saw Tottenham well supported in a six thousand gate. Spurs made two changes to their lineup, Hughes coming in for McNaught and our captain Jack Jones returned for Stormont. This side would remain unchanged for the rest of the competition.
A Cameron goal and two from Brown put Spurs three up at the break. In the second half Brown completed his hat trick whilst Preston scored twice, the second from Pratt in a game the press said ‘Tottenham showed wonderfully good form.’

The home tie against Bury in the Second Round ten days later produced a new ground record attendance of 20,250. Before the game we were told ‘The Hotspur now have a pretty considerable experience of cup-tie fighting and they played such a great game at Preston even the ‘Shakers’ must view their journey south with considerable trepidation.’ Spurs started hesitantly then Bury went a goal up in the second minute following ‘ a combined rush by the Bury forwards’, and they looked the better side for a while. Then Spurs leveled on the half hour when Tom Smith centered and Brown scored, ‘a fine shot.’ After the break Spurs seemed more confident and Brown headed his second (another Smith cross) to win the tie.  

The fans rejoiced as Tottenham had reached the quarter finals for only the second time in their history, (4).
It also meant that Spurs had become the first non–league side to knock the Cup holders out since the Football league had been formed.

COYS
Keith Harrison.
t- Keith 16024542
f - https://www.facebook.com/keith.harrison.9659
My profile / archive is @ -  View Full Bio

Top - Action from the Bury game.
Notes – 1- Sandy Brown is profiled @
http://www.indiaspurs.com/blog/hotspur-towers-sandy-brown
2 - Not the 8th as some accounts state.
3 – Two years earlier Spurs had been so impressed with PNE they had adopted their white shirts.
4 – http://www.indiaspurs.com/blog/hotspur-towers-the-first-great-cup-run



0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Features

    Flying Down to Rio
    History of T.H.F.C.
    Tribute to Bill Nicholson
    Talking Tottenham
    Early Legends
    The Road to Turin
    International Connections
    Hotspur Towers

    Most Read Articles

    The 100 Year War
    Interview with Marina Sirtis

    A Long Dark Shadow
    By Royal Appointment
    School Report: An Insight into the Younger Eric Dier
    Dear Jimmy
    All Change At Spurs
    Hotspur Towers
    History Of THFC: Part 1

    Passage to India: Rohan Rickets
    Thanks For The Memories
    Our Tommy Carroll
    The AVB Files: Part1 
    The Lilywhites 
    You The Jury
    The Hand Of Hugo
    Connection - Argentina
    Creating a Reputation
    One Hotspur


    Archives

    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013

    Categories

    All
    Fanpost
    Interviews
    Keith Harrison
    Martin Cloake
    Match Preview
    News
    Nikhil Saglani
    Tactics
    Transfer
    Youth Team

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    View all titles
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Recruitment
  • Contact Us
  • Gallery