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

To Dare is to Do

10/3/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Tottenham were one of the first English clubs to compete in European competition. They have written themselves into the record books as they led the way for others to follow. This article and its companion 'Audere est Facere'
are a brief record of their adventure and glory.

This original article was written in 2014 and has been updated annually since. You will note these figures may vary from other data bases. These figures reflect only games played, whilst others sometimes include games not played but awarded a scoreline by UEFA. I also only included major competitions whilst some sources include competitions such as the Inter-Toto Cup (3). UEFA also record their figures from the competition 'proper' and not the qualifying  rounds. Please refer to note 1 for further detail.

The importance of European competition to Tottenham was summed up by Bill Nicholson when he said. "It's magnificent to be in Europe, and this club, a club like Tottenham Hotspur, if we're not in Europe, we're nothing." European competition is vital to a club like Tottenham in order for the club to grow and maintain its position amongst the biggest clubs on the continent. This journey that started in a mining town in Poland and has to date seen us visit 36 countries (1) and play 96 different clubs in 205 matches (2).

Tottenham were the first British side to reach a European final. The first to win one. That first  5-1 triumph in 1963 is still the highest score in a one game final. The first British team to win two different European competitions and the first to reach three European finals. The first club to win the UEFA Cup twice. The first British club to win European trophies in three conclusive decades and only two English teams have won more than our three European trophies.

Spurs also competed in the first all British European tie and the following year the first all English tie. Then we also won the first all English European trophy final.

To the end of the Group stage's in the 2017/8 season our European record stands as,   (1)  -
                  Played    Won    Drawn    Lost    For    Against
Home             102       74        19            9       267       81
Away              102       37        28          37       141    118 (4)
Neutral             1          1          0             0            5          1
Total              205      112       47           46       407    198

Of those 99 home games seven have been played at Wembley Stadium (2016/7 & 17/18) resulting in Ply 7, w4, d1, L2,  f15, a8.

This currently season is Tottenham’s 24rd in proper competition. I exclude from that competitions such as the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and the Inter-Toto competition, both worthy of their own stories and told elsewhere (3). To fully understand the importance of European competition you will need a brief insight into its genesis. When the footballing authorities actively discouraged teams from competing.  The leading clubs of the time including Tottenham, Manchester United and Wolverhampton as well as Hibernian north of the boarder undertook floodlight friendlies with the best that Europe had to offer.  When European competition finally arrived at first only two teams would take part. The League Champions in the European Cup and later the FA Cup winners in the European Cup Winners Cup. If only the current qualification procedure had been in place in that era. The story of that time is told in a previous article (5).

Tottenham’s most seasoned campaigner is Steve Perryman with 64 games, followed by  Aaron Lennon 58. Then we have Hugo lloris and Jan Vertonghen both have 41 appearances. Dembele has played 40 times and Harry Kane 39.

This article was last revised December 2017.

Further European records including goal scoring, by country and individual competitions are featured in the companion piece Audere est Facere.
Link - http://www.indiaspurs.com/blog/audere-est-facere

COYS
Keith Harrison.
t- Keith 16024542
f- https://www.facebook.com/keith.harrison.9659
You can my full archive at -  View Full Bio

Tottenham's Adventures in European Football can be found @
http://www.indiaspurs.com/blog/hotspur-towers-the-archive

Notes -
1 - When I cross checked my figures for accuracy I went to three different sources and all had differing figures. This is partly explained in the recent 'Talking Tottenham - Is stats right.' So these totals are the result of an afternoon with the record books, pen, paper and fingers. I trust they are correct. Up to the end of the 2016/17 season.
2 - 36 countries are as they were at the time of the match, e.g. this means we have played in East and West Germany as well as a reunited Germany. Similar occurrences are recorded in Czechoslovakia, Russia and Yugoslavia.
3 - The story of the Intertoto cup is @ 
http://www.indiaspurs.com/blog/hotspur-towers-the-intertoto-cup
and the Inter Cities Cup @ http://www.indiaspurs.com/blog/hotspur-towers-111
4 - Two of those away games have been played away from the oppositions home stadium  because of political tensions.
5 - The first clubs in Europe and their story  @ http://www.indiaspurs.com/blog/hotspur-towers-the-first-europeans

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