Today I'm going back five years to 2017 and another 4-0 home win for Tottenham, this time against Tony Pulis' West Bromwich Albion at White Hart Lane.
Such a lot of stadiums in the English Premier / Football League are new-builds since the 1980's. In particular, the two clubs that I follow, Spurs and York City have both left their spiritual homes in recent years. Spurs have built the magnificent Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (naming rights opportunity anyone?) and York now occupy the LNER Community Stadium on the outskirts of the City. Both are wonderful facilities that are a credit to the level of football at which they play but neither will ever quite replace the clubs' former homes in the hearts of older supporters. Certainly I've seen an awful lot more matches at the old White Hart Lane and Bootham Crescent that I ever expect to see at the new stadiums so please allow me to wear rose-tinted spectacles when describing matches played at the old venues.
I used to be a season ticket holder at White Hart Lane for over ten years but in 1998, when I moved to France and then to the West Midlands, I let my season ticket lapse on the basis that I would miss too many matches. However, I had joined the Spurs Membership Scheme because I still wanted the chance to attend some home games. In particular, Season 2016/17 was scheduled to be the final one at White Hart Lane before demolition and I wanted to attend just a few more times before the old stadium was gone forever. Membership doesn't guarantee you a ticket but the odds aren't too bad and I was delighted to pick up a ticket for the featured game, sitting in the front row behind the goal that Spurs were attacking in the first half.
With 12 minutes gone, Spurs took the lead and you can guess the scorer: it was Harry Kane who received the ball from Christian Eriksen before firing it into the top corner giving the former Racing Club Warwick goalkeeper Ben Foster no chance. In the 25th minute Spurs scored their second, this time Christian Eriksen's shot was cruelly deflected off Gareth McAuley (now Gareth McAuley MBE, honoured for services to Northern Irish football apparently) and past Foster again. Possibly MBE stands for My Bloody Ankle given the deflection? It was the strangely beardless Kane who applied the coup de gras in the 77th minute following poor defending by McAuley (My Bloody Error?) who was robbed of the ball by Kyle Walker, crossing for Kane to apply the finishing touch. It was absolutely ruthless and four minutes later Kane had his hattrick following a lovely chip by Dele Alli to conclude the scoring for the afternoon. It capped a wonderful week for Kane who had become a father earlier in the week.
The programme cover star is French international Moussa Sissoko, a player who went from zero to hero under Mauricio Pochettino at Spurs. His first season with the club was somewhat disappointing and a number of Spurs supporters were quick to get on his back, questioning whether he was good enough to play for the club. He proved the doubters wrong however and became something of a fans favourite in his subsequent four seasons at the club. Overall he appeared 202 times for Spurs scoring just five goals and was surprisingly transferred to Watford at the start of the current season.
It proved to be another very good season for Tottenham who ended up finishing as Runners-Up to Chelsea in the Premier League. West Brom, by their own standards, had a good season themselves and finished tenth under Tony Pulis. Remarkably Spurs went the entire season unbeaten at home in the League. What better way to bow out in the final season at White Hart Lane?
CRB Match No. 2132
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