Today I'm going back 40 years to 1982 and Tottenham's First Division fixture against Leeds United at White Hart Lane attended by 35,020.
The programme cover stars today (from left to right) are Graham Roberts, Mark Hateley and Chris Hughton in action at Highfield Road the previous week in a game which finished goalless. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the photo is the sheer size of Coventry's Talbot shirt sponsorship. The giant Talbot T was the logo of the local car manufacturer and surely broke Football League rules concerning the size of the lettering on their shirt sponsorship. I recall that City claimed that the T incorporated into their kit was simply the design of their shirt and that only the word Talbot was the sponsored part (!). Coventry City were pioneers of such sponsorship in England and could have become known as "Coventry Talbot" but for objections from the FA thankfully. As the picture shows, Spurs had not yet moved into the new sponsored world but maybe they simply weren't as hard up as the Sky Blues at the time? The Talbot brand has since been retired and is owned by Peugeot.
Spurs won the featured game 2-1 thanks to an own goal from the Leeds centre-half Kenny Burns and another from Gary Brooke. The goal scorer for Leeds was none other than Frank Worthington. I still remember a break in play that day when a fellow Spurs supporter near me called out to Frank "Alright Elvis?" and got the thumbs up back from him. Frank Worthington was a wonderful character and was well known for his admiration of "The King". Worthington initially came to prominence playing for Huddersfield Town in 1966 and he's another one of those players who have "been around" to put it mildly! In addition to the Terriers, Worthington also appeared for Leicester City, Bolton Wanderers, Birmingham City, Leeds United, Sunderland, Southampton, Brighton & Hove Albion, Tranmere Rovers, Preston North End and Stockport County plus a number of other overseas and non-league teams. It might just have been quicker to name the teams that Frank didn't play for! Sadly, Frank died last year aged 72.
At the end of the season Spurs finished in fourth spot in the First Division behind Champions Liverpool, runners up Ipswich Town and third placed Manchester United. Rather satisfyingly, Spurs finished level on points with Arsenal but above them on goal difference and, even better, retained the FA Cup that they had won the previous season by beating QPR at Wembley after a Replay. Sadly for Leeds United they finished 20th (out of 22) and were relegated by two points along with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Middlesbrough.
CRB Match No. 178
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