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I remember a time when...

L

Little Luka

John Scales
... Ginola was the only light in the darkness.
... Sol Campbell wasn't a traitor.
... Rebrov was the second coming.
... we would lose 1-6 away at Bolton.
... Geoff Horsfield would score against us.
... the club was synonym to mid-table mediocracy.
... George Graham was our manager.

And the list could go on forever.
I am closing in on 30, and I grew up supporting Tottenham Hotspur from 89/90 onwards. I've been supporting the club from the moment it's last period of massive decline started, and it's been less than enjoyable at times. We have all seen plenty of managers, plenty of rubbish players nowhere near the standard of the glory-glory teams of old, and plenty of cringeworthy games.

I feel this kind of thread is needed from time to time, to remind everyone of us that what we have now is infinitely better than what I grew up watching, and most of us watched, through the 90s. Unquestioned loyalty to the team regardless of losing to Barnsley or Arsenal, never once regretting that this was the team I ended up supporting. In this perspective it really doesn't matter if it is Lloris or Friedel who starts the game or if Adebayor sulks. I'd rather have 15 sulking Adebayors in the dressing room than 1 Gary Doherty up top for Spurs.

Take some time to reflect on where we have come.



Now, let's help the team move even further.
COYS
 
Couldn't agree more. You are of a similar age to me (I'm 28) and started supporting Spurs in 91. We are about a billion light years ahead of anywhere we've been in my time as a Spurs supporter. sometimes we need to look back at how dire we were to make us realise how far we've come along! The only thing that seems to be sticking with us is the frequency of our changes in management, but I really do believe AVB will have what it takes to stay with us for a good few years and bring us some silverware along the way.
 
One thing that I do recall is that qualifying for Europe at all was something that was greeted with wild celebrations. Now the obsession with the Champs League has kind of diluted the impact.

Thought we had a pretty good team the year we had Klinnsman, Barmby and Sheringham firing on all cylinders in 1995, we wiped the floor with Blackburn the champions that year at WHL, beating them 3-1 and we should have won the FA Cup that year. Had we beat Everton we would have won the Cup that year cos United were in terrible form by the time they played the Cup Final.

As for the rest of it well in all honesty I think with success unfortunately you also get a different breed of fan and though we weren't succesful in that period what success we did have seemed to mean ten times more whereas going to the semi-final against Pompey the other year was apalled at how miserably quiet Spurs fans were.

If an FA Cup semi-final doesn't get the blood pumping than I really don't know what you're doing with a Spurs shirt on and when I look around me these days when I do go I find it hard to relate to the type of whiny, tinny, sense of entitlement fan who never gets behind their team and just expects everything to be handed to them on a plate. Types of fans who we just never had until we went in the Champs League.

I remember a 3rd round League Cup match away at Coventry used to bring real feelings of elation or despair if we won or lost and these days out were worth ten of the kind of days we have now with the rip off merchandising and the club that doesn't care less about loyal support.

It's all marketing and hot air now. I'm not naive though, some people say that Spurs going back to mediocrity would be good for morale and bring back the kind of support we began to lose in the 00's and has gone into decline more noticeably over the past 5 seasons.

Alot of these people aren't coming back football stopped being a realistically affordable game for older teenagers to go regularly to in the mid-90's there just isn't another generation to replace them. Being a Spurs fan should be about going regularly and building up a real affinity with the other supporters you are going with.

We're going through that period of transition Arsenal went through in the 90's when everyone wanted to be a Gooner. I remember everyone who was clueless abut football either climbing aboard the Arsenal or Chelsea bandwagon and nearly everyone I knew at school did this, including a couple of Spurs fans who swtiched to Chelsea once the 91 Cup Win and all the Gazza hysteria began to wear off and we began to go into decline by the start of the Premier League.

I see them parading on their Facebook pages all day long. Pictures of Arsenal victories (er, weren't you a QPR fan mate?), Chelsea (you were Spurs before Gazza went to Lazio) and all the other Liverpool/United fans who seem to have drifted from club to club over the years and who have somehow found themselves at either Emirates Marketing Project or Spurs over the past few years to catch a glimpse of Gareth Bale and pretending they always did even though you've never seen them at Spurs in your life.

That's what has astonished me, Spurs never used to be that type of club where you had to stop yourself and go "Spurs, you were never Spurs, never in a million years", but it is and they are now.

The last night I remember Spurs fans really behaving like Spurs fans was against Seville when we were 2 goals down and out of the Cup at half-time. Atmosphere was electric and start of the second half the crowd were singing "4 goals, we only need 4 goals" and the players put the effort in and got a 2-2 draw, even making it interesting for a while as if we had of got the 3rd Seville would have been against the ropes.

That's not to say Spurs fans never had high standards, to be fair Spurs fans have always been very critical and held players to high standards because of the traditions of the club. I can still remember fans screaming at Gazza to pass it or Waddle to cut his hair etc...

But like the Seville game when it was all said and done we got our frustration out of our system and instead of bitching and moaning just got behind the team instead. We had that game against Seville in this day and age, I'd be surprised if there were any fans left for the beginning of the second half, let alone an atmosphere.
 
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CoolburyClub said:
One thing that I do recall is that qualifying for Europe at all was something that was greeted with wild celebrations. Now the obsession with the Champs League has kind of diluted the impact.

Thought we had a pretty good team the year we had Klinnsman, Barmby and Sheringham firing on all cylinders in 1995, we wiped the floor with Blackburn the champions that year at WHL, beating them 3-1 and we should have won the FA Cup that year. Had we beat Everton we would have won the Cup that year cos United were in terrible form by the time they played the Cup Final.

As for the rest of it well in all honesty I think with success unfortunately you also get a different breed of fan and though we weren't succesful in that period what success we did have seemed to mean ten times more whereas going to the semi-final against Pompey the other year was apalled at how miserably quiet Spurs fans were.

If an FA Cup semi-final doesn't get the blood pumping than I really don't know what you're doing with a Spurs shirt on and when I look around me these days when I do go I find it hard to relate to the type of whiny, tinny, sense of entitlement fan who never gets behind their team and just expects everything to be handed to them on a plate. Types of fans who we just never had until we went in the Champs League.

I remember a 3rd round League Cup match away at Coventry used to bring real feelings of elation or despair if we won or lost and these days out were worth ten of the kind of days we have now with the rip off merchandising and the club that doesn't care less about loyal support.

It's all marketing and hot air now. I'm not naive though, some people say that Spurs going back to mediocrity would be good for morale and bring back the kind of support we began to lose in the 00's and has gone into decline more noticeably over the past 5 seasons.

Alot of these people aren't coming back football stopped being a realistically affordable game for older teenagers to go regularly to in the mid-90's there just isn't another generation to replace them. Being a Spurs fan should be about going regularly and building up a real affinity with the other supporters you are going with.

We're going through that period of transition Arsenal went through in the 90's when everyone wanted to be a Gooner. I remember everyone who was clueless abut football either climbing aboard the Arsenal or Chelsea bandwagon and nearly everyone I knew at school did this, including a couple of Spurs fans who swtiched to Chelsea once the 91 Cup Win and all the Gazza hysteria began to wear off and we began to go into decline by the start of the Premier League.

I see them parading on their Facebook pages all day long. Pictures of Arsenal victories (er, weren't you a QPR fan mate?), Chelsea (you were Spurs before Gazza went to Lazio) and all the other Liverpool/United fans who seem to have drifted from club to club over the years and who have somehow found themselves at either Emirates Marketing Project or Spurs over the past few years to catch a glimpse of Gareth Bale and pretending they always did even though you've never seen them at Spurs in your life.

That's what has astonished me, Spurs never used to be that type of club where you had to stop yourself and go "Spurs, you were never Spurs, never in a million years", but it is and they are now.

The last night I remember Spurs fans really behaving like Spurs fans was against Seville when we were 2 goals down and out of the Cup at half-time. Atmosphere was electric and start of the second half the crowd were singing "4 goals, we only need 4 goals" and the players put the effort in and got a 2-2 draw, even making it interesting for a while as if we had of got the 3rd Seville would have been against the ropes.

That's not to say Spurs fans never had high standards, to be fair Spurs fans have always been very critical and held players to high standards because of the traditions of the club. I can still remember fans screaming at Gazza to pass it or Waddle to cut his hair etc...

But like the Seville game when it was all said and done we got our frustration out of our system and instead of bitching and moaning just got behind the team instead. If we had that game against Seville in this day and age, I'd be surprised if there were any fans left for the beginning of the second half, let alone an atmosphere.
Click to expand...

Spot on

An excellent post all told there fella, especially the the bold part.
 
CoolburyClub said:
Thought we had a pretty good team the year we had Klinnsman, Barmby and Sheringham firing on all cylinders in 1995, we wiped the floor with Blackburn the champions that year at WHL, beating them 3-1 and we should have won the FA Cup that year. Had we beat Everton we would have won the Cup that year cos United were in terrible form by the time they played the Cup Final.
Click to expand...

I watched Southampton v Spurs 94/95 on ESPN Classic the other day (4-3 loss).

Great game though.

Ronny Rosenthal played a blinding pass through to Jurgen for his goal! :D
 
CoolburyClub said:
I find it hard to relate to the type of whiny, tinny, sense of entitlement fan who never gets behind their team and just expects everything to be handed to them on a plate. Types of fans who we just never had until we went in the Champs League.
Click to expand...

Rose tinted specs I'm afraid.

90% or more are exactly the same people who sat there before we qualified for the CL, they just have higher expectations. Whilst it's comforting to pretend that much of the stadium is now filled with daytrippers who only turned up because we were in the CL, whilst those few of us that are left do our best to keep it real, that's simply not the case. One season in the CL does not fill a stadium with tourists.
 
Little Luka said:
... Ginola was the only light in the darkness.
... Sol Campbell wasn't a traitor.
... Rebrov was the second coming.
... we would lose 1-6 away at Bolton.
... Geoff Horsfield would score against us.
... the club was synonym to mid-table mediocracy.
... George Graham was our manager.

And the list could go on forever.
I am closing in on 30, and I grew up supporting Tottenham Hotspur from 89/90 onwards. I've been supporting the club from the moment it's last period of massive decline started, and it's been less than enjoyable at times. We have all seen plenty of managers, plenty of rubbish players nowhere near the standard of the glory-glory teams of old, and plenty of cringeworthy games.

I feel this kind of thread is needed from time to time, to remind everyone of us that what we have now is infinitely better than what I grew up watching, and most of us watched, through the 90s. Unquestioned loyalty to the team regardless of losing to Barnsley or Arsenal, never once regretting that this was the team I ended up supporting. In this perspective it really doesn't matter if it is Lloris or Friedel who starts the game or if Adebayor sulks. I'd rather have 15 sulking Adebayors in the dressing room than 1 Gary Doherty up top for Spurs.

Take some time to reflect on where we have come.



Now, let's help the team move even further.
COYS
Click to expand...

and, we'av still won fcuk all....................................................................................
 
The atmosphere inside the ground started to go downhill in the late 90's and in the mid-00's it began to deteriorate to almost pitiful levels apart from the biggest games.

I could list you 100 people that were hardcore Spurs who no longer go regularly if at all right off the top of my head. The fans that replaced them in the 00's had a different mindset. The corporate "I'm paying for a product mindset". Not all Spurs fans in the ground now are jcl Ruperts or Tarquins but they've infiltrated to such an extent that even the die hards that are left are either too old or too lethargic to bother.

Specially wth big brother watching and stewards checking for adrenalin surges. Simple test is to listen next derby game you go to, if it's flat as a pancake now compared to how electric the atmosphere used to be, you don't have to be a quantum physicist to draw inevitable conclusions.

The champs League solidified it and the past 5 seasons have seen even the biggest Derbies become tepid affairs atmosphere wise. Sorry, those people I was sitting near during the Chelsea game were not the same Spurs fans I was going with in the 90's.

Never been in such a cringeworthy atmosphere for a derby game. Even Ashley Cole taunted us on Twiiter about that. Pathetic.
 
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This atmosphere talk is bollox! So fans don't sing anymore who cares?
Why do we bleat on about this?
I choose not to sign anymore, does that make me any less worthy?
Don't think so.
 
scaramanga said:
Rose tinted specs I'm afraid.

90% or more are exactly the same people who sat there before we qualified for the CL, they just have higher expectations. Whilst it's comforting to pretend that much of the stadium is now filled with daytrippers who only turned up because we were in the CL, whilst those few of us that are left do our best to keep it real, that's simply not the case. One season in the CL does not fill a stadium with tourists.
Click to expand...

yep, i've been bitching and moaning about everything since my first game in 91
 
And might I also add that with the economy going down the plughole in 2008 saw alot of die hard Spurs who were growing disilluioned and who were struggling financially to stop clinging on and throw in the towel.

The knock on effect has been there for all to hear in a lack of atmosphere at the Lane these days. Can't wait to move to the new ground. In some ways I would have preferred if we had of done sooner. Then I could have blamed the new ground instead of having to face reality that we now have fans who I can barely recognise as Tottenham at all.
 
CoolburyClub said:
Not all Spurs fans in the ground now are jcl Ruperts or Tarquins
Click to expand...

Ah, now we've found the crux of the matter. If anyone on this board is middle class, please close your accounts immediately.

There is no place in football for anyone other than working class heroes, you're all automatically not worthy of being Spurs fans. Now if you could all please hurry up about it, we can make this place like Anfield or Upton Park in no time.

;)
 
kanoute16 said:
This atmosphere talk is bollox! So fans don't sing anymore who cares?
Why do we bleat on about this?
I choose not to sign anymore, does that make me any less worthy?
Don't think so.
Click to expand...

Because a lot of fans want to enjoy the whole matchday experience. Otherwise we might as well all watch it on TV.
 
scaramanga said:
Ah, now we've found the crux of the matter. If anyone on this board is middle class, please close your accounts immediately.

There is no place in football for anyone other than working class heroes, you're all automatically not worthy of being Spurs fans. Now if you could all please hurry up about it, we can make this place like Anfield or Upton Park in no time.

;)
Click to expand...

What about if you are working class but wealthy - where do we stand?
 
Anfield, when was the last time you went to Anfield? Last time I went to a pub in the Anfield Road end it was full of fans from Reading, Surrey and Scandanavia.

It's not primarily a Spurs problem but rampant commercialisation has infected football with a new breed of fan. It would be silly to pretend that in turn hasn't eroded the atmosphere.

Don't you believe that football should be accessible and affordable? Because the Taylor Report did.
 
CoolburyClub said:
Anfield, when was the last time you went to Anfield? Last time I went to a pub in the Anfield Road end it was full of fans from Reading, Surrey and Scandanavia.

It's not primarily a Spurs problem but rampant commercialisation has infected football with a new breed of fan. It would be silly to pretend that in turn hasn't eroded the atmosphere.

Don't you believe that football should be accessible and affordable? Because the Taylor Report did.
Click to expand...

I believe that football should be whatever price the club chooses for it to be.

There are plenty of clubs that drop their prices in order to fill their stadium, those that value noise over quality would probably be happier there. I prefer for my club to be the best they can be, if that means high ticket prices then I couldn't care less.
 
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