LONDON: The North London Derby is one of the most famous rivalries in football.
The first match between Arsenal and Tottenham was played 129 years ago but the real enmity harks back to 1913 when Arsenal moved to Highbury from south of the Thames.
White Hart Lane, located just over six kilometres away from the Emirates, was the scene of the first local derby in a friendly in 1914. On that occasion, Division Two Arsenal defeated Division One Tottenham 5-1.
Fast forward to 2016 and fans are experiencing one of the most unpredictable seasons in since the inception of the Premier League. Arsenal and Tottenham have their best chances to win the league in years, for Spurs fans it has been 55 years.
For season ticket holders, the two days of the North London Derby are those which are eagerly scanned on the fixture list the moment it is released. The days bring colour and passion to the rapidly gentrifying streets in the north of the capital. Come kick off at 12:45 pm on Saturday when fans have taken their seats, 90 minutes between two fierce rivals will go some way to deciding who becomes Champions in May.
Michal Roucek, Outside90‘s London-based contributor, sits down with two season ticket holders, one Gooner and one Lilywhite to find out more.
Paul Jones
The earliest memory I have of the Gooners was back in 1989 when I was five. My Dad came home with a figurine of Michael Thomas in the old JVC red and white shirt. I don’t actually remember watching his last minute, title-deciding goal against Liverpool at Anfield on last day of the season because I was so young. My first ever match at Highbury was sitting in the newly built North Bank on a freezing cold night in May 1995, against Wimbledon, a drab 0-0 draw. It was the final game before the Cup Winners’ Cup final against Real Zaragoza (the European Cup we won the year before). I remember all the players being ultra-cautious in their challenges, as you could sense they all wanted to play in that final! My first away game was probably the season earlier, in April 1994, in enemy territory at Loftus Road. Another drab 1-1 draw against QPR. We were 1-0 down at half time, but Paul Merson scored in the second half and celebrated with his trademark drinking pints dance. He was probably off his nut anyway!
Since that game in ’94 I have never gone a season without seeing them either home or away. It’s difficult to describe to a non-football lover, but you sort of base yourself around what time the Arsenal play (be it midweek, or weekend). You hear yourself saying to family and friends “Oh, I can’t make that because as Arsenal are playing away to Hull”.
The love I have for Arsenal, it’s difficult to describe to a non-football lover, for me though, if you say Arsenal, I automatically think of Highbury, that old place has never really left my system, I know that, according to Plato: “without change, there is no progression” and obviously we had to leave that stadium in order to expand our appeal, but that day we left Highbury, something happened, those that were used to going to Highbury week in, week out, cannot describe that ‘lost’ feeling we now have when we go the Emirates on a match day.
I was a Steward at Arsenal for six years (three years each at both Highbury and the Emirates), and that family bond that we had at Highbury sort of disintegrated the moment we moved. I’m talking about the family bond between fans and players, the family bond between workers and fans, that bond between workers and players. I knew every nook and cranny at Highbury, the players’ car park was under the stadium, and the players had to pass the Stewards’ room in order to get to the car park, so we would quite often exchange pleasantries with them after the game as they left the ground. The Invincible season was obviously very, very special.
My best Arsenal memory is a tough one, I’ve been to every Arsenal Cup final since the start of the 2000s I can’t really pick one out. Maybe the penalty shootout win against Manchester United in the 2005 FA Cup. Patrick Vieira’s last kick of a ball for Arsenal to win the FA Cup leaves a lasting memory, before he was whisked off to Juventus.
This season a few highlights have sprung to mind, especially being 3-0 up to Manchester United at half time! I have never seen the Emirates so loud! Actually, this was probably matched by Danny Welbeck’s last-minute goal against Leicester recently when the players jumped over the fence where we sit and gave us a hug on Valentine’s Day!
My lowest point was definitely the 2006 Champions League final. Henry single-handedly got us there, and we were so close to winning that cup for the first time in our history. But Jens Lehmann decides to do a Jens Lehmann and gets sent off, and we sacrificed Robert Pires for Manuel Almunia in goal, and we go on to lose 2-1, despite going 1-0 up with a Sol Campbell header.
When I think of Spurs I think “forever in our shadow”. I’d have a guess and say I’ve been to 20 North London Derbies. Recently, it hasn’t been the biggest match of the season, due to ‘them’ being nowhere near us in league position! However, it’s always the fixture you look out for when the fixture list is drawn at the start of the season! I would probably class it as being the most passionate game of the season, the players, the fans, the staff, they don’t want to lose to ‘them from down the Lane. I remember Charlie George saying that he could never say the T-word, due to the complete hatred of the team! What ever is said about the atmosphere of the Emirates, this game always turns up the volume of the stadium, you look at fans around you who haven’t said a word all season, and they’re sitting there leading anti-Spurs chants! It’s quite funny being an Arsenal fan, because regardless of who we’re playing, we’re always singing about Spurs! We seem to spend more time singing about our hatred for them than giving love to our team and players!
My biggest derby memory, I have a couple, one springs to mind, November 2004 – we go to the Lane and score five against them! It was absolute fantasy football! [5-4 against Spurs in the 2004-05 season] I can happily say that “I was there!”
The other big memory that I have, (and most Gooners) was when we won the league at White Hart Lane! It was a pretty tense game. I wasn’t there, although I really wished I was!
Having been a season ticket holder at the Emirates for several years, my derby day usually involves me getting up and putting on my home kit (if playing at the Emirates). I travel to Holloway Road on the Underground and then grab some chips from the chip shop on the Holloway Road near Piebury Corner (highly recommended by the way). I get into the stadium in good time for the match to see the players train, then shout/scream, turning on the ‘mental’ button and singing all the anti-Spurs chants that I know, following the chanting group in block six of the North Bank.
I don’t really have any mates who are Spurs but I’m not one to dislike people because of their taste in a football team but come match day for those 90 minutes they’re the scum of the earth!
I’d say the biggest difference between Arsenal and Spurs was summed up by the whole Sol Campbell debacle. They absolutely hated their star leaving them to come to us! I recall Nike putting out an advert at the time he joined us, basically drawing a line up Seven Sisters Road, titling it ‘quickest route to Europe’. That really summed up the gulf in class of Spurs-Arsenal at the time!
Nikhil Saglani
I’ve supported Spurs since I can remember, really, there’s no actual day or year when it ‘began’ for me – it’s just always been Spurs – only really because of my dad, I’ll never forgive him!
My Dad moved to London in the 1970s and chose the club nearest to where he lived at the time, which was Spurs. He passed it on to me and I’ll pass it on to my kids too. I am a junior member, but my dad is a season ticket holder, so I use that as much as I can. I’ve pinched it off him for Saturday afternoon [against Arsenal]!
My first Spurs memory was as a five-year-old on the 10 August 2003. It was my first game at White Hart Lane. We drew 0-0 to Sporting Lisbon in a preseason friendly, exciting eh?! I remember walking into the upper tier of the North Stand and saying, “Dad, they look like PlayStation players!” It wasn’t the best of games but I’ll never forget it.
My best Spurs memory might just be in May! But, for now, it’s definitely the 2010-11 Champions League season. We destroyed teams at the Lane on those nights – whoever came to visit. The fact we got to the last eight, when even we didn’t expect it, just went to show how good some of the players in that squad were.
The worst time I’ve had being a Spurs fan is difficult because whatever I say won’t be as bad as what Spurs fans experienced in the early 1990s, but I wasn’t born yet as I’m only just turned 18. The years before Martin Jol, under Jacques Santini and Glenn Hoddle were drab, Juande Ramos’ second season started terribly and that was difficult, but so was the season after Gareth Bale left – when I was really old enough to appreciate it. Having said that, we finish 6th and did okay in two cups, so was it really that bad?
When I think of Arsenal, if I was being neutral, I’d say they’re a pretty well run club, although as has been shown recently – they lack the ambition to match the funding and resources they have. I can’t say I like him, but you’ve got to respect the job Arsene Wenger has done there and how he’s been there for 20 years. But I’ll put my Spurs hat back on now, I hate them. I cheer goals they concede, I laugh at them when they lose and losing to them is never an option. The fact that their history shows that they made it into the First Division in dodgy circumstances [in 1919] sums them up for me, they always seem to get their way in the end. Hopefully we can stop them on Saturday. God I’d hate it if they won it.
I couldn’t tell you the number of derbies I’ve been to. I’ll be there on Saturday I can’t wait! The derby is the biggest match of the season. The rivalries with West Ham and Chelsea are tense too but there’s nothing like beating the Arsenal – and nothing worse than losing to them! Losing isn’t really an option this weekend. I have so many great memories of derbies – the 5-1 in the League Cup at the Lane in 2008 was absolutely amazing, what a night. The 4-4 the season after was pretty surreal too, especially given we were 4-2 down at their place with a few minutes to go. Winning 3-2 there in 2010-11 was incredible, our first win at the Emirates and to come back from 2-0 down at half time made it that extra bit special. But, if I’m honest, last year’s 2-1 win at the Lane tops it for me, mostly because we did that with academy players, half a team of English players and a manager that gave all of these youngsters a chance – that brought it even closer to our hearts. It wasn’t the most glamorous thrashing, but we dominated them and beat them courtesy of Harry Kane who is one of our own. Unbelievable.
I don’t really have a derby day routine, because I barely get any sleep the night before. I go through all the scenarios in my head on the way to the ground and then usually watch it with my hands covering my eyes – every attack is exciting and every time they attack, I’m fearful they’ll score. Thankfully, Hugo Lloris is in the way a fair bit.
I have a few mates who are Arsenal, but they stop being my mates on the week of the derby. Most the Gooners I know are unbearable, if I’m honest, especially those who can’t appreciate that Spurs are actually quite good now. Their sense of superiority is a tad sickening. Obviously it’s an issue if we lose, but if we win, texts, phone calls, Facebook messages from me are flying about. They don’t hear the end of it for days. Let’s hope the bragging rights can continue longer than a few weeks this season.
If I had to sum up the North London Derby, the day isn’t about playing well, it’s not about dominating, it’s not even about doing it fairly from a fan’s point of view – you just have to WIN. I hope we can keep our great season going against them, and keep it going on for a couple more months and win the league.
COYS!
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