Like numerous Football Clubs up and down the country, Tottenham Hotspur's foundations originate in the School and Cricket paternity. The "Hotspur" is believed to be linked to a gentleman named Sir Henry Percy alias Harry Hotspur who existed in the 1500's and whose descendants were quite wealthy landowners."Hotspur Football Club", as it was known became "Tottenham Hotspur Football and Athletic Club", in 1884 to stop the confusion and also to have a more unique name than that of a similar local club that went by the title of "London Hotspur"Their first ground so to speak was the Tottenham Marshes in Greater London, a natural wetland. They then shifted to Northumberland Park in 1888, a location more suitable for spectators and where they could charge gate fees. A set back for Tottenham was when they received no votes which would of allowed them to join the Southern League. This was reversed when in 1895, the Club turned professional and Spurs started to attract bigger crowds at games and with this, a bigger venue was required, so in 1899 the Club moved to their new ground at High Road which is now the famous White Hart Lane which as brought many football gifts to fans.A great achievement for Tottenham Hotspur was in 1901 when they won the FA Cup and in doing so were and still are the only non-League club to have lifted that trophy, which was presented to Spurs Captain Jack Jones. It was at this presentation that ribbons were tied to the Cup by a Spurs Directors wife and that is where the tradition of ribbons on the FA Cup originates.In the 1908/09 season, Tottenham was elected to participate in Division 2 of the Football League and in the same season won promotion as runners up to Division 1. The Clubs high hopes were soon watered down as they found themselves overwhelmed with stronger Clubs and in 1914/15 when football was suspended due to WWI Spurs found themselves at the bottom of the League.After the War in 1919 and with more Clubs turning p rofessional and wanting to join the Football League additional places were allocated and in doing so, the League added two extra Clubs making the total number of Clubs in the League 1 now 22 from 20. There was already a degree of hostility with Arsenal after they moved ground to Tottenham's vicinity but what happened after the War added insult to injury. The Two extra places in League 1 went to Chelsea who finished 19th and the other should naturally of been Tottenham who had finished in 20th place, but Arsenal who had finished in 6th position in League 2 were somehow promoted to Division 1. Even more amazingly, this decision was not over ruled and Arsenal FC stayed in Division 1 and Tottenham in Division 2. This opened up a wound for Spurs that even to this day has not been closed.Tottenham dug deep and at the end of 1919/20 season were crowned champions of Division 2 and went even one better the following year by winning the FA Cup for the second time beating Wolverhampton 1-0.After WW2, footballs popularity was ceaselessly increasing bringing masses to the weekend matches. In 1949 a born and bread Tottenham man and an ex player, Arthur Sydney Rowe became Manager of Spurs. Football gifts like Rowe remain timeless and his input and the strategy,"push and run", he formed while at the Club are still seen in all Football Squads today. General like in his tactics he brought some thing special to Spurs and now they were going places. They Finishes in top position that same season Rowe took charge but there was more to come in the ensuing season, Division 1. Only losing seven games, they were comfortable leaders for the majority of the time and crowned champions with Manchester United runners up.Like all new methods of play, especially those that work and are successful, meant other Clubs were adopting and adapting Rowe's, "push and run", style. With this Tottenham ended the 1951/52 season a close second to a younger Man United squad. The 1952/53 se ason saw the Club in a mess finishing only 10th. Another mess which did contribute to this middle of the table result was the poor condition of the home pitch. Even for the low standards back then it was still considered disgraceful.The Rowe years were coming to an end as he handed his resignation in 1955. Much to do with Rowe's departure was his health and of course Spurs not doing as well in the tables as they once were.If there was a man, who knew everything about Tottenham Hotspur FC it was Bill Nicholas. He had served the Club in every aspect upon leaving school and was given the opportunity to manage in 1958. In terms of football gifts Nicholas was another and stamped his authority on his opening game against Everton, thrashing them 10-4, making this a Spurs record at the time. There was optimism in the air once again and rightly so. Tottenham's first 3 seasons with Nicholas's guidance were a blast with them winning the Double in 1961 then reaching the FA Cup/European Cup semi finals in 1962. 1963 saw Spurs lift the Cup Winners Cup, and then they did have a quiet spell while Nicholas basically rebuilt the whole squad but then bounced back in 1967, beating Chelsea FC 2-1 in the FA Cup final at Wembley with Robertson and Saul the goal scorers. Spurs later added the League Cup in 1971 and the UEFA Cup in 1972 then the League Cup again in 1973. Before Nicholas resigned in 1974/75 season, he had accumulated 8 major trophies and Spurs had never tasted success to that degree.Tottenham Hotspur couldn't have wished for a better start to the 80's. Now with, Keith Burkinshaw in charge they beat Manchester City 3-2 to add another FA Cup to their collection and then did it again the following season against QPR. In 1984 with players like Gareth Brookes and Glenn Hoddle enthused Spurs to grab another major trophy, the UEFA Cup. The mid and late 80's did see Spurs have numerous chances but it always just seemed to elude them.In 1991 and under manager Te rry Venables the club did have some success. With players like Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker the FA Cup was once more theirs. Largely though, Tottenham was really much the same as they were in the late 80's but had an extra problem of financial security. Certain individuals like Sir Alan Sugar stepped in to curb the Clubs 20 million debt. In addition, that meant other individuals had to be sold off, one of these included England star Paul Gascoigne. The club was in better hands but still not producing the goods and after another poor season Sir Alan Sugar sold his hold on the Club to ENIC Sports PLC.Former Spurs player Glenn Hoddle took managers post in 2001 with big ideas to turn the Club around. In fairness he didn't have a particularly bad opening season plus steered the squad to the League Cup final, but cracks started to appear in the relationships with certain players and these individuals began complaining about Hoddle methods or lack of them. Again with no good res ults taking shape he was sacked by the board in 2003/04.The most recent manager to date, Harry Redknapp, former manager of Portsmouth joined Tottenham 2008/09 season. With the Club in a serious position of relegation, Redknapp needed only wins for survival and got them. He had only been in charge for a couple of weeks but this saw Spurs move up the table and out of the danger zone and when the final whistle blew for end of season Spurs were mid table.For this season, lets hope we can get some more football gifts at white Hart Lane with that old Tottenham magic.
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