01.12.2004
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| You are welcome to have a go at me after I write this but before you do remember I have been there ! I was a North London Boy; Mark Falco’s sister was in my class; I was there when Ricky Villa scored the goal in the ’81 replay; when Tony Parks saved that penalty: 18 games (even to Blackpool) when they were relegated; I’ve stood up alone in the corporate section of St James Park and yelled at the top of my voice “Yiddos” (brave – trust me!); I saw Ardiles’ and Villa’s debut; Jurgen’s, Lineker’s, Defoe’s; Jimmy Greaves signed for me “Be Lucky Paul”, my daughter’s a JSM member; I stood in the Coventry end in my Spurs shirt when we lost at Wembley – on the day the girl I really loved married the wrong bloke ! You get the picture.
I left London 30 years ago and whilst I can’t justify a season ticket now I’ve pumped thousands of pounds in to Spurs (£2800 in one corporate package alone last year) from Sussex where I still live, and despite all the massive mountain of frustration we have had to climb in the last few years I’ve put up with it all. But there comes a point (like a battered wife I suppose) when you have to say stop ! I’ve reached that point. It started a year ago when a mate invited me on a freezing cold day to see my local non league team Eastbourne Borough play Cambridge City. It was bloody freezing, it was a crappish game and I took the rise out of the club for the whole 90 minutes. But the next day I woke up and realised I’d enjoyed it. It was stress free – it was honest and it was FUN ! (remember when you could use that word about going to Spurs ?) Since then Eastbourne have been promoted – are 6th in the Nationwide Conference South and have won 9 out of ten games. Amazingly just as their star has risen Spurs has fallen. Every week that has gone by this season I have been comparing the two clubs and you know what ? Spurs come off worse. At Eastbourne you get commitment, clean play (hell we even had a woman ref against Weston Super Mare) and the players turn up in cars that are not as good as mine ! The manager Gary Wilson is honest, shrewd and modest. The club are run by a committee and they get stuck in and they enjoy every minute of it. It costs just £8 to get in, you can buy Becks at half time and watch Sky in the Sports Club! Keith Burkinshaw famously said that there used to be a Football Club at Spurs. He was correct. It’s never been right since Irving Scholar turned it into a PLC. Today, as it has been since then, the twin engines that drive Spurs are the Chairman’s desire to protect his investment and his personal need for glory – NOT any culture of good football. No one at Tottenham ever just gets on with the job quietly ! Every manager thinks he is the new Messiah, every player thinks he is something special, we are wrapped around with a constant stream of corporate plc glossy corporate brochure speak. This week I got a very nice colour mail-shot offering me a discounted Executive Box on the grounds that there is so much more to come this season from Spurs. Well there certainly isn’t in the Carling Cup is there ? THFC is the “Courts Furniture Store” of Modern Football. We are still under-funded, over ambitious, have an old fashioned idea of product and despite all the changes are bogged down with top heavy and massively inconsistent management ! I’m no longer interested in hearing about the Spurs way ! – about what Martin Jol wants to be remembered for; about Santini’s personal problems; about Daniel Levy’s vision. Play the bloody game lads !!! Shut up and get on with it ! Pass the ball; put the ball in the back of the net; tackle hard ! But it won’t happen. THFC is not a football club – it’s a glossy brochure – it looks nice and says all the right words but it delivers … absolutely nothing ! – not even a scrappy 1-0 against a Liverpool reserve side. So when Eastbourne play Spurs at Priory Lane in a few years you’ll see me down near the touchline in the sponsors seats and you’ll know why I’m there and why in my heart I’m praying Spurs win the game ! Paul Robinson |
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