Spurs v Luton Town Match Reports
[this page is under-going construction – please bear with MEHSTG as we try to complete this mammoth task for all our opponents.]
| . | |
| 30.03.2024 |
Premier League Home Won 2-1 For a match report, click here. |
| . | |
| 07.10.2023 |
Premier League Away Won 1-0 For a match report, click here. |
| .. | |
| 11.03.1992 | Division 1 Away Drew 0-0
While Luton looked more likely to score in this goal-less draw, their lack of fire-power up front allowed Spurs to labour to an away point. The Tottenham fans were not impressed and chanted “Shreeves Out” to express their unhappiness with the situation the team finds themselves in. There were few moments of excitement int he game, with Erik Thorstvedt having to be quick out to deny Brian Stein and Ceri Hughes, while Gordon Durie struck the bar with a shot and then only had Mervyn Day to beat near the end, but out his shot wide of the goal. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 16.11.1991 | Division 1 Home Won 4-1
With Luton Town leading 1-0 at White Hart Lane with almost an hour gone, the lights went out on both the match and on the Hatters’ hopes of winning against Spurs. Gary Mabbutt had led the Spurs side into the dressing room, but as they were dark too, the team came back out onto the pitch and after the 16 minute delay, they perked up to win comfortably. Thanks to Spurs keeper Erik Thorstvedt’s sharpness at the start of the match, Spurs held out as he made a save at the feet of Mick Harford and then kept out Paul Telfer, who had picked off Pat van den Hauwe’s back-pass. Harford wasted a 20th minute opening when Scott Oakes and Mark Pembridge provided the chance that he could only screw wide. Luton eventually took the lead two minutes before half-time through Harford, who was provided with the chance to beat Thorstvedt, after Brian Stein latched onto Gudni Bergsson’s poor back-pass and that turned out to be the highpoint of the Bedfordshire club’s afternoon. Seven minutes after the lights were turned back on, 20 year old substitute Scott Houghton was on the end of Paul Walsh’s run and cross to score his first League goal for the club, netting at the second attempt after Alec Chamberlain had stopped his first effort. Ironically, Houghton had been signed by Luton manager David Pleat when he was the Tottenham boss. It was another cross, this time from Vinny Samways two minutes later, that gave Gary Lineker the opportunity to knock the ball home to give Spurs the lead. With 15 minutes left, Scott Houghton embarrassed goalkeeper Chamberlain by beating him at his near post with a shot from out on the right wing 35 yards from goal. Lineker wrapped up a dark and miserable afternoon for the Hatters with a goal seven minutes from time. With Spurs struggling before the floodlight failure, someone in the crowd jokes, “That’s the first time bad play has stopped light !” Teams : |
| .. | |
| 01.04.1991 | Division 1 Away Drew 0-0
Some rash play by Marvin Johnson earned him two quick yellow cards to leave Luton Town to play out the last 18 minutes with ten men, but Tottenham were unable to take advantage and leave Kenilworth Road with a single point from a 0-0 draw. Sean Farrell was lucky only to receive a yellow card when Luton were denied a penalty and he pursued the referee and pushed him. Luton had a few chances, but were unable to take them, including John Dreyer hitting the bar from the penalty spot after a soft tackle by Vinny Samways was ruled to have fouled Mark Pembridge. Efforts from Kingsley Black, Pembridge and Sean Farrell all went wide. However, a foul on Nayim in the 69th minute brought Johnson his first yellow card and three minutes later a deliberate handball saw him dismissed by the referee, who had been a late replacement. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 22.12.1990 | Division 1 Home Won 2-1
Ian Dowie had given the Hatters a 12th minute lead at White Hart Lane when he shot past Erik Thorstvedt to finish Kingsley Black’s left wing cross at the far post before all hell broke out. Firstly Nayim was sent off for a second bookable offence when not retreating 10 yards at a free kick with half an hour gone, then Pat van den Hauwe was dismissed eight minutes later. The dire situation that Tottenham found themselves in produced changes in roles for some players as Terry Venables re-organised the side and it became a defining moment in Paul Stewart’s Spurs career. Moving back into midfield he grabbed a goal between the sending offs, heading home Paul Gascoigne’s cross from the left from close range and, when Luton had been reduced to ten men with Ceri Hughes getting a red card with an hour gone for a foul on Gary Lineker, the Spurs striker popped up to get his second of the game to send Tottenham on their way to an unlikely win. This time it was an untidy goal, as he won Gascoigne’s right wing corner and headed it down but it was blocked before he forced the ball over the line. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 02.12.1989 | Division 1 Away Drew 0-0
A flu virus hit the Tottenham squad ahead of their visit to Luton Town, but that did not stop Spurs dominating the game. Hatters keeper Alec Chamberlain made good saves from Paul Stewart, David Howells and former Luton player Paul Walsh, but he reserved his best – a fine reflex save to keep out Gary Lineker’s acrobatic shot after 25 minutes. Without much threat from the home team, Tottenham’s inability to find a way past Chamberlain left the game goal-less. |
| .. | |
| 19.08.1989 | Division 1 Home Won 2-1
Spurs edged a home win against Luton Town thanks to a late Paul Allen goal that earned the First Division points in this match. Paul Stewart had headed Tottenham into a 29th minute lead when he met Paul Gascoigne’s right wing free-kick, but Luton equalised straight from the kick off when Roy Wegerle. A ball was knocked up into the air and when it came down Wegerle struck a powerful volley from just inside the box past Thorstvedt within 15 seconds of the half kicking off. With ten minutes left a long throw came in from the left flank in front of an empty East Stand and Stewart headed it on, causing a melee at the far post, but Paul Allen managed to hook the ball home laying on the ground to score the winning goal. At one point in the second half, Steve Williams had to be helped off as he was choking when the old Gooner swallowed a fly ! Teams : Match Sponsors : – Directa UK and Enfield & St. Albans Co-Op. |
| .. | |
| 28.03.1989 | Division 1 Away Won 3-1.
Luton Town took the lead through Steve Foster when he headed David Preece’s left wing corner down low past Erik Thorstvedt in the 42nd minute, but Spurs hit back to beat them 3-1 at Kenilworth Road with Paul Walsh, David Howells and Paul Gascoigne scoring to take the three points back to North London after a good Tuesday night visit to Bedfordshire. Howells equalised in the second half when a short throw-in saw Waddle lift the ball to the edge of the box from 30 yards out on the right and the Spurs midfielder challenged for the ball in the 55th minute and beat two Luton players to it as it dropped to prod a volley past Sealey, who had left a lot of the goal open to his right, which is where Howells put his shot. A left wing corner was cleared out to Gary Mabbutt, whose shot from just outside the box rebounded back across goal from hitting the keeper’s left hand post, but Paul Walsh was alert to fire it into the net from ten yards out after 82 minutes. A Luton attack was broken up by Spurs on the edge of their box and the ball was fed up to Paul Gascoigne midway inside his own half. He ran forward, with no Luton player coming to challenge him, before switching the ball from left foot to right foot to glide between the two players who tried to stop him and as Sealey came out, the ball was passed inside the post to the keeper’s left to make it 3-1 in the final minute. The Spurs fans who had defied Luton’s away fan ban were jubilant behind the goal as Chris Waddle celebrated the goal by putting his foot on Gascoigne’s chest as he lay on the pitch. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 26.12.1988 | Division 1 Home Drew 0-0
Spurs blew a great chance to win this home game against Luton Town when they were given a 19th minute penalty, but Terry Fenwick’s spot-kick was saved by Les Sealey, who got up quickly to deny Paul Stewart as he went for the rebound. Fenwick then skied a shot over the bar from a couple of feet out. A bout of flu reduced the options for Terry Venables forcing him to give a debut to amateur Gudni Bergsson, who had recently signed from Valur Reykjavik and mad a confident start with the club. Paul Gascoigne received a pass from Paul Allen and took the ball around Les Sealey before rolling the ball towards goal, but Rob Johnson made a good recovery to clear it off the line. It wasn’t a boring 0-0, as Mimms did well to push Roy Wegerle’s shot onto the bar and then Paul Walsh was denied by a goal-line clearance by Richard Harvey. In the second half Stewart hit the post and Allen put a header narrowly wide, while, at the other end, David Oldfield and Wegerle forced Mimms into a double save, but Tottenham’s frustration contrasted with the Hatters’ joy at earning a point. Teams : NOTE : – Gudni Bergsson made his Spurs debut in this match. |
| .. | |
| 04.05.1988 | Division 1 Home Won 2-1
Steve Hodge’s goal gave Tottenham the lead after 30 minutes after initially being denied by Andy Dibble’s save, but he reacted well to knock the ball past the keeper at the second attempt. When Ashley Grimes exchanged passes with David Oldfield, the Northern Ireland international found the net to make it 1-1 six minutes after Hodge’s opener. It was in the 53rd minute that Gary Mabbutt hit a superb dipping volley that beat Dibble from 25 yards to score a goal worthy of winning any game, but Luton could have levelled the score when a late chance for David Oldfield was put wide from a few feet out. The game was played out against a background of protests about chairman Irving Scholar’s plans to do away with the Shelf at White Hart Lane. Teams : NOTE : – Johnny Metgod, Clive Allen and Steve Hodge all made their last appearances for Tottenham in this match. |
| .. | |
| 21.11.1987 | Division 1 Away Lost 0-2
Two Ian Allinson goals – one in each half – condemned Tottenham to defeat by Luton Town. David Howells clever flick on at the near post to a 26th minute corner got the ball to the back post, where Clive Allen failed to get a decent contact on the ball. Rob Johnson cleared a Spurs corner and Allinson chased after the ball, getting to it before Tony Parks on the edge of the penalty area and lobbing the ball over the keeper to open the scoring in the 37th minute. In a game dominated by defences, it was the only two moments Luton looked like scoring … and did. Johnson was involved again, as he swung in a cross for Nwajiobi to flick the ball on to Allinson, whose low left-footed drive beat Tony Parks from 12 yards out with 63 minutes gone. The only other incident of note came when Steve Hodge blocked a powerful header from Steve Foster on the line. Les Sealey had to dive to keep out Steve Foster’s back-pass in the 70th minute and when Gary Stevens pulled back Brian Stein’s shirt, he received a yellow card, but the Luton striker saw red as he swung an arm in the direction of the Spurs defender six minutes from the end of the match. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 28.03.1987 | Division 1 Away Lost 1-3
Snow and a plastic pitch failed to make the perfect mix for Tottenham as they lost 1-3 at Kenilworth Road. Mick Harford’s first half goal gave Luton Town a 1-0 lead at Kenilworth Road, before the lead was extended in the second period by Mike Newell and Darron McDonough before Chris Waddle pulled a late goal back for Spurs. Ray Clemence was called on regularly during the first half to keep Luton out, but he could do nothing to stop Harford’s opener, half-volleyed in from Ricky Hill’s cross in the fifth minute. Amidst hailstones falling out of the grey Bedfordshire sky, Mitchell Thomas annoyed his former fans by heading the ball off the line in each half, but when Hill and Brian Stein linked up to put Mike Newell into the left side of the penalty box, his left foot struck the ball low past Ray Clemence with 54 minutes gone. The introduction of Ossie Ardiles prompted some better Spurs play and when Chris Waddle went on a run through the Luton defence, Les Sealey came out to meet him, but the Tottenham winger stumbled past his attempted block (which earned the keeper a booking) and stroked the ball into an empty net to make it 1-2 in the 62nd minute. The game was put out of Tottenham’s reach when Hill went on a good run down the line and crossed for Darron McDonough to head in at the far post with four minutes left. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 04.10.1986 | Division 1 Away Drew 0-0
Luton upped their game on the visit to White Hart Lane to meet Spurs, now managed by their former boss David Pleat. Only a wonder save on the hour by Ray Clemence from Mike Newell preserved the clean sheet to earn a draw. Both teams were missing forwards, with Clive Allen injured, while Luton’s Brian Stein was suspended and Mick Harford had poisoned blood. However, Nicholas, Preece and North went close before Ray Clemence pushed Brian Stein’s effort over the top. Danny Thomas did well to head a cross away, just over his own bar and Les Sealey had to tip over a 25 yard Glenn Hoddle drive just before half-time. Clemence’s save down at his post to prevent Newell scoring on the hour was followed up with a late stop to deny Ricky Hill. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 12.04.1986 | Division 1 Away Drew 1-1
The artificial pitch at Luton held no worries for a slick passing Tottenham team, who took a 19th minute lead through Clive Allen who struck a 25 yard shot that beat Les Sealey all ends up after Ray Clemence’s clearance up-field had confounded the Hatter defence. However, they were denied all the points when Mike Newell managed to notch an equaliser in the final minute of the match. Steve Foster headed one chance wide and had another saved before Stein followed him by missing and Mick Harford was through on goal but his poor shot made it a straightforward save for Ray Clemence. Three minutes into the second half, Harford headed against the post and as Mike Newell reacted to shoot the loose ball at goal, Clemence spread himself to block the effort. With a minute remaining, Peter Nicholas put Rob Johnson down the line in space and his cross was met with a diving header by Newell to earn Luton a point at the death. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 09.11.1985 | Division 1 Home Lost 1-3
Richard Cooke was the sole Tottenham scorer in a 1-3 defeat at home to Luton Town. Brian Stein, Mick Harford and Ricky Hill all scored to give Luton their biggest win at White Hart Lane and their first there since 1948. Perhaps it wasn’t a shock as Tottenham were in the bottom half, with the Hatters placed in the top ten in the league, although Spurs had an opening in the second minute when Hoddle put Falco through and with keeper Sealey caught out of position, the Tottenham striker could only put the ball across the face of goal. Luton’s Nicholas fired a shot over the bar from a short free-kick before David Leworthy forced Sealey to tip a powerful effort wide of the goal. Harford had given the Hatters a first half lead from close range and Clemence had to be alert to keep out Stein’s shot. At the start of the second half Hill fired in a low shot that narrowly missed, with Gary Mabbutt making a last-ditch challenge to keep out Harford’s effort and the Spurs keeper was in the right place to cling on to Nwajiobi’s shot. Brian Stein made it 2-0 in the 18th minute of the second half after he had turned away from Mabbutt and slotted home past Ray Clemence. Richard Cooke got a Spurs goal when he seized on Mark Falco’s header on from Chris Waddle’s cross to tap the ball over the line and to give us the opportunity to claw something back, but with just over a minute left, Ricky Hill drilled a right foot shot past Ray Clemence to make it 3-1. Teams : |
| . | |
| 02.02.1985 | Division 1 Away Drew 2-2
A late exchange of goals could not determine a winner between Luton Town and Spurs at Kenilworth Road in this First Division meeting that left the Hatters just one place off the bottom of the table. Despite their lowly position, Luton took the game to Tottenham, perhaps buoyed by the news that a move to Milton Keynes had been rejected. Whatever it was, the biggest home crowd in two years were irate when a fourth minute goal by Brian Stein was wiped out for offside. Not for him running on to Ricky Hill’s through pass, but for Mick Harford who was to his right, although he didn’t touch the ball. When a 28th minute free-kick was given against Spurs for a Graham Roberts block on Stein, it was played short for Nicholas to fire onto the bar off the wall and a touch from Ray Clemence. Stein wasted another opportunity before half-time when he tried to chip the ball over Clemence, but put it was too high over the bar. The home side finally broke through three minutes into the second half. A Preece cross was cleared by Chris Hughton, but only to Nwajiobi, who blasted it back across goal for Stein to touch it in from the six-yard box. The heavy bobbly pitch made it difficult for Spurs to play their passing game and Luton’s more direct approach led to Nwajiobi firing a shot just wide as he ran at the Spurs defence. After the hour, Tottenham had their first meaningful effort when Chiedozie beat Mitchell Thomas on the right wing and crossed for Garth Crooks to meet the ball with a powerful header that Sealey saved at point-blank range. The keeper later denied Crooks again in the 81st minute, but by then Micky Hazard had replaced Chiedozie that gave Spurs a better shape. Substitute Daniel almost put a ball past his own keeper from a Spurs corner and when the resulting corner was headed out, Gary Mabbutt crashed a shot at goal that hit Foster and fell to Mark Falco to find the net with a first-time shot on the turn in the 84th minute. Three minutes later, Luton scored what they thought was the winning goal when Stein’s right wing run fed the ball across and Nwajiobi hit the ball into the roof of the Spurs net from the edge of the box. Spurs looked deflated but poured forward and into injury time, Mabbutt launched a long throw that Luton couldn’t get away, so when the ball dropped in front of Roberts, he struck a low effort into the net through a mass of bodies in front of Sealey for a point that kept Tottenham in second place in the table. Teams : NOTE : – Peter Nicholas made his Luton debut. |
| . | |
| 29.09.1984 | Division 1 Home Won 4-2
Tottenham’s clinical finishing put four goals past a poor Luton side who were flattered to get two goals in the final score. It was Luton who scored the opening goal in the third minute as Brian Stein clipped a ball over the square Spurs defence for Moss to run past Paul Miller to slip the ball past Ray Clemence as he came out to meet him. Hilaire raced through as Stein exploited the square back line, but this time Steve Perryman recovered to challenge the former Palace winger although the ball ran to Stein who shot wide. Micky Hazard raced onto a flick from Garth Crooks and forced Dibble to make a full-length dive to push the ball wide, while it was Donaghy and the post that denied Stevens converting a far post header from John Chiedozie’s cross. Donaghy was there again to rescue Luton in the 18th minute, when Dibble blocked Crooks’ shot, after Chris Hughton’s long ball had put him in the clear, but the ball came off the Tottenham striker and rolled inexorably towards the Hatters goal until the defender got back to hook the ball over his shoulder and off the line. Spurs equalised in the 21st minute when a short corner routine played the ball to Hazard on the corner of the penalty area and he stepped between Grimes and Stein to fire a rising shot into the far top corner. Spurs went close to taking the lead when Crook shit the post, but when Stein played a pass to Bunn, he held off a couple of defenders before slotting home low past Clemence’s right hand from 18 yards. Fighting back, Graham Roberts’ shot drew a fine save from Dibble, but Steve Perryman’s run from deep broke the Luton line when he swapped passes with Mark Falco and then beat the keeper to make it 2-2 with 36 minutes gone. The second half was dominated by Spurs, although they had to wait until the 75th minute to go ahead for the first time in the game. Hazard and Crooks linked up and the striker squeezed a pass as Elliott and Donaghy challenged, with the ball finding Falco to dispatch the ball into the net. A penalty in injury time given when Chiedozie ran away from Grimes and Donaghy slid in to take the Spurs winger down gave Graham Roberts the opportunity to find the back of the match which he did to make it 4-2. Teams : NOTE : – Vince Hilaire makes his debut for Luton. |
| .. | |
| 14.04.1984 | Division 1 Home Won 2-1
Looking tired after their UEFA Cup trek to Yugoslavia, Spurs made hard work of a 2-1 home victory over Luton. Micky Hazard took control in midfield and Tottenham’s over-lapping full-backs pushed Luton’s wide men back, limiting the Hatters’ attacking options. Spurs looked to put pressure on Luton keeper Sealey and got what they thought was an early goal in the 12th minute but it was disallowed for a foul on the goalie and then Mark Falco was booked for a foul on Sealey. The attacks kept coming as Donaghy had to clear a Steve Archibald effort off the line, while the keeper was tested by Falco, Tony Galvin and Paul Miller. However, Graham Roberts scored after 20 minutes, with Falco converting in the 83rd minute to give Spurs a lead they deserved and while Stein got through, his finish was weak and wide. Luton’s high spot came two minutes from time when 17 year old Garry Parker scored with a finish from 20 yards to to Bunn’s cross. Teams : Match ball sponsor : – Mr. Keith Childs. NOTE : – Luton had four shots saved and five shots wide. Tottenham had ten saved and eight shots wide. Tottenham won 15 corners to Luton’s two |
| .. | |
| 19.11.1983 | Division 1 Away Won 4-2
A fiercely fought, entertaining game saw Spurs emerge from Kenilworth Road with a 4-2 win over Luton Town. Both sides had injury problems, with Luton trying out a new formation with a sweeper and Spurs fielding teenagers Richard Cooke and Ally Dick. There was controversy throughout the game thanks to a wea performance from the referee, starting in the seventh minute when Elliott’s header in his own box hit Stephens on the arm and the ref pointed to the spot. Maybe justice was seen to be done when Glenn Hoddle failed from the penalty spot, seeing his low shot bounce away off the post. A free-kick for the home team brought out a double save from Clemence, first beating out Antic’s shot then saving the rebound effort from Donaghy before Aylott shot over the goal. Tottenham drafted in Richard Cooke for his debut to replace the injured Tony Galvin and it was the winger that opened the scoring. Turner’s sloppy back-pass went straight into the path of Steve Archibald and when his shot was saved, Mark Falco followed up with his effort headed out by Goodyear, but Steve Perryman picked up the ball (quite literally according to the home fans) and his pass to the youngster was driven into the net in the 32nd minute. The ref failed to give Luton a penalty in the 34th minute when Stein was taken down by Perryman, but when Ray Clemence fouled Stephens the England stopper was sharp to produce a save to keep out Brian Stein’s effort from the spot, pushing it onto the post in the 51st minute, with Donaghy unable to hit the target after shooting the loose ball wide. The advantage was extended in the 58th minute when Steve Archibald scored from Hoddle’s pass after Goodyear missed a tackle on the midfielder. However, Stein then reduced the lead, scoring a spectacular goal in the 63rd minute supplied by Antic’s quick free-kick and only Clemence’s reflexes kept out Graham Roberts’ back header, touching it over the bar as he moved his feet quickly to reach it. Falco flicked the ball on with his head and Archibald went past Goodyear to pick out a shot that beat the keeper all ends up with 71 minutes on the clock. In a game that swung one way and then the other, Paul Walsh made it 3-2 with another goal for Luton two minutes later, throwing himself at a header at the far post when Stephens crossed it in. This saw Luton go all out for an equaliser, but it was Spurs who got the next goal and it came after other chances had been missed with Falco shooting too high and Archibald being denied a hat-trick by the post. It was Tottenham’s other skinny winger Ally Dick that settled the match. Hoddle’s quick free-kick put Falco away on the right wing and his cross was touched into his run by Archibald allowing Dick to shoot into the net for his first league goal for the club three minutes from the end of the match. Teams : – |
| .. | |
| 15.01.1983 | Division 1 Away Drew 1-1
An unfortunate own goal by Gary O’Reilly in the first half handed Luton Town the lead at Kenilworth Road. Fortunately, Spurs salvaged a point when substitute Glenn Hoddle scored within two minutes of coming on to level the score at 1-1. Ossie Ardiles returned to the Spurs line-up for the first time since the Falklands War broke out ten months before and Luton’s biggest crowd for seven years witnessed a match that was played out on a slippery surface and lacked a lot of goalmouth action. Tottenham had a penalty shout turned away when Horton brought down Terry Gibson in the penalty box, with Luton’s response being a high and wide shot from Bunn, although in the 35th minute, Julian Watts’ corner to the near post was won by Gary O’Reilly, but it flew past Ray Clemence to give the home side the lead. Perryman and Clemence blocked the run of Hill as he closed in on goal, while an offside looking Steve Archibald was allowed to run at goal and having gone around Findlay, he was only able to shoot into the side-netting. Luton had an equally good pass when Bunn squared the ball to Paul Walsh and his shot bounced back off the post into Clemence’s hands. The referee was not having a great afternoon and when Stephens brought down Ardiles in the box, once more the official waved play on and Ossie seemed to be a target for the Luton players, with a Hoddle corner leading to Thomas fouling Ardiles in the box without being given a penalty, only an indirect free-kick for obstruction. Luton didn’t escape as Ossie back-heeled the ball to Glenn Hoddle, who had only been on the field a minute and he sent a rising shot into the roof of the net on 72 minutes. The final chance of the game fell to Steve Archibald running through with a whiff of offside about it, but he went on only to be denied by Findlay’s legs. However, Tottenham’s first away goal since September earned them their first away point in seven attempts. Teams : Match sponsor : – Wallspan Bedrooms |
| .. | |
| 01.12.1982 | League Cup Fourth Round Home Won 1-0
Goalkeepers took centre stage in this League Cup tie at the Lane until Ricky Villa’s 30 yard drive sent Tottenham through to the Fifth Round. Spurs enjoyed the majority of early possession as Gary O’Reilly and Glenn Hoddle sent shots narrowly too high within five minutes of kick off, but when Graham Roberts got an effort on target a minute later, Jake Findlay had to stretch to keep it out. Luton won a corner from Horton’s deflected shot from which they won a free-kick that Moss drove at goal, bringing out a superb save by Ray Clemence at his near post. Tony Galvin responded with a shot going close after 27 minutes that left Luton keeper Findlay grasping at thin air as it grazed off the far post. Findlay was kept busy saving efforts from Steve Archibald and Garth Crooks before Donaghy hit the Tottenham bar with a header from a 33rd minute corner. When it was cleared up-field, Archibald was through, but was forced wide by Findlay and his shot was cleared on the goal-line by the recovering Donaghy. Ten minutes into the second half, Horton had to kick Glenn Hoddle’s shot off the line before played moved to the Tottenham goal, which Stein cleared with a rising shot. The Luton goal was well protected by Findlay, who finger-tipped O’Reilly’s shot over the bar just after the hour, but the key moment of the game came in the 64th minute, when Archibald picked out Villa a long way from goal, but his shot dipped low into the bottom corner to beat the Luton keeper all ends up. Findlay came out on top with Villa’s next effort, as the keeper made the save and Clemence had to wait his moment to grab the ball from Brian Stein’s feet as he ran into the box. Spurs were still working Findlay and with eight minutes remaining, he made a very good point blank save from Steve Archibald to keep Luton in the tie and they might have equalised at the death had Ricky Hill’s shot been more accurate and not gone wide. Teams : NOTE : – Roberts and Galvin picked up bookings for dissent. |
| .. | |
| 28.08.1982 | Division 1 Home Drew 2-2
New arrivals in the First Division, Luton Town, salvaged a point from their visit to White Hart Lane. Tottenham’s fast start had Luton on the back for for most of the half, after debutant Gary Mabbutt dived in to head home Glenn Hoddle’s free-kick three minutes after kick-off. It prompted a series of attacks that Findlay did well to keep out. Glenn Hoddle tested the Luton keeper before Garth Crooks put the ball past him, only to be deemed offside. That wasn’t the case when Micky Hazard picked the ball up and danced through the Luton defence and around the goalie to slide the ball into the goal to make it 2-0 on 20 minutes. Clemence had to make a couple of saves from Horton and Money, but Spurs held firm. Crooks eased past sweeper Raddy Antic before bringing another good stop out of Findlay, but Brian Stein broke down the left and saw his shot blocked, but as it flew into the air, in trying to clear John Lacy sliced it into his own net with 37 minutes gone. Luton pulled level in the 52nd minute as Moss fed Stein and he side-stepped Ray Clemence to drill a shot into the net. There was a scramble in front of the Hatters goal after a free-kick had been given for the keeper taking too many steps. It was blasted at goal but Findlay was again on his toes to save from Crooks and then Hazard. Spurs could have won it when Paul Miller missed a good opportunity from eight yards out after being put through by Crooks, but, as things got tense towards the end of the match, the Spurs defender and Paul Walsh clashed off the ball and got a good telling off from the referee. Teams : NOTE : – Gary Mabbutt was making his First Division debut for Spurs, with Paul Walsh was making his debut for Luton. |
| .. | |
| 22.02.1978 | Division 2 Away Won 4-1
Spurs headed the league table and ran out big winners at Kenilworth Road in this Division Two encounter in front of Luton’s biggest crowd of the season in David Pleat’s fourth game as the Hatters manager. It was Tottenham’s 12th match in their unbeaten run. The game had been postponed from the previous Saturday and Luton almost took the lead when Phil Boersma shot just over the bar. Tottenham also went close through Colin Lee who headed Steve Perryman’s cross over the top and then hit a volley wide from six yards out. Ricky Hill got on the end of a cross from West, but his diving header grazed the post as it flew wide. Fuccillo blasted a chance at goal, but the Spurs keeper was equal to it and then Graham Jones tried to loft the ball over Daines after a neat turn, but landed his shot on the roof of the net. Spurs were obviously keen to get going as two Glenn Hoddle goals put them ahead. The midfielder’s first was a close range shot at the far post in the 32nd minute after Lil Fuccillo had cleared Peter Taylor’s shot off the line and his second, a trademark curling free-kick around the left side of the Luton defensive wall in the 58th minute quelled Luton’s charge, with Fuccillo having gone close twice. A Don McAllister header was unstoppable for the third goal meeting John Pratt’s corner with 74 minutes on the clock and John Pratt’s long cross found striker John Duncan who netted a rasping volley five minutes from the end to complete the Spurs scoring. In between Luton grabbed a consolation goal, perhaps the best of the match, through Alan West, who picked up substitute Ian Moores clearing header to chip from 25 yards out and to the right of the goal that caught Daines too far off his line with eleven minutes left. Teams : |
| . | |
| 24.09.1977 | Division 2 Home Won 2-0
Luton created a fair few chances in this match at the Lane, but failed to take them, while Spurs profited from a couple of pieces of luck to take both points. Spurs started on the attack, with John Duncan forcing Paul Futcher into a block and then Peter Taylor’s shot had to be pushed aside by Milija Aleksic’s full length dive. Barry Daines reacted well to tip over Lil Fuccillo’s shot and from the resulting corner, Jimmy Husband should have done better than to head wide from close to goal, doing the same with two headers from further out in the second half. Keith Osgood had to be quick to get ahead of Fuccillo, who looked to race onto John Faulkner’s long pass forward, but Luton’s approach play failed to make many clear-cut openings. Luton felt hard done by when Taylor headed Neil McNab’s long cross back from the far post and Duncan went down in the box under challenge from Faulkner in the air, feeling that he had fell over, but the referee pointed to the spot and Osgood put the penalty away just four seconds before the half-time whistle. Chris Jones put the result beyond doubt when he capitalised on Neil McNab’s 30 yard attempt, which Aleksic could only push out and he ran in ahead of Paul Price to poke the ball across the line six minutes after half-time. Glenn Hoddle tested Aleksic with a shot that brought a very good save form the Luton keeper and in the very last minute Husband missed another good chance, so the 2-0 score-line meant that Tottenham maintained their 100% home record. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 05.04.1975 | Division 1 Home Won 2-1
Spurs needed to win this match at home to Luton Town to have a chance to staying in the First Division. A John Duncan goal put Spurs ahead in this tense match, with a shot that beat the grounded Keith Barber in goal and found the net at the Paxton Road end. The tension heightened when Alan West quickly scored an equaliser for the Hatters. With relegation looming for both sides, Tottenham gained a vital two points with a late goal from Alfie Conn that sent the crowd home very happy. Conn’s run saw him take the ball around the keeper to slot the ball into an empty net, thus securing a vital win for Tottenham with just over six minutes remaining, although Luton were adamant that the Scot had been offside. Teams : Goal Times Match sponsor : – SKF (U.K.) Ltd. |
| .. | |
| 26.10.1974 | Division 1 Away Drew 1-1
Martin Chivers and John Aston exchanged goals to earn their sides a point in a 1-1 First Division draw on the first visit to Luton Town since 1960. Only some good keeping from Luton keeper Keith Barber and two offside decisions stopped striker John Duncan from scoring on his debut. However, Martin Peters and Ralph Coates created a right wing cross to the far post took out the Luton keeper and defenders, leaving Martin Chivers to head home unmarked to give Spurs the lead in the 67th minute. However, the home side were not to be denied and the Hatters pulled a late equaliser out of the bag when John Aston smashed the ball home with just three minutes left in the match. The Hatters probably earned their point, as Jennings was busy, making several good stops and Terry Naylor cleared the ball off the line twice. Teams : NOTE : – John Duncan makes his Tottenham debut. |
| .. | |
| 02.04.1960 | Division 1 Home Drew 1-1
Top of the table Spurs hosted bottom of the table Luton Town and dominated play, but the plucky Bedfordshire club stymied Spurs by drawing 1-1. Cliff Jones’ 83rd minute goal, when he seized on a saved Les Allen shot cancelled out one by Joe McBride, who had found the net with an acrobatic header from Bingham’s cross on the hour, for the visitors to share the points with Luton, who almost took both when Gordon Turner shot against the post with two minutes to go. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 14.11.1959 | Division 1 Away Lost 0-1
Bottom of the table Luton Town’s Irish international striker George Cummins scored the only goal of the game in the 15th minute to knock Tottenham off the top of the Division One league table. The pitch was soft underfoot and Luton took to the conditions better than Spurs, providing a string of chances for centre-forward Dave Pacey, but he couldn’t finish any of them and at the other end, Tottenham hit the woodwork with efforts from Danny Blanchflower and Terry Medwin, while Johnny Brooks’ shot that bounced off a post for Tommy Harmer to slam the ball into the net. However, the linesman ruled offside and the goal was wiped out. Bill Brown stopped a number of Luton shots on goal as they racked up corner after corner in the second half, but the damage had been done when he made a poor clearance in the 15th minute allowing Cummins to power the ball past him from 20 yards. After the match, one of the Tottenham directors said of George Cummins, “I wish we had him”, such was the strength of his performance. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 04.04.1959 | Division 1 Home Won 3-0
Tottenham met FA Cup finalists Luton Town at White Hart Lane with both clubs in lowly First Division positions, but it was Spurs who were the far superior team, directed from midfield by the imperious Danny Blanchflower. Only a very good performance by keeper Ron Baynham kept the score down as shot after shot rained in on his goal. Terry Medwin’s piledriver brought a finger-tip save by the keeper who managed to get the ball over the bar. When Bobby Smith smashed home a low left footed shot from 20 yards out in the 11th minute, it was with so much power, the keeper barely had time to react and it looked as though Spurs would go on to win the match comfortably. A goal-line clearance in the last minute of the first half by Ken Hawkes dropped kindly to Johnny Brooks to make it 2-0, who hit the ball back past the defender as he ducked to avoid having his head taken off. Spurs had to wait until the last minute of the game to add a third, with Terry Medwin’s header sealing the win. The build-up had involved Harmer, Smith and Brooks, who passed between them before Brooks put in a cross to give Medwin the goal-scoring opportunity. Luton keeper Baynham had to play the second half with his hand bandaged after an injury in the first period and the side missed centre-half Syd Owen who was side-lined long term, although his replacement Terry Kelly had a good game. The closest they came to a scoring was a disallowed goal by Gordon Turner but the linesman’s flag was raised for offside. Bill Nicholson’s view of the second half was, “We played well in the first half, but we should not have slackened off like that. It wasn’t good enough. Why all the fiddling ? If Luton had snatched a goal before our third, the whole trend of the game could have changed.” Teams : |
| .. | |
| 15.11.1958 | Division 1 Away Won 2-1
Spurs took the points on their visit to Luton thanks to a late winner from Terry Medwin. Spurs had gone ahead in the 11th minute from a goal by striker Dave Dunmore taking advantage of hesitation in the Luton defence to slam the ball past Baynham in the Luton goal, but the home side pulled the score back level on 77 minutes, Billy Bingham netting the home goal, striking a spectacular shot. Tottenham’s defence had been nervy throughout the match, but, with time ticking away, Medwin popped in to score the winner just five minutes from the end of the match as Seamus Dunne lost control of the ball three yards from goal. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 22.03.1958 | Division 1 Away Drew 0-0
Neither team had their shooting boots with them and Luton and Tottenham played out a goal-less draw on a hard, bouncy Kenilworth Road pitch. Keepers at each end made two good saves, with Ditchburn denying Jimmy Adam by somehow reaching his flashing drive and a minute later he punched Adam’s header over the bar. Ron Baynham, Luton’s keeper, made two equally good stops from Bobby Smith. Luton Striker Turner wasted a good opportunity, when he shot from an acute angle into the side-netting, when he had team-mates better placed and Ditchburn was quick to react to keep Dunne out when the Luton defender made a late run into the box. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 23.11.1957 | Division 1 Home Won 3-1
Tottenham raced into a 3-0 lead inside 21 minutes through goals from Johnny Brooks and two from Terry Medwin, the first two coming in eight minutes of the kick off. When Owen and Pearce both failed to deal with a cross into the box, Brooks pounced on a rebound from the goalkeeper Ron Baynham to open the scoring after three minutes, with the ball going through both the keeper’s hands and legs. Brooks and Blanchflower linked to provide Terry Medwin with the opportunity to hit a low shot across the goalie five minutes after the first goal. Gordon Turner’s header almost pulled a goal back for Luton, heading it down, it was blocked on the goal-line, but the lineman ruled that it had not gone over it. Ditchburn’s quick release of the ball to started the move for the third goal, which came about when a raking pass from George Robb put in Medwin to beat the keeper at his near post. Smith had been giving the Luton centre-half Sid Owen a torrid time and a minute after the second half kicked off, forced Baynham into a fine save, with the keeper excelling himself later on to keep out a fierce shot by Brooks with one hand. Spurs continued to pressure the Luton goal and both scorers and Robb all went close to adding to the tally. George Cummins pulled one back for the Hatters, knocking the ball past Ditchburn from close in with four minutes left, but it was never enough to get them back into the match. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 02.02.1957 | Division 1 Away Won 3-1
Gordon Turner’s goal for Luton was not enough to stop Duquemin, Robb and Stokes’ goals winning the match for Tottenham. Tottenham had Danny Blanchflower and Bobby Smith missing due to injuries, but Ernie Walley and Len Duquemin stepped into their places. Although there was a heavy playing surface, the game was played out at a fast pace, with Luton having the early chances, as Davies struck the bar and Pearce put the rebound wide of the goal. However a tenth minute goal by George Robb from close range handed Tottenham the lead and ten minutes before half-time, Spurs went 2-0 up when Alfie Stokes put the ball into the net in a goalmouth scramble on the muddy pitch following a corner. There was another Spurs goal before half-time, when Len Duquemin beat a defender to Ryden’s through pass a minute later to score Tottenham’s third by firing past Streten and when Baker fell in the penalty area and put his hand on the ball, Turner took advantage of the spot-kick to narrow the score-line to 3-1. Both goalkeepers were kept busy in the scrappy second half, but there were no further goals. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 22.09.1956 | Division 1 Home Won 5-0
A big win for Tottenham at home against Luton Town in the First Division came with a second half full of goals. Tottenham’s quick passing and clinical finishing put paid to the Luton Town side, who played well but lacked the goal-scoring ability of Spurs. George Robb’s 20th minute goal gave Spurs a half-time lead at White Hart Lane after Pemberton’s error let Stokes provide the chance, but this gave no indication of what was to come. Alfie Stokes made it 2-0 thirteen minutes after the turnaround, as he stretched to lob the ball over the keeper, then Seamus Dunne headed into his own goal instead of over the crossbar in the 50th minute. Robb hit a second of the match for him after 66 minutes minute when a mistake by Dunne allowed him space to score and Tommy Harmer put away a penalty to make it a 5-0 rout for Spurs with a quarter of an hour left, despite complaints form the Hatters that Owen’s challenge on Bobby Smith was not a foul. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 24.12.1955 | Division 1 Home Won 2-1
Christmas Eve morning was the time for Spurs to host Luton Town and earn a 2-1 win on a heavy pitch at the Lane. Ron Baynham had made an excellent stretching save to Bobby Smith’s header and Ron Reynolds did very well to prevent Wally Shanks’ drive beating him. Len Duquemin opened the scoring in the 16th minute with a shot that may have been a cross, but went in off the far post and Johnny Brooks scored the second of the match, five minutes before half-time when he picked off a slack pass and shot in off the post to beat Baynham. Luton’s short-passing game was not best suited to the conditions, but they battled well and probably had the better of the second half. With ten minutes of the game left, they did pull a goal back through Gordon Turner, who finished Shanks’ good pass and they might have got a late equaliser when Maurice Norman deflected a low cross by Bob Morton just wide of his own goal. Teams : NOTE : – Bobby Smith made his Spurs debut. |
| .. | |
| 27.08.1955 | Division 1 Away Lost 1-2
The first ever First Division meeting between Spurs and Luton Town took place at Kenilworth Road and the home team won 2-1. While Johnny Gavin had put Spurs ahead with a header in the first half from Tony Marchi’s cross, catching the keeper off balance, Luton thought they had a claim for a penalty when Clarke cleared and the shouts were for handball, but they were turned down by the referee. Stokes was denied when clean through, with Baynham’s knees keeping his shot out and then he hit the bar from a free-kick. Nine minutes after the start of the second half, George Cummins levelled the score, converting a pass from McEwan with a shot across Ditchburn and then Gordon Turner fired in a shot from Cullen’s cross that won the match in the 88th minute. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 11.03.1950 | Division 2 Home Drew 0-0
Despite being 12 points ahead at the top of the league, Spurs failed to produce their usual level of play and Luton Town left White Hart Lane with a 0-0 draw. Len Duquemin came closest to breaking the deadlock when he hit the post with a first half shot, but Wyldes missed the Spurs goal twice, with Kiernan firing in an effort that missed by inches. Ted Ditchburn was called upon to make a full-length dive to keep out Stobbart’s shot. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 22.10.1949 | Division 2 Away Drew 1-1
Spurs were top of the table when they went to Kenilworth Road for a Second Division match. Sonny Walters scored a goal in the 29th minute of the first half, but George Stobbart’s equaliser earned the Hatters a share of the points. Within a minute of the Luton equaliser, Alf Ramsey was alert to the danger and prevented James giving the home team the lead. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 19.03.1949 | Division 2 Home Won 2-1
Les Bennett’s two goals gave Tottenham a win over Luton, who got one goal back, scored by Bobby Brennan. 30 minutes into the match, Bennett opened the scoring from Freddie Cox’s corner, as he nipped ahead of Owen to shoot in off the goalpost. Playing with a following wind, Luton played the long ball game in the first half, but Kiernan showed good pace and dribbling ability to go through a number of challenges before shooting just wide Ted Ditchburn out of position. With no further scoring in the first half, Luton came close to an equaliser after the break when Owen struck a quick shot that left Ted Ditchburn unable to react, but the ball grazed the bar as it went over. Luton’s goal came when Waugh came inside seven minutes from time and his cross-shot forced Ditchburn to save, but Tiernan was on hand to apply the finishing touch as the ball escaped the Spurs keeper’s grasp. However, when Bill Nicholson received a quick throw-in from Cox, he put a ball into the box that Bennett was alive to and beat both Watkins and Cooke to it with his head to score the winner for Tottenham. Teams : |
| ... | |
| 23.10.1948 | Division 2 Away Drew 1-1
Joe Arnison and Eddie Baily scored goals in this 1-1 draw at Kenilworth Road. The match was in the fifth minute when Eddie Baily took the ball off a hesitant Owen and drilled his shot pat the keeper from 20 yards out to put Tottenham ahead. Continuing to press forward, the only thing missing from the Spurs attack was the finish to their moves. In the second half, Luton rallied and created chances, only to snatch at their shots so failing to hit the target, although Wally Shanks put in a header that got past Ted Ditchburn, but came out off the angle of crossbar and post. However, when Len Garwood brought a run by Duggan into the box to a halt, the referee pointed to the spot and it was down to Arnison to rifle the spot-kick wide of Ditchburn to make it 1-1. Spurs strived to regain the lead, but the closest they came was a shot from Cox that narrowly missed the goal. Teams : – |
| .. | |
| 05.04.1948 | Division 2 Home Lost 0-1
A single Mel Daniel strike won the match at White Hart Lane for Luton. It was an early goal, coming in the eighth minute, when Duggan beat Johnny Woodward by flicking the ball past him before crossing into the penalty area. Daniel was well-placed and with quick-thinking, he headed back across Ted Ditchburn to give the Hatters the lead. Prior to that Luton were grateful to keeper Streten, who made a fantastic one-handed save to deny a powerful effort from Eddie Baily and then made another good save from the resulting corner. Tottenham continued to try and find a leveller, but they found it hard to break through the Hatters’ defence with their short passing game. Shanks had two good opportunities at the Spurs goal, but failed to test Ditchburn, who also beat Duggan to a ball in the area by Daniel. Tottenham came close with another Baily shot that Streten touched onto the post and Owen completed the clearance from in front of the goal-line. The Spurs keeper was called into action again when Hall sent Shanks through and Ditchburn made save at his near post. As Spurs pressed to equalise, there were two penalty shouts for handball against Gardiner, but neither were given and Luton took the points back to Bedfordshire. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 25.10.1947 | Division 1 Away Drew 0-0
Another record Luton crowd saw Spurs visit and leave with a point from a 0-0 draw. The number of fans inside the ground required a re-count to establish a new record for the Hatters, but they were not treated to any goals as the defences kept things tight. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 22.03.1947 | Division 2 Home Won 2-1
Luton Town suffered a 2-1 reverse when they went to White Hart Lane to play Spurs in the Second Division with a late twist in the tale. Tottenham’s opening goal from Freddie Cox was headed in from Les Stevens’ cross in the eighth minute and was cancelled out in the first half by Eddie Duggan’s effort. Taking a good pass from Soo, the forward shot past Ted Ditchburn in the 25th minute. Spurs looked to have conceded a late goal, but it was disallowed. Fortunately, Gager retaliated after some pushing and holding with Charlie Rundle and Ronnie Dix put his free-kick in the right spot out of Streten’s reach to find the net in off the post to seal a win for Spurs with five minutes left in the match. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 16.11.1946 | Division 2 Away Lost 2-3
Spurs visited Luton for the first post-war meeting between the two sides, played out in front of what was then a record crowd for the Hatters. Tottenham were off to a flying start with Les Bennett scoring in the first minute from Les Setevens’ cross, but Luton came back fighting, with a fifth minute goal from Dally Duncan, heading home Waugh’s corner. Hugh Billington (41) and Eddie Duggan (44) scored in the final four minutes of the first half, with Duncan being the provider on each occasion. That put the home side 3-1 ahead at the interval. George Foreman got a goal back for Spurs on the hour, but despite good approach play, they could not force an equaliser to extend Tottenham’s 12 match unbeaten streak. Teams : NOTE : – Both teams paid their respects to Luton Town club President Harry Arnold who died a few days before the match. |
| . | |
| 19.01.1946 | Football League South Home Lost 2-3.
Teams : |
| . | |
| 12.01.1946 | Football League South Away Lost 1-3.
Teams : |
| . | |
| 05.05.1945 | Football League South Home Won 1-0.
Teams : |
| .. | |
| 21.10.1944 | Football League South Away Won 9-1.
This war-time game at home to Luton Town saw all the Spurs goals scored by guest players. Huddersfield Town’s Pat Beasley scored the eighth Tottenham goal of the game, with the previous seven scored by Jack Rowley, who was a regular guest for Spurs during World War II. Luton Town’s goal was scored by George H. Hunt, a guest who was registered with Barnsley. Teams : |
| . | |
| 12.02.1944 | Football League South Home Won 8-1.
Teams : |
| . | |
| 23.10.1943 | Football League South Away Lost 2-4.
Teams : |
| . | |
| 20.02.1943 | Football League South Home Won 4-1.
Teams : |
| . | |
| 14.11.1942 | Football League South Away Drew 3-3.
Teams : |
| . | |
| 23.11.1940 | This Football League South game was abandoned after an hour, because of an air raid siren.
Teams : |
| . | |
| 02.11.1940 | Football League South Away Drew 1-1.
Teams : Attendance : – 1,100 NOTE : – Wilf Saunders makes hid debut for Tottenham as a guest player from West Bromwich Albion. |
| .. | |
| 11.02.1939 | Division 2 Home Lost 0-1
Spurs were beaten 1-0 in the last league meeting with Luton Town at White Hart Lane before World War II thus relinquishing their unbeaten home record. The visitors had been denied a penalty after only five minutes, when Ralph Ward seemed to handle the ball in the box, but the match officials missed it and no penalty was given. Finding the net for the only goal of the game in the 13th minute allowed the Hatters to take both points back to Bedfordshire. Luton winger George Stephenson controlled the ball in the box, then steamed it in low to beat Percy Hooper as the keeper came out to narrow the angle. Spurs had their chances, with Albert Hall, Vic Buckingham and Willie Hall going close, before Andy Duncan managed to shoot over an open goal from a couple of yards out after Coen had completely missed his punch to Ward’s free-kick (apparently affected by a Spurs player grabbing his legs while he was in the air !). Albert Hall was further denied a goal-scoring chance when he ran away from Dreyer, who dragged him back by his shirt. But Billington had two good openings, one shot in the first half which was touched onto the bar the crossbar by the Spurs keeper and at the end of the second period, he could only find Hooper’s legs when well-placed to score. Another late shout for a Luton penalty went unheeded after Carroll was allegedly fouled in the area. Luton defender Fred Roberts sustained a cut on his head when he and Andy Duncan collided going for a header and it meant that he had to leave the field for the last two minutes, but Tottenham could not take advantage of their numerical superiority. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 08.10.1938 | Division 2 Away Drew 0-0
The home crowd disliked Tottenham’s physical approach and the Luton players were also wound up enough to retaliate although neither side could manage a goal at Kenilworth Road. A poor game ended with only three shots at goal. Vinall had the first, early after the kick off, but failed to find any accuracy, with Luton’s attacks failing to get far as Spurs caught them in their offside trap. Dolman managed to get a hand to a cross by Colin Lyman just before Fred Sargent got to it. In the second half, Dolman denied Lyman with his legs and a Connelly header had to be cleared off the Spurs line by Bill Whatley and that was the closest to a goal all match as Spurs became the first team to take a point away from a Luton home match this season. Teams : NOTE : – Match receipts of £1,274 9s 6d (48p) were taken. |
| .. | |
| 29.01.1938 | Division 2 Home Won 3-0
Tottenham’s home advantage paid off with a 3-0 win over Luton Town at the Lane. Tired by a mid-week Cup replay against New Brighton, Spurs struggled to raise their game and owed Percy Hooper a debt of gratitude for his performance between the sticks. When Hopper was beaten, Bill Whatley had read the danger and cleared off the line. Colin Lyman’s two goals, both taking deflections off a defender, bookended one from Johnny Morrison to provide Spurs with what was a straightforward victory. Luton’s Roberts had struck the post with a low shot from inside the area in the opening exchanges, but Lyman’s first came after 33 minutes, when he came in off the left wing and aimed for the far side of the goal with his shot unable to be stopped by Tom Smith’s attempted block. Spurs were soon 2-0 ahead with Johnny Morrison taking a ball straight down the middle of the pitch and fired a shot at goal that beat the keeper Coen, who was slow to react. Luton were reduced to nine men for four minutes before half-time when Dawes and Vinall smacked their heads together as they challenged a Spurs player and had to go off, although Tottenham couldn’t capitalise. They both appeared for the second half and Tottenham found themselves opened up a few times, with Hooper proving a formidable barrier to the Luton forwards. That didn’t stop Spurs attacking and Morrison brought a very good save from Coen, but the defence had to be wary as the Hatters kept coming forward, with Roberts’ effort got past Hooper, but Ralph Ward was on the line to clear the ball. The result was assured when Lyman got onto a cross from Fred Sargent that eluded Coen and powered a shot across goal that came off Mackey’s chest on its way into the net to make it 3-0. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 18.09.1937 | Division 2 Away Won 4-2
Luton hosted the first meeting of the two clubs in a league fixture, taking place in Division Two, with the game going Tottenham’s way with a 4-2 win, assisted by confusion among the home defence. Luton had taken the lead through Billy Redfearn in the 20th minute, with Griffiths narrowly failing to add to the lead a couple of minutes later, only for Les Miller to shoot Spurs level when there was a mix-up in the Luton back line with the keeper being well out of position. Johnny Morrison then gave Spurs the advantage with a goal to make it 2-1 almost straight away. He left behind the Luton defenders who were appealing for offside and went on to score. With Spurs having repelled Luton’s advances before half-time, the visitors continued to attack the Tottenham goal, having a couple of penalty shouts turned down before Redfearn drew them level after beating Fullwood to shoot past Jack Hall. Following a Spurs free-kick played into the box, the defenders left it for the keeper and the keeper left it for the defenders, allowing any one of five Tottenham players who could have scored, with Morrison grabbing his second of the match to put Tottenham ahead again. Luton attempted to find a way back into the match, with Hall standing firm leaving Freddie Sargent going through to net the fourth two minutes form the end that saw Spurs safely through to take both points. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 28.01.1933 | FA Cup Fourth Round Away Lost 0-2
This FA Cup Fourth Round tie saw Luton progress into the Fifth round courtesy of two goals from Tom Alderson and Tommy Tait on a hard, icy pitch that needed a steamroller to iron out the rutted surface on the morning of the match. Alderson’s eighth minute low drive beat Joe Nicholls following a corner being cleared to Mills, finding the bottom left corner of the net and then, with the pressure building on the Spurs goal, Tait scored when he got between Bill Felton and David Levene to find the net to shoot low past Nicholls with 21 minutes gone with Mills again assisting. Although Spurs had brought a save out of Harford with Eugene O’Callaghan’s shot forcing him to dive low to keep it out, they were being thwarted by the Luton defence, with the home side going close to a third when Kean shot a yard over the bar. Willie Hall was unlucky when his close-range shot hit a defender and when a Davies shot wasn’t fully stopped by Harford, it was hacked away from in front of goal by Kingham. This continued into the second half, when Luton were defending stoutly, but they broke away for Tait to hit a shot that Nicholls punched out from under the bar. O’Callaghan went close forcing Harford to push his shot onto the bar, with the Spurs keeper at the other end called into action to hold shots from Tait and Alderson. Roberts and Colquhoun traded shots over the bar at either end before a late fortunate escape for Luton came when Harford was out of his goal and Kingham made a point blank stop, taking the ball in his stomach, to preserve the clean sheet for the Hatters who progressed to the Fifth Round. Teams : NOTE : – Match receipts of £2,334 10s 6d (53p) were taken. |
| . | |
| 14.04.1917 | London Combination Away Lost 4-5.
Teams : |
| . | |
| 03.03.1917 | London Combination Home (at Homerton) Won 3-2.
Teams : |
| . | |
| 09.12.1916 | London Combination Away Won 3-1.
Teams : |
| . | |
| 16.09.1916 | London Combination Home (at Highbury) Lost 4-5.
Teams : |
| . | |
| 01.04.1916 | London Combination Second Competition Away Won 2-1
Teams : |
| . | |
| 26.02.1916 | London Combination Second Competition Home Won 7-4.
Teams : |
| .. | |
| 08.02.1908 | Southern League Home Lost 1-2
Luton’s new player William Porter turned this game in their favour with two goals. Tottenham kicked off with the wind behind them in the first half and within five minutes a dangerous ball into the Luton goalmouth had to be hurriedly cleared by former Spur Bill McCurdy, then Bob Walker carved out a chance for Bert Middlemiss with the shot going narrowly wide. The same two linked up with the same result and as Tottenham pressed forward Willie McNair forced Platt in the Luton goal to make a good save. Having been denied what seemed to be a clear penalty for a foul on Vivian Woodward, Spurs kept the pressure on and when Middlemiss put a low ball into the box, Walker was there to shoot high into the net from six yards out. Looking to stretch their lead, Spurs brought two good saves from Platt, but Moody pushed the ball too far, Gordon Manning came to collect the ball, but fumbled it. The loose ball ran to Porter, who played it towards the unguarded goal with the ball slowly trickling into the net. As half-time approached Tottenham again attacked, with Woodward heading on target and McCurdy doing sterling work in the Luton defence to keep the ball out. The second half began frantically, with Latherton testing Manning and McNair going close at the other end, while Walter Bull and James Gray both struck long-range shots that Platt dealt with easily. Luton scored somewhat against the run of play when Porter tried a shot that Manning was taken unawares by and the ball flying across him into the net to put the Hatter ahead. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 16.12.1907 | Western League Home Won 2-0
It was on a heavy Tottenham pitch that they beat Luton Town 2-0. Max Seeburg had failed to make the most of a few opportunities that Spurs created, but he assisted in the opening goal of the game after 20 minutes when he played the ball square to George Payne, who sent it past Jarvis in the Luton goal. Seeburg was in the right place in the second half to snaffle the ball into the goal when Jarvis could not hold onto a shot. The score-line should have been bigger in Tottenham’s favour, as many chances were created but not taken, as they capitalised on Luton fielding a weak side. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 09.12.1907 | Western League Away Won 5-1
In front of about 1,000 fans in the Ivy-road ground, Spurs took Luton Town apart with a riveting performance on a muddy pitch. Jimmy Pass scored for Spurs within a couple of minutes of the kick off and shortly afterwards, Luton lost White to a knee injury for the rest of the match. George Payne made it 2-0 before Pass netted his second and Willie McNair easily beat goalkeeper Peter Platt with his shot to make it 4-0. Luton were awarded a penalty, but Gordon Manning easily saved Dimmock’s spot-kick, going on the attack again a few minutes later to open a five goal margin as Joe Walton scored. Just before half-time a second penalty was awarded and this time Abe Jones took it and successfully converted to reduce Tottenham’s lead at the break. With the pitch progressively deteriorating and with Tottenham handsomely in the lead, Luton were unable to make any further inroads and took a physical approach to the match that failed to produce any more goals. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 12.10.1907 | Southern League Away Lost 1-3
Spurs succumbed to Luton Town at their Ivy-road ground by three goals to one in this Southern League match. Tottenham had taken the lead in the fifteenth minute which was the only goal of the first half, but Luton stormed back after half-time scoring an equaliser five minutes into the second half when Hawkes took advantage of hesitation in the Spurs defence to shoot home. The home side went ahead when Rigate’s cross was totally missed by Gordon Manning leaving Moody with the simple task of putting the ball into an empty net. Although Spurs looked to get back into the game, they threatened the Luton goal, but could not find a way to score. In the last few minutes, Rigate put the result beyond doubt when he hit a shot between the keeper and the post to make it 3-1. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 25.03.1907 | Southern League Home Lost 1-2
Spurs lost to Luton after taking the lead at White Hart Lane. Taking the lead within five minutes of the kick-off, Harry Stansfield had lofted a weak shot at goal, but Hatters keeper Peter Platt must have been unsighted, as he didn’t move to make a save and the ball dropped into the net. Encouraged by the goal, Spurs made Platt work to save a number of shots, but halfway through the first half, Luton gained control of the game until the end of the match. That lead to second half goals from Pickering heading in Gittens’ fine centre and ex-Spurs striker Sandy Brown, who finished off good work from Pickering and Barnes on the left wing. Teams : – |
| .. | |
| 29.09.1906 | Southern League Away Won 2-0
Tottenham won a good game against Luton Town at Kenilworth Road, showing attacking intent from the start. Forcing Platt to a save inside the first minute set the tone for the Spurs performance, with Woodward working the keeper, who had to be on his toes to keep out the England international’s shot. The goalkeeper had a slice of luck when his clearance his the back of a Spurs man and Platt was relieved to see the ball drop wide. However, the linesman gave a corner from which Platt had to make a save from Joe Walton’s effort. When Gallacher failed to win a tackle, the ball was taken on down the Spurs right wing and it was moved on to Charlie Hewitt, who dribbled the ball through the defence and left Platt with no chance to save as he found the net to give Spurs the lead. The skill shown by Hewitt even drew applause from the Luton fans. Jack Whitbourne had to produce a save to stop Barnes’ header that deflected off John Chaplin, then Hawkes played the ball for McDonald, who managed to run in ahead of the ball and it passed harmlessly behind him. Luton were failing to make the most of good openings, with Pickering heading over from a couple of yards out and Whitbourne saving from Schofield. Tottenham did have moments of their own with Walton forcing Platt to push the ball round the post. Spurs were opened up giving White a shot that flew just over as the game approached half-time. Hewitt made the first run at the Luton defence in the second half and was unlucky to see his shot come out off the post, but Luton started to build moves and Schofield shot over and McDonald missed from inside the six yard box. When Woodward won a corner off Gallacher, Walton took it and the keeper could only knock the ball down in front of him, but Walter Bull got to it before Platt could recover and put Tottenham two goals ahead. In trying to get back into the match, Luton were trying to be too careful with their shots which gave Spurs players time to get in the way, but when they did get a shot on goal, Pickering missed by a distance. Spurs were more direct and Woodward and Hewitt worked the ball between them to put Dow into the penalty area where Hawkes had a penalty given against him, although some players were puzzled by the decision. When it came to taking the spot-kick, Tom Morris slid the ball wide of the goal, whether this was because of the dubious award and he was being sportsman-like or whether he just put it off target, only he knew. Luton were trying until the end, but lack composure and when Pickering went through, the Spurs players were making ground on him from behind and the striker took his shot from a long way out that caused Whitbourne no trouble. The last efforts on goal were Tottenham’s with Hewitt hitting the bar and Dow firing the rebound over the top, but Spurs were 2-0 victors. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 24.03.1906 | Southern League Away Lost 0-2
Sleet fell throughout the day as Spurs travelled to Bedfordshire for this game with Luton that they lost 0-2 on a pitch full of puddles. Spurs took the pitch with an under-strength line-up owing to illness, suspension and injury, playing into the wind in the first half. Jack Eggett was busy keeping Pickering off the score-sheet until the 15th minute when Morris brought down Pickering in the area and Hawkes gave the Spurs keeper no chance from the penalty spot. In the second half, the wind died down, so Spurs did not have the same advantage as Luton in the first half, but they did get forward only to be disappointed by inaccurate shooting or the lineman’s flag. Eggert had to make some straightforward saves before Luton were reduced to ten men after Pickering left after taking a blow to his mouth and went further ahead when Sandy Brown played a fine pass to McDonald to put his shot beyond Eggett’s dive and into the bottom corner of the net. Spurs were unable to penetrate the Luton defence as a snowstorm blew across the ground and the home side came out on top. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 18.11.1905 | Southern League Home Won 1-0
A late goal handed Spurs a 1-0 win over Luton at White Hart Lane. While Jack Eggert had saves to make during the game only one from Hawkes provided him with any degree of trouble in diving to stop, but Spurs were on the front foot for much of the match and welcomed the returning Vivian Woodward, who had been taking time away from Spurs and it was the England international who found the net with his header for the deciding goal. It came five minutes from time, when Woodward converted from Bill Murray’s corner as the light started to fade. Luton avoided a bigger defeat when referee spotted McCurdy’s foul on Woodward and pointed to the spot, but Platt saved the penalty taken by Tait, although later in the game, the official failed to see Platt holding Peter Kyle by his shoulders. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 25.03.1905 | Southern League Home Won 1-0
Spurs were without John Brearley, Alex Glen and Vivian Woodward, but scraped a 1-0 win over Luton at White Hart Lane. With the benefit of the wind behind them, Tottenham were on the defensive at first, with Eggett having to punch away two efforts on goal, but struck first. Harry Stansfield made a run on the right wing and shot, but goalkeeper Lindsay could not hold it, allowing to put the loose ball past him to score the only goal of the first half. As in the first half, Eggett had to be alert to save well from Ross, then Turner crashed a free-kick against the bar with the ball then fired back in with the Spurs keeper saving well despite the attentions of Ross. It was end-to-end and Jack Kirwan hit the bar of the Luton goal. Lindsay saved well from a point blank effort by Walter Bull while Eggett made one good save and saw another effort from Ross narrowly go wide as Spurs played out the final few minutes to take both points. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 26.11.1904 | Southern League Away Lost 0-1
In what was regarded as a lucky victory for Luton, a single goal was enough for the home team to take the points. The original referee appointed for the match, Mr. Hines of Nottinghamshire, could not fulfil his duties and it was left to a local official to take the whistle, but it was an outstanding display of goalkeeping by Albert Lindsay that kept Tottenham at bay, with a string of fine saves to deny the ever-dangerous Spurs forward line. It took only one shot from Davie Ross, which was well-placed to beat Jack Eggett, to win the match for the Hatters. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 02.04.1904 | Southern League Home Drew 1-1
While Spurs had dominated Luton in the first half of this match at White Hart Lane, they only managed one goal while on top and that allowed Luton to come back with a second half equaliser. Archie Turner’s tricky run resulted in him scoring, but other chances Tottenham created were not converted, leaving them with a single goal lead at half-time. The same was true for Luton after the break in what was truly “a game of two halves”. Spurs could not stem the flow of Luton’s attacks and were perhaps as fortunate as the visitors in the first half to only concede once. It came with a powerful shot from Bob Hawkes that flew past Charlie Williams to earn their point from the draw. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 05.12.1903 | Southern League Away Lost 2-3
For much of the morning of the game, it appeared that the heavy fog that surrounded Luton’ Bury Park ground would postpone the match. When the match did kick off, it was still not possible to see one end of the pitch from the other. Luton’s physical style was at odds with the more fluid Tottenham play, but defending the Railway End, Spurs were struggling to contain the energetic home team and two goals from Samuel Eaton and one from George Storey had Tottenham chasing the game, as they failed to cope with the speed of the Luton attacks. Before half-time, Jack Kirwan pulled a goal back, despite calls for him being offside, he found the net with his shot. The second half was a reversal of the first in all but the scoring, as Tottenham pressed relentlessly onto the home goal. Bob Hawkes fouled Vivian Woodward in the area and the resulting penalty hit the net with Jack Jones putting it away. Only some determined defending prevented Spurs finding an equaliser as they laid siege to the Luton goal for near on half an hour, with the Hatters breaking out only occasionally, although they should have scored again, but failed to add to their tally and the match finished 3-2 to Luton. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 21.03.1903 | Southern League Away Lost 0-3
Tottenham took to the field without Jack Kirwan, Davis Copeland and Alex Tait, with Jimmy Chalmers, John Cameron and Harry Erentz their replacements, but a full-strength Luton took advantage of the changes to run out 3-0 winners. Spurs kicked off into the wind in the first half, with Luton piling on early pressure with Moody failing with a header, although shortly after Tom Morris tipped Bob Hawkes for a penalty to be awarded. Lindsay beat Clawley from the spot to put Luton ahead in the eighth minute. Allsopp’s cross was only partially dealt with by the Spurs goalie and the ball fell for Davidson to find the net. There was then a chance for Blessington, who was denied by a fine Clawley save and Woodward saw a shot go narrowly wide of the post of the Luton goal. Tottenham started the second half well with Chalmers and Dryburgh going close, but they were hit on the break and Blessington beat Clawley to make it 3-0, which is the way the score stayed until the end of the game. Teams : NOTE : – The Red Cross Band played music at the match. |
| .. | |
| 06.12.1902 | Southern League Home Drew 1-1
A draw at home to Luton came with a goal apiece in the second half. The first period was a dour affair, with few attacks, but in the second half Moody’s shot finish a good cross from Durrant to put the Hatters ahead, although Gilhooley chested the ball over the line for Tottenham’s equaliser. Copeland had an opportunity to win it for Spurs, but failed to get his effort on target. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 12.04.1902 | Southern League Home Drew 0-0
Defences came out on top in this goal-less draw with Luton at White Hart Lane. An early Luton cross from Durrant was well dealt with by Clawley and Spurs switched into attack with Copeland putting a dangerous ball into the Luton goalmouth, with Jack Jones soon bringing a save from Luton keeper Roger Ord. Being played on a slippery surface, the match proved a test for both sides, with Tottenham adapting slightly better, although Tom Fitchie should have done better than shoot over when the goal was open in front of him. Spurs started the second half quickly and were thwarted by the Luton defence, although Fitchie twice forced very good stops from Ord. Another Spurs chance looked easier to score, but was missed and towards the end, the Spurs defence snuffed out the danger when Tierney’s close range effort looked as though it might go in. Fitchie had the last chance of the game and struck a low shot that keeper Ord kept out with his right foot. Teams : |
| ... | |
| 29.03.1902 | Southern League Away Drew 0-0
A goal-less draw was played out between Luton Town and Spurs at a windy Dunstable Road, with the home side coming closest to scoring early in the first half when Hawke’s raking shot grazed the top of the bar on its way over. Sandy Brown was lively in the Tottenham forward line, bringing a save out of Roger Ord in the Luton goal and then missing a good chance. When Luton attacked Colvin missed a clear opportunity and then Tierney was kept out by a good Clawley save, with the same player being denied by a good block from Harry Erentz. Following the restart Colvin should have scored when Clawley strayed from his goal, but missed, then, as the game settled into a series of corner kicks, one of Luton’s brought a great save from George Clawley that prevented Moody opening the scoring. The game saw Luton play the better, but they were well matched by the Tottenham defence, resulting in a 0-0 draw. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 29.04.1901 | Southern League Away Won 4-2
Spurs enjoyed a 4-2 away win against Luton in the last Southern League game of the season for the Hatters. Luton were beneficiaries of Tottenham having won the FA Cup just two days before this meeting, with a big crowd gathering for this evening match at the Town Ground on Dunstable Road. As there was only a short turnaround from the trip to Burnden Park for the FA Cup Final replay, Spurs put out five reserves from the cup-winning eleven. A lively start saw Hawkes have to intervene to stop Spurs getting in on goal, but with only seven minutes gone, Joe Moffat lost Fred White and beat Ord when he got through to hand Tottenham an early goal. White redeemed himself by preventing Tom Smith getting a shooting opportunity, but when Tottenham won a corner, Jack Kirwan played the ball into the penalty area and in trying to deal with the cross, keeper Ord could not stop it going his net with 15 minutes on the clock. Luton hit back with Clawley needing to save Durrant’s shot from range, but Spurs were playing some good football and with the Luton defenders concentrating on trying to stop Moffat’s strong run, they left Alf Hawley unmarked to score Tottenham’s third. Spurs pressed for a fourth, with Ord kept busy although Luton did have a couple of attempts that failed to trouble the Spurs goal. Early in the second half, Tierney beat Clawley but was disappointed to see the ball bounce away off the post. There was a suspicion of offside about the fourth Spurs goal when Kirwan received the ball he looked too far beyond the last man, but he crossed the ball that Ord dropped and Hawley was there to sweep the loose ball in to make it 4-0. The response form the Hatters saw Clawley make two fine stops to efforts from Durrant and Blessington, but he had no chance when Blessington took Tierney’s pass and dispatched the ball past the Spurs keeper. This gave the home side encouragement and Barker should have done better than shoot wide when set up by White. Copeland also should have made more of a chance with only Ord to beat, but he shot over the bar. Blessington was denied a headed goal by the offside flag, much to the derision of the Luton support, but near the end of the game he got another opportunity with his head and this one stood to make the score 4-2. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 25.04.1901 | Southern League Home Won 3-2
Two days before the FA Cup final replay at Bolton, Tottenham fielded a mostly reserve side for this fixture with Luton at the Lane. Luton took advantage of Tottenham’s second string and were two goals ahead through Blessington and Durrant, before Spurs pulled a goal back just before the interval. However, an even second half brought two late Tottenham goals to ensure a 3-2 victory, with the scorers being Jimmy Melia and two from Joe Moffat. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 19.12.1898 | FA Cup Third Qualifying Round Second Replay (At Tuffnell Park) Won 2-0
A second replay of this FA Cup Third Qualifying Round was staged at Tuffnell Park on a Monday afternoon taking place on a poor pitch with the sun in Tottenham’s eyes in the first half. Luton were without forward George Hewitt and had to re-shuffle their team, while Harry Erentz came in for Jimmy Melia for Spurs, but the changes affected the visitors the most and they were on the back foot for much of the game. The game was fiercely contested from the off, with two early fouls, one for each side, awarded. Kenny McKay headed John Cameron’s cross off target and Ekins’ ball across goal was steered wide by Draper. Joe Cullen had a simple save to make as the first shot on target from long range was straight at him, then Bill Perkins was called into action to kick out an effort from Tom Smith, before McInnes sent a cross from Ekins over the bar. Spurs went ahead in the tenth minute, when a ball into the goalmouth from the right wing saw Luton claiming a foul on Harry Crump, but the ball came off goalkeeper Perkins for Harry Bradshaw score from close range. The Luton goalkeeper had to push a shot over the bar and the referee was giving free-kicks against Tottenham, while the visiting fans thought he should have been taking stronger action against the physical approach Spurs were taking. However, 20 minutes into the game, Cameron doubled the Tottenham lead with a carefully placed shot into the top corner of the goal. The lead could have been bigger at half-time had Perkins not made a good save from Cameron and Tom Smith done better with a clear sight of goal. Perkins in the Luton goal did well to save from Bradshaw and then clear from a melee on the goal-line, but when he strayed from his line, Tottenham did not take the opportunity that presented itself. Bradshaw put a shot over the bar before Perkins as again in action, this time making a save from James McNaught’s shot. The visitors staged a late rally with a free-kick off-target and Cullen having to make a save as Draper shot at goal, as he did when challenged to a cross by Kemplay to keep the score at 2-0 to Tottenham at the end. Teams : NOTE : – Luton received £80 for this match and earned £160 for the previous two meetings with Spurs in this round. Luton had been willing to play the second replay at Northumberland Park for £75 and half of the gate receipts. As they could not agree, the match was played at Tufnell Park, with 20% of the gate money going to the owners of the ground, said, in one report, to be “one of the worst in London”. |
| .. | |
| 14.12.1898 | FA Cup Third Qualifying Round Replay Away Drew 1-1
A wet and windy afternoon was the backdrop for this FA Cup Third Qualifying Round replay at Luton and it didn’t make for good playing conditions as the home side kicked off. George Hewitt thought he had scored, but the whistle had gone long before for handball against Jimmy Melia. Both teams struggled with the wind and Spurs tried to use it to their advantage, with Tom Smith making Perkins save, then Harry Bradshaw missed a good opportunity. Bob Stormont then thought he had scored, but his free-kick had gone into the net untouched and was ruled out and Harry Crump put a free-kick just over the Spurs bar for Luton. Dow put a shot wide for the home side, but when Spurs broke away, Bradshaw hit the net only to be given offside. Luton had a great chance to score as the match approached half-time, but Durrant shot too high from close to the goal, while Hewitt was required to make a good block to Stormont’s fierce shot, leaving the match goal-less at the break. Tottenham made the first attack of the second half, calling for Perkins to save close to his goal-line. Kemplay finished a good move with a weak shot, while at the other end, Bradshaw drew a fine save from the Hatters’ keeper. Joe Cullen had to run out of his goal to clear a through pass, but it was Spurs had the chance to take the lead when a corner led to a Luton defender punching the ball away. However, Bill Joyce was denied by Perkins’ save in the 65th minute and six minutes later Spurs were behind. Ekins took the ball forward to cross, with Durrant claiming the ball beyond the far post to put the ball back in the mixer, where McInnes found the net with his header. While the home crowd were still celebrating, Tottenham made it 1-1 just four minutes later. Bradshaw fired a low shot that Perkins could only fumble and Tom Meade was onto the loose ball to score and that was enough to take the tie to a second replay. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 10.12.1898 | FA Cup Third Qualifying Round Home Drew 1-1
A thrilling FA Cup tie at Northumberland Park ended all square, with a replay set for just four days time. Perkins was the busier in the opening exchanges, blocking a scramble in front of the Luton goal and then making a good stop to Tom Smith’s powerful drive, while his opposite number was sharp to save Hewitt’s shot. When Kemplay got past a couple of challenges and struck the bar with a rising shot, the ball came out and before any home player could react, Hewitt dashed in to give Luton a 23rd minute lead. Tottenham fired in shots from Smith and Joyce, but Perkins was equal to them, although Harry Bradshaw should have done better when in a good position to get a shot on target. Luton finished the half the stronger, with Kemplay delaying a shot that saw him tackled and McInnes putting a header wide, but the Hatters held the advantage at the break. Hewitt had a great low shot and Cullen made good ground to get to it when it looked a certain goal. Tottenham finishing was rushed leading to their shots being off target, not making use of the extra man with Ford having left the field just before half-time and not returning until the second half had restarted. Although he was troubled by his knee injury, he still managed to get a powerful effort on target that Cullen had to save. Bradshaw was reported to have been clearly offside, but was allowed to play on and his cross was converted by Bill Joyce to level at 1-1 with 71 minutes gone. As both teams looked for a winning goal, Perkins had to make a sharp save to deny Joyce and Sharpe shot wide at the other end, but Spurs and Luton were to meet again in the replay. Teams : NOTE : – Match receipts of £357 gave Luton a share of £112. |
| .. | |
| 19.09.1898 | United League Away Won 4-3
In a game of seven goals, Tottenham emerged winners at Luton Town by four goals to three. A gusty wind helped Spurs in the first half, assisting an angled drive from Bill Joyce into the net off Perkins’ fist, but five minutes later, Luton levelled with Tommy McInnes guiding in Ekins’ cross. Another five minutes passed before another goal and it was Tottenham who regained the lead. Kenny McKay’s shot was pushed out by Perkins straight to Jimmy Hartley and he put it back into the goalmouth, where Joyce netted his and Tottenham’s second goal. The match kicked into life as Williams kept out a Spurs shot, Cullen saved a McInnes shot and after out-pacing Erentz, Ekins could only put his shot wide. McInnes was proving a tricky forward and the Spurs keeper did well to keep out a header from the striker, but it was Tottenham who got the ball in the net again, just before half-time. Bill Joyce ran through the Luton defence and scored past Perkins, but the goal was rubbed out as he was adjudged to have handled and the score stayed at 2-1 to Spurs at the break. At the start of the second half, Perkins made a superb save to stop John Cameron’s effort before Clarke blocked Hartley’s shot for a corner. Luton hit back with a free-kick that Cullen kept out and then McInnes put his shot on to the top of the net. Ekins put a fierce cross into the box that Cullen could not hold and a tussle between the Spurs keeper and McInnes, with the Luton man forcing the ball over the line to make it 2-2 in the 65th minute. Joyce was through again when Perkins intervened to take the ball off his toe, but tempers were flaring with the referee having to speak to players and then calm down Hartley and Hewitt who clashed at a corner. Spurs created a chance for Bob Stormont when Hartley’s pass allowed him to fire a shot into the net with fifteen minutes remaining. The game ebbed and flowed, with a Luton corner being put through his own goal by keeper Cullen to tie it up at 3-3, but two minutes from time, Durrant’s barge on Bob Cain handed Spurs a free-kick that led to a situation where both goalkeeper Perkins and defender Williams that allowed Joyce to nip in to score the winning goal for Tottenham. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 05.09.1898 | United League Home Won 1-0
Spurs were well worth their 1-0 win over Luton Town at Northumberland Park in the United League. Dominating the first ten minutes, Tottenham worked Perkins in the Luton goal, with Harry Bradshaw’s shot proving most difficult for the keeper to keep out. Brock then brought Ambler into action, followed by three shots on the Spurs goal prior to Tom Smith failing to put the ball into an empty Luton net. When John Cameron linked with Bradshaw the resulting effort was on target with Perkins having to make a fine save at close range. Melia’s mis-kick provided Brock with the opportunity to shoot and Spurs managed to repel this attack. When Tottenham made their next foray forward, Tom Smith found the net but was given offside and Brock beat Ambler only to be pulled up for handball. After a goal-less first half, Luton were on top for the first ten minutes of the second half, with Spurs defending doggedly and when they got in on the Luton goal, Joyce shot and made Perkins make a very good save, while Bradshaw and Smith also had efforts on goal kept out. Perkins was kept busy but a dangerous break by Luton ended with Brock’s cross put wide by Hewitt. A mix-up in the visitors defence almost let Spurs in, but two minutes later Cameron shot weakly at goal, but Perkins had got out of position and he could not stop the ball going into the goal as it squirmed away from him. Tottenham did get the ball in the net again before the end of the match but the referee awarded a free-kick for a foul on the keeper when a report claimed that he had been “held down by half-a-dozen of his opponents” ! A late thrust by Luton in an attempt to equalise failed to be successful and Spurs took both points. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 02.02.1898 | United League Home Drew 2-2
Tottenham had the better of the early exchanges in this match at Tottenham Marshes, but had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Luton. Bill Joyce scored with a 20 yard drive to put Tottenham ahead after 35 minutes, with Bob Stormont heading in a second before the break, although Luton rallied before the break but neither Donaldson or Gallacher could find their way past Cullen. Both sides traded efforts on goal, with Cullen making a save from Coupar while Hartley and Joyce both tested Williams in the Luton goal. When Gallacher crossed into the penalty area, McInnes scored with a composed finish. Stewart scored with a header from a corner to make it 2-2 and although Tottenham got the ball in the net in the final minutes, it was disallowed for a foul on the goalkeeper. As the Luton players and the referee left the field they were jostled by members of the crowd. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 20.11.1897 | FA Cup Second Qualifying Round Home Lost 3-4
Both teams look set on playing on the front foot and an early shot from Ekins was well saved by Joe Cullen, but it was Tottenham who took the lead from a great shot by David Black. The goal encouraged Spurs and soon after it, Bob Tannahill hit the post with a shot, but as Luton attacked, Cullen had to make a difficult stop from Coupar’s shot on goal. The Hatters pulled level from the penalty spot after Gallacher was fouled, powered home by Samuel Davies in the 14th minute. Luton took the lead just two minutes later when McInnes beat Cullen with a fine shot. Jimmy Hartley sent a shot over the visitors crossbar and Docherty reciprocated at the other end, with Bill Joyce heading wide as the game moved from end-to-end but Stewart was more clinical when he headed past Cullen to make it 3-1 to Luton after 30 minutes despite Tottenham protests against the goal. Spurs were deprived of Cullen’s services after a clash with Burrows, as his injury forced him off the pitch and Bob Stormont had to go between the posts. Both Little and McEwen looked to test the stand-in keeper, but were off target. With ten men, Spurs still went forward and Bill Joyce reduced the lead to 3-2 when he raced through following a free-kick. Joe Cullen ran out for the start of the second half, which was a boost for Tottenham, who pulled level at 3-3 five minutes after the break when Joyce got past McCartney and let go a shot that left Williams helpless to save. Spurs were now pushing onto the Luton defence, but put two good openings wide and it proved costly. In the 59th minute, the visiting side made it 4-3 when McCartney played a free-kick into the goalmouth that Ekins forced over the line. Jimmy Hartley pulled a good save out of Williams, although he might have done better, with Luton’s Ekins giving Cullen a problem in keeping his shot out, as the remainder of the game was still played in the same style of the rest of it, but no further goals were scored and Luton went forward in the FA Cup. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 11.10.1897 | United League Away Lost 0-5
A delayed start to the match which was held up by the referee arriving late didn’t hinder Luton Town who went on to win 5-0. Joe Cullen reacted well to push wide a McInnes curling shot while efforts from Docherty and Little both fired wide as Bill Joyce did at the other end. It was a foul that gave Luton a free-kick that provided Gallacher with space to shoot home from distance. McInnes headed just wide and when Samuel Davies put a loose ball into the net, the referee ruled it out when Coupar was adjudged to have fouled Cullen. It was soon after that Luton did score their second, with Little taking the ball from a throw-in and holding off three Tottenham players before putting the ball past Cullen. After half-time, Davies hit the bar, but from a corner, Coupar’s effort was blocked and Stewart converted the ball with his head. The same player headed home the fourth Luton goal from Davies’ corner. Jack Jones had one of Tottenham’s few opportunities but shot over the top and Luton punished the miss when Gallacher passed to Ekins, who struck a shot that Cullen couldn’t reach. In truth, Luton had all the game, with Spurs battling in defence for the majority of the play, despite a few shots that had to be fielded by Williams. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 10.04.1897 | United League Away Lost 1-2
Spurs lost this United league encounter with Luton 1-2 at Dallow Lane. With the wind behind them, Tottenham had the first opportunity with Harry Crump’s fine shot, but Ekins wasted a good opportunity on the Spurs goal and then Stewart hit his effort too high. Charlie Ambler had to rush off his line to clear before Galbraith got through, but he couldn’t stop Ekins scoring shortly after. Tottenham’s response was to get McElhaney an opening, although he fired too high and then Jimmy Mair put in a free-kick that was headed just wide. Ambler did well to turn Galbraith’s shot away for a corner that Stewart hit narrowly over the bar with an overhead kick. The next corner brought another goal for Luton, with Coupar powering in a header. Frank Wilson was just too high with a shot and Luton were soon reduced to ten men, with McEwen leaving the pitch. Although he came back on before half-time, but had to go off again, returning after the break, but being a passenger for the whole of the second half. It didn’t stop Luton going on the attack, with Coupar, McInnes and Stewart all forcing saves from Ambler, but when Willie Newbigging hit a shot that Williams kept out, he was quickest to the rebound to pull a goal back for Tottenham. Straight away Williams was agile to tip over a Newbigging effort over the bar with the subsequent corner being put into the net, but the referee made the corner be taken again. Galbraith put in a shot that Ambler moved quickly to save and at the end of the half, Williams mis-kicked the ball giving Ernie Payne a glorious chance, but he snatched at it and shot too high. McInnes set up Gallacher, but he failed to take it and Coupar followed suit, but Ekins was more successful when he fired in an unstoppable shot past Ambler. There were saves at either end, as Williams stopped Newbigging’s effort and Ambler made a fine save from Coupar, but the Spurs goalie was helpless when McInnes got the ball in the net, although the referee disallowed the goal to the surprise of everyone. Another ‘goal’ for Luton was waved away when it looked as though a Spurs player had scored an own goa, but it was deemed that the in-direct free-kick had already crossed the line and a goal-kick was awarded. Even though they were a man short, Luton continued t go for goals at the end, but couldn’t add to their score. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 13.03.1897 | United League Home Lost 1-2
Tottenham started this match at a great pace, one of which they converted when Ernie Payne’s corner dropped in the box and despite an appeal from the Luton players for handball, James Devlin did not hesitate to put the ball in the net with an angled drive. After McElhaney’s cross was headed into the net by Ernie Payne only for an offside flag to rule it out but the Luton goalie Williams was kept busy saving from McElhaney, then high dropping efforts from the same player and from Milliken. Charlie Ambler also had to be alert to save headers from McInnes’ and Stewart before Gallacher shot over the bar, then made Ambler dive low to keep his shot out. Tottenham took the game to Luton and Payne hit the angle with a shot before a free-kick was delivered in front of goal and caused a scramble that the away side managed to get clear. The ball moved quickly from end to end and Ambler saved well from Docherty and the Spurs goal survived a lucky escape when one of our players bundled the ball onto the crossbar. McCartney then got the ball in the net, but this goal was also disallowed, this time for a foul on Ambler, who was called upon to make a superb save to Ekins’ powerful shot. However, Ekins was back in the 18 yard box and when he was felled by Devlin, it gave Samuel Davies the opportunity to find the net from the spot. Galbraith picked up an injury and left the pitch for a while, before returning to return the Luton side to the full eleven, who scored from a free-kick with Innes getting the final touch to put the visitors 2-1 up with ten minute to go. While Spurs tried to get back level, they could only muster one fierce shot that Luton keeper Williams did well to keep out. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 16.01.1897 | FA Cup Third Qualifying Round Away Lost 0-3
Two goals from Tom McInnes and one from William Gallacher saw them beat Spurs at Dallow Lane to go on to play West Bromwich Albion in the First Round Proper. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 12.10.1895 | FA Cup First Qualifying Round Away Won 2-1
Tottenham were the underdogs in this FA Cup tie, but came out on top at to progress in the competition at Luton’s expense. Tottenham won the toss and Stanley Briggs decided to play with the advantage of a strong wind, but Luton had the first chance with Coupar kept out by a fine fisted save from Charlie Ambler. Coupar out another effort wide before Ernie Payne crossed into the goal, with the ball bouncing over the top. Gallacher tried an over-head kick to which Ambler made a diving stop, but Tottenham finally found their feet and Peter Hunter struck the bar with Payne making Jack in the Luton goal save his fierce shot. Gallacher had two goes from a free-kick for handball, with the first blocked by Collins and the second saved by the keeper. Half an hour in Hunter’s shot was kicked away by Jack, but only as far as Owen, who put the ball back past him to give Tottenham the lead. Luton missed a great opportunity to level straight away when they had three forwards bearing down on Ambler, but the move ended with Parkinson’s header missing the goal. Another scramble in front of the Tottenham goal was cleared just before half-time and Briggs had to leave the field after a head injury, returning shortly after the second half has kicked off. In the 55th minute, Lewis McKenzie made a good run down the Spurs left, crossing into the box where McEwen missed his kick and Hunter was quick to send the ball past Jack to make it 2-0. Briggs had to go off again, this time for 20 minutes as Luton tried to force the play, with two good runs from Coupar and Galbraith stopped by good defending. Both Docherty and Birch fired shots just over the bar and the home fans thought they had scored when Coupar put an effort on goal, but it went wide. Bob Clements tested Jack with a shot that would have crept in under the bar, but Luton started to gain control of their play and became more dangerous. There was 15 minutes left when Ekins put in a cross that Galbraith met with his head, bringing the score-line back to 1-2. Briggs returned to once more give Tottenham their full complement of players to defend the lead. Birch fired in a shot that Ambler had to save and then Docherty couldn’t keep his effort down, sending it over the bar. The Hatters’ urgency didn’t help their play as a mad melee in the Spurs goalmouth failed to force the ball in and three late attacks all came to nothing, leaving Spurs to go through. Teams : NOTE : – Lewis McKenzie made his only senior appearance for Tottenham. |
| .. | |
| 19.12.1894 | FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round replay Away Lost 0-4
A chance to enter the FA Cup competition proper was staged on a dull, windy day with Luton choosing to play with the wind behind them in the first half. Charlie Ambler was forced to turn a low shot from Gallacher round for a corner in the opening minutes, which was headed wide by Prentice, although the Spurs keeper was well placed to save two efforts from McEwen. Tottenham battled into the wind to create a chance for Archie Cubberley, but it went wide. Luton responded with Gallacher’s cross headed over by Jack Dimmock, when he should have scored, as should have Gallacher, although he was denied by a save from Ambler reaching the ball just under the crossbar. Burrows cleared the ball from the Spurs goal, with Luton claims that it had already gone over the goal-line, but nothing was given and Dimmock missed another clear opening as Luton continued to press on the Tottenham goal. The got their reward 25 minutes into the match, when Ambler produced a fine save from Dimmock and after Luton had won a corner, the ball was headed in by Finlayson after a scramble in front of goal. The ball burst and another had to be sourced for the match to continue, allowing Luton to go forward again and Dimmock crossed for Gallacher to fizz a shot at goal that Jack Jull deflected behind. The Spurs goalie did well to save another rising shot, denying Finlayson by getting to it as it looked like it would go under the bar. When Dimmock crossed again for Gallacher, he made no mistake 30 seconds before half-time to give Luton a 2-0 lead. The second half started with a string of free-kicks, as Tottenham tried to fight back, but they slipped three goals behind after 52 minutes when Gallacher fed Galbraith and his shot flew high into the net from long-range. Spurs responded winning a free-kick and a corner, but could make nothing from them and when Gallacher set off on a fine solo run, it looked ominous for Tottenham, but his shot went narrowly wide. While Tottenham did force Bee to a save, he comfortably handled Bill Julian’s shot and Ernie Payne was in a good position, but shot wide of the mark as did Finlayson and Dimmock at the other end. With constant pressure, there was a need for Ambler to play sweeper-keeper and rush out to kick clear on a few occasions, with the defence managing to stop the ball from going into the net after a melee in front of goal following a free-kick. Julian again brought a save out of Bee, but with seven minutes left Luton wrapped up a straightforward win as Dimmock crossed for Gallacher once more to score Luton’s fourth goal. Teams : |
| .. | |
| 15.12.1894 | FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round Home Drew 2-2
Tottenham’s first match against Luton Town took place at Northumberland Park, in front of what was thought to be a record crowd at the time of what was reported to be an attendance approaching 4,000. Luton were missing a couple of players and Tottenham were without centre-half Stanley Briggs, who was the victim of a “serious chill”. As the home team and with both sides playing in red in those days, Spurs changed to white shirts. The dry pitch allowed a pacy game and Spurs were soon on the attack, with Ernie Payne and Donald Goodall threatening the Luton goal, but Charlie ambler had to punch out a shot from Gallacher as Luton pressed forward with a couple more shots and a header off target. Ambler tipped away an effort from Prentice and with the wind the Hatters were peppering the Tottenham goal, eventually finding the net as Finlayson struck home Gallacher’s cross on 31 minutes. Luton were 2-0 up four minutes before half-time when Gallacher was again the provider, with his cross headed in by Prentice. Spurs faced an uphill task, but were playing downhill in the second half, although Ambler fumbled a Prentice header, but escaped letting another goal in. The opposition keeper saved a shot, but threw the ball straight out to Bill Julian, who fired it back at goal and Archie Cubberley seized on the loose ball to put Tottenham back in the game with an hour gone. The goal inspired Spurs and Goodall, Julian and Welham all tested Bee in the Luton goal. When Payne tried to catch Bee out of his goal, his long shot went wide and there was a little controversy as the referee pointed for a corner. Shepherd played the ball across and James Eccles found a shot that drew Spurs level at 2-2 with only five minutes remaining. Luton looked more likely to score a winner, with Groom heading a free-kick wide of the goal and Gallacher forcing Ambler to make a fine save to a well-placed shot, but both teams were heading for Luton on the following Wednesday for a replay. Teams : |
| . | |
38With credit to Bob Goodwin’s “Spurs – A Complete Record”, Worldfootball.net and 11v11 websites
and the excellent Hatters Heritage website for some match reports and team line-ups.