Arsenal, London’s Pride
Life, Leeds United, the Universe & Everything is celebrating the Carabao Cup exit, at the hands of League Two Colchester United, of Tottenham Hotspur FC – by reprinting this highly popular, and not completely out-of-date, anti-Spuds article.
Thank you.
As a Leeds fan, I’m quite familiar with the whole big club/small club debate – who qualifies as “big”, what are the qualifying criteria? If you currently have a crap team, does that mean you’re suddenly a crap club? And so on and so forth, ad nauseam. It’s not really a question that preoccupies me too much – certainly not to the extent of the Freudian fixation with size that afflicts the plastic followers of a certain Salford-based franchise fallen upon hard times – but it can be annoying if you follow a club like Leeds United, with all the rich tradition of the Revie era and even allowing for the fact that our history before those great days was a bit of a void. But what I’d normally argue is that, look – we’ve been Champions three times in my lifetime, we have a global fanbase and a worldwide notoriety (I won’t call it adoration), a massive web presence which show how many people count the Whites as a big part of their lives – and absolutely no significant local rivals at all. Ergo, we are big. End of.
But what of certain other clubs who are routinely referred to as “big” – not to say massive or even as a “mega-club”? Tottenham Hotspur are a bit of a peculiar animal in this respect. From some points of view, they are certainly a club of significant size. They have a decent stadium in a major city. They deal towards the top end of the transfer market and they’ve been a steady member of the top-flight since the mid-seventies, picking up the odd trinket here and there. But Spurs have two major problems: the first is that they haven’t been Champions since 1961 – a major flaw for a club with any pretensions to size and a place in the forefront of the game. The second problem may be succinctly summed-up as “Arsenal FC”, their fierce local rivals and the team that undeniably thwarts them at every turn.
Arsenal have been stomping all over poor old Spurs for a good while now – and of course, they’ve been and gone and done it time and time again in terms of Champions League qualification, edging the hapless Spuds out repeatedly over the past few seasons. The presence of Arsenal as Tottenham’s neighbours, rivals and perennial bêtes-noires is a major obstacle to their chances of ever being regarded as a mega-club, a status that Arsenal wear casually, as of right. Arsenal, after all, have generally been top dogs in North London, certainly over the past fifty years. They’ve had stability in the managerial chair since the mid-nineties and not that long before Wenger it was George Graham importing large quantities of silverware into the stadium graced by the famous marble halls.
Even the Gooners’ recent potless run, terminated by last May’s FA Cup success, has not detracted from Arsenal’s ability to regard Tottenham from a lofty position of pre-eminence. In the fallow period, the Gooners nevertheless played football of a sumptuous beauty and brilliance, and just as importantly they managed the transition from a famous old home to a spectacular and world-class new one. The financial burden that went with this is steadily being seen off – and yet it’s a process that Spurs have yet to embark upon. Will they negotiate it as well as the Arse have? Highly doubtful. (This bit is really starting to ring true this season).
The sad fact as far as Tottenham are concerned is that this continued subordination to a comparatively humble status will always be a glass ceiling that they will find impossible to break through, certainly if Arsenal now blossom into one of their title-winning incarnations, capable of dominating the domestic scene for years at a stretch. And Spurs need to be up there with the big boys if they are to come anywhere near the kind of status their fans expect and desire.
The youngest of those fans who can remember the last Spurs team to be champions will be coming up for retirement any time now. It was the year that I was born. That’s a hell of an indictment for a so-called “big club” – not really elite form at all. Consider all the other clubs who have any real pretensions to this elevated status in the game. They’ve all been Champions at some point in the last 40 years – even Man U, who couldn’t win the real thing after 1967, have gorged on the post-Murdoch pale imitation. Spurs can’t realistically claim to belong in this exclusive company of Champions – they’re really just a slightly inflated West Ham.
Perennial Champions League qualification is a great advantage for Arsenal, but being on the wrong end of that equation is proving to be a major disaster for Spurs. They lost the jewel in their crown to Real Madrid, and however many millions Gareth Bale brought in, it’s difficult to see where Tottenham, despite their own transfer spree, have a replacement on their books of anything like the same quality, young Master Kane notwithstanding (and he’s not as good as Lewis Cook…) All the best players get routinely gobbled up by the Champions League cartel and Tottenham are in very real danger of becoming the richest club to have their noses pressed up against the window of the House of Quality, yearning to be inside but kept out of the spotlight by their more illustrious neighbours.
That has to be a scary prospect for the proud fans of White Hart Lane, but it’s entirely realistic. Spurs may, with their serial Champions League exclusion and the still-painful loss of their talisman Bale (however ineffective he was against Sam Byram in that FA Cup tie at Elland Road), have blown their chances of ever again being thought of as a genuinely BIG club.
And if that’s the case – then, really… what IS the point of Tottenham Hotspur?
Life, Leeds United, the Universe & Everything 
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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Well, that’s certainly an interesting take on things. I suppose one of the points of Tottenham Hotspur is not to end up like Leeds Utd. And, well, lets face it, that isn’t happening in my lifetime.
After that, it’s just getting on with it, turning potential into proof. I suppose you and I will just have to watch.
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Who are ya!
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Could be worse. Could be supporting a skint, irrelevant Yorkshire club that thinks of itself as a major force in football.
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Ah, the who is a big club discussion. For me, it’s all about fan base and Tottenham’s is massive. Sell out every game; waiting list for season tickets; impossible to get an away ticket as they all sell out. Fans around the globe. If it’s all about winning things recently, then Wigan and Blackburn are big clubs. Pointless article and why on earth would a Leeds fan care anyway. Have you not got anything better to do?
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But if you read the article properly, without the rose-tinted specs on, I never said “it’s all about winning things”. I specified titles, which your lot last managed just before I was born. Even Spuds can win the odd cup – but for as long as your half-century and longer Championship drought goes on, you’ll never really be a big club.
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Still the point remains why are you talking about this whrn the season is running could you not find anything to write about your club during the season ? This is a debate to cover over summer when there is nothing else… seems to me this was written to create sime traffic through your site.
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The very idea!!
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But why does it matter if you are considered ‘big’ or not? What matters is how you are doing now, and right now you are a championship side. The ‘big club’ argument is a totally pointless one in my opinion. It is one for sad people like you to make because your club has some history and has slumped dramatically since, so all you have left to cling on to is your history. Get a life and worry about your own team improving to get back in the top flight, rather than clinging to your history and writing jealous articles about Spurs because our squad and club as a whole hasn’t looked so good for decades.
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What a strange article from a supporter of a club who tried and spectacularly failed to buy success.
So I ask the question what’s the point of Leeds United, except that the top flight is a much, much better place without them and long may it stay so.
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1st of all you should read up on the history of spurs & the 1sts they established, the dutch have even acknowledged the 60’s side as having inspired ‘total football’!
2ndly on top of the great history of the club, the very fact you’ve decided that a team that has finished 6 times in the top 5 in the last 8 years while also winning a cup in that period, 4th, 5th, 4th, 5th in the last 4, have the most state of the art training ground in the country, are building a new 55k stadium & have just invested +£100M in the transfer market are not a big club but Leeds, a team that hasn’t even played in the premier league for 10 years & have won less than spurs are, just because you have no strong local rival as most teams in yorkshire are poor, ruins any credibility you were trying to create.
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You are ignoring a couple of points. Firstly Tottenham are the ONLY north London club. Arsenal emanate from south London, and they connived their way to north London, choosing to set up sticks a couple of miles from Spurs well established home. Secondly Arsenal wouldn’t even be in the top flight if yet again they hadn’t again connived their way into the top division, and in the process used connections at the FA to ensure that Spurs were illegally relegated – something they still do today to ensure their status. Sure, Arsenal have had more recent success that Spurs, but that in itself does not make Spurs a lesser club – and lets have it right, until Abramovich and his trillions came along a few years ago Chelsea were extremely insignificant, so things can change quickly.
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I think Spurs should be damned .Who are they to try to get better and win things! Perhaps they should drop down the divisions like Leeds!
Football usually goes in cycles . Maybe Spurs are about to Enter an exciting part of their cycle on an upward curve.As he states it is not about winning things why does he go on about it!
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Silly article. Spurs have been and are one of the biggest supported clubs in the uk and abroad. We have a rich history and are the 5th most succesful english club ever (Leeds are 13th) even after our 20 year barron run. we havent won as many titles as we’d like, but have been hugely succesful in domestic and european cup comps. This reads really bitter.
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No Championship drought for Leeds- they play in it every year!
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really for the last fifty years?Do some more homework mate and enjoy the championship ,youre gonna be in it for along time.just wasted two minutes of my life reading this endless drivel.
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20,000 plus waiting for season tickets. 60,000 seater stadium on the way. The tide is turning. Small club yeah ok lol.At least we didn’t kick and bore our way to the league title
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Well speak!
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You really do write crap. To write a piece like you tried to do as a “neutral” fan you have to try and not be biased. You clearly have an issue with spurs which I put down to you either being an arsenal fan or you’re jealous of the position spurs are in.
You see spurs are are very important to English football history. Won the fa cup as a amateur team, first team to do the double and the first English to win a European trophy back in 1963.
With regard to there current position, this is the most exciting time for a spurs fan. Great squad not just a team plus a new stadium to look forward to in the next few years. And I forgot Mr Levy, the best chairman in football. If Leeds had a chairman as good as him when you were good you wouldn’t of had to sell all your good players, get relegated twice and bankruptcy.
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Leeds Utd didn’t go bankrupt. To quote you “You really do write crap”. Though I agree with you that Spurs are very important to English football history. And with the current board, A.V.B. as manager and your recent acquisitions, even if/when Bale departs, I can only see good things ahead for Spurs. Do us all a favour, realise your potential and replace Man Utd in the top four! And that’s coming from a Leeds fan who has the misfortune of having an Arsenal fan as a father! But don’t forget we still knocked you out of the FA cup earlier this year, every dog has their day! Hope to be playing against you again regularly sometime in the not too distant future. Respect!
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Conversely, when I look at Leeds Utd (can’t name an actual player on the current staff) I think of the FA Cup 1973 — I was cheering for Leeds (every player an international, and distinguished one) here in Auckland, watching live in the middle of the night, and my mother’s makeshift team, Sunderland, beat them. Still, Leeds was my second favourite next to Spurs — great players in that pristine white, like an English Real Madrid — but wasn’t that the last hurrah, apart from Gordon McQueen a bit later? And they drove into the third division as if they belonged there, full on into obscurity — putting Spurs’ narrow misses for glory well and truly in the shade.
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Totally agree, what is the point of Spurs, we should know our place and just give up now!!! What a pointless article. Just like Leeds,totally irrelevant.
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I started reading your article with an open mind but got suspicious of your football knowledge when you tried to say Leeds were a big club. Big club? you can’t even fill your stadium for a big match, and as for world wide fans ,really? I have never noticed, anyway that’s by the by.
It’s true Arsenal have been much more successful over the last 50 but in that time Spurs had periods when we completely dominated them. As for financial competence, Spurs are a very well run club and generally make a profit and is the only self financed club to break the dominance of the four champions league places cartel, and have not been out of the top five for the past 5 years.
Add to this the fact that Spurs are probably the only club to be in the top twenty rich list that are not regular champions league players so they must be doing something well, something that can’t be levelled at Leeds who borrowed to buy success and promptly slipped back to obscurity when they couldn’t repay the cash.(mickey mouse)
Finally, have you even taken a look at the current Spurs Squad? I have yet to meet a Spurs fan that is upset about losing Bale due to the replacements paid for by the ridiculous transfer fee.
You should ask what’s the point of Leeds? they can’t even beat QPR at home and I don’t ever see them challenging for England’s top honour again in my lifetime, that is unless someone like an Abramovitch jumps in, but then there are plenty more tempting clubs to be bought before any petro dollars come your way.
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LOL WTF would you know , i know 3 spurs supporters where i work and they are all prawn sandwhich eating armchair fair weather fans, 2 have only been to a game in the last 6 years and they both have “2nd teams”…….yes that old chest nut in otherwords you wouldnt see them for dust if you graced a lower division. Leeds fall from Grace was due to bad mismanagement and like Portsmouth not down to the fans or the size of the club. The true measure of a club is to take Ken bates as chairman for 8 years, get relegated, get charged obcene ticket prices and watch your assets sold off, then see how many fecking fans you have gracing White Hart Lane…… For me i like spurs, always have and The author here doesnt speak for leedsfans, hes a nice bloke trying to be a jeorno but hes punching above his weight !
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What is the point of Leeds United?
The city’s winners are the Rugby League team.
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Well for a start, spurs are bigger than Leeds could ever dream to be. In terms of trophies won spurs are something like 5th or 6th in England. Yes the league was 50 odd years ago, but we have still managed a trophy every decade since ww2. We have a massive fanbase and sell out every home game in a city of many top flight clubs. We were alsothe first to do the double, and first English club to win a European trophy. Add to that the fact that we have always played attrative attacking football unlike that mob down the road who were once known as boring boring arsenal winning one nil all the time. So as a Leeds fan I’m not sure what it has to do with you. Up the mighty spurs!!!
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Attractive football my ass. Deluded spud fan.
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That’s a stupid statement. Even the most obnoxious opposition fans would accept Spurs play attractive football.
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Was your page traffic a tad low? Wanted to join in before the London derby? Don’t worry, some of us older fans still remember Leeds Utd, you’re the team that won the league and then sold Cantona to Man Utd for £1.2m…. and then let Ridsdale loose with your credit card… and then had to sell all your players… and then slid all the way down to the bottom… never mind… p.s thanks for Lennon & Rose… ooh and Keane….
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As you point out though, we are The Last Champions. That’s a great memory mate – but you’ll just have to take my word for it.
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Why do I picture you sitting with a empty bottle of vodka in one hand and a yellow encrusted picture of Howard Wilkinson in the other…. weeping…. (and before you start to worry, your webcams not on…)
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Is this for real?
Never been relegated from the Premier League, not been out of the top flight for nearly 40 years, been in Europe for all of the past few seasons and will be for the foreseeable seasons, finished 4th twice in the last 4 years and not outside the top 5 since 2008/09, have a history that does indeed include winning the league and winning European trophies (including being the first British club to ever win a European trophy) massive fan base (worldwide – the following in Asia, Scandinavia and the USA is huge), world class training facilities, world class stadium in the pipeline, probably the best coach under 40 in the world, the most astute chairman arguably in world football, won the FA Cup more than anyone apart from Man Utd and Arsenal, last trophy was only 5 years ago, are currently in a position to spend £100m (and rest assured that this is NOT dependent on the sale of Gareth Bale – although that will obviously happen) and currently boast a team of international players with caps for England, Brazil, France, Germany, Belgium, Argentina, Denmark and Spain – arguably 8 of the top 10 countries in world football (as well as players with caps for Iceland, the USA, Togo, Cameroon etc – basically, it’s a team full of internationals).
And you have the audacity to call Spurs a ‘slightly inflated West Ham’. Wow. West Ham don’t come close to pretty much any of those statistics and, come to think of it, neither do Arsenal.
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“Neither do Arsenal”.
Is this for real?
We’ve never been relegated from the Premier League, not been out of the top flight for nearly 100 years, been in Europe (Champions League) for all of the past few seasons (I’m not going to include rash predictions on this list), finished 3rd twice in the last 4 years and not outside the top 5 since 1994/95, have a history that does indeed include winning the Premier League and European trophies (including being the first club to complete a Premier League season unbeaten), massive fan base (everywhere, just… everywhere), world class training facilities, world class stadium (already completed), probably the greatest most loyal coach of any age in the world, won the FA Cup more than anyone apart from Manchester United (including Tottenham Hotspur), last trophy was only 8 years ago, are currently in a position to spend £100m (but won’t due to having class) and currently boast a team of international footballers with caps for England, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Poland and the Czech Republic.
That’s 3 years since last trophy, and 1 astute chairman.
And you have the audacity to suggest that Spurs can outdo Arsenal even in a set of statistics you yourself came up with. Wow.
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Our global fan-base dwarfs yours thanks to our superior commercial astuteness and partnerships with various clubs (in Brazil, Spain, China, the USA and South Africa to name a few), our training facilities are far better than yours, our stadium will be far better than yours, we have spent money that you haven’t (and it has nothing to do with “class” – if it did, we’d be far “classier” than you for several years before this one based on wage structure alone), we were indeed the first British team to win a European trophy, we did indeed win a trophy more recently than you, we’ve won more European trophies than you, we have a young, charismatic, ambitious manager with bags of potential rather than a stale, stagnant manager who most of your own fans want rid of and we do indeed have more international players (and from better international teams) than you.
We’re also in the league on merit, not because we initially bought our way in.
We’ve also had a more impressive start to this season than you both on and off the pitch.
You guys think the last 20 years are the be all and end all. I look in to the full history of the teams and, more importantly, the current state of the teams – and we look so, so, so much better.
So yeah, I do.
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Kevin……I loved the statement ” our fan base dwarfs yours” lol ….what a swwping statement, is there some magical statistic that measures a fan base ?? All you can have is a fairly good idea and from my own point of view, the arsenal fans i know ACTUALLY go to games…the spurs fans i know dont, infact as leeds fan im often having to inform them whats actually going on in their club…. P.S good luck with selling all your remaining british players….a full team of foreign mercenaries to come :o)
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With respect Kevin you still haven’t answered the question……what exactly IS the point of Tottenham Hotspur?
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I think the question Leeds Utd fans should really be asking is: how can a club who have not won much and not qualified often into European competitions in recent years be mixing it every season with the top 4 or 5 teams, buying 7 top quality players this summer, and being considered by many as serious title contenders, all without the wealth of a bent Russian or fortuitous sheikh? And the answer is that we’re an intelligently run club with solid foundations, continuously investing in youth and reinvesting moneys made from reluctantly selling on the superstars that we’ve bred. We know where we want to get to, but we also know where we’re at and we don’t take stupid risks to achieve our goals… After all, we wouldn’t want to “do a Leeds” would we…
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“Do a Leeds!” HA HA HA HA HA HA !! ! ! !
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Reads like a hurting arsenal fan the whole way through. Obviously nothing of note to write about your own club so understand the bitterness. Give it time, things will get better
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In time maybe but not in his life time!!
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Arsenal have a massive financial advantage over spurs…..not only the stadium but also the self-fulfilling champions league money (by qualifying, you get an income that buys you the better players that keep you qualifying) But Arsenals advantage is slipping….they are losing the quality players and not attracting the ones with equal quality. So spurs have lost bale but the Magnificent 7 replacements make us a better team. Last year, if Bale was missing or off form we were screwed. Now we have 5 matchwinners and 2 awesome defensive players. I dont expect Leeds fans to be familiar with European football…..yeovil town is about as exotic as you get nowadays…..but Eriksen Chadli Lamela and Chiriches are seen as some of the brightest young talents around. So you stick with Michael Brown and we’ll have Paulinho.Are we a bigger club than Leeds….who cares? Are we a better club than Leeds…..too obvious to answer!
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You’re article is interesting and mostly well argued (it’s undeniable that Spurs have been in Arsenal’s shadow for years) but some of your conclusions are way off. You accuse others of having rose tinted specs on but say of your own club “Ergo, we are big. End of” despite not having played top flight football for nearly a decade and of your three oh so important titles in your lifetime two of them were best part of four decades ago. Don’t get me wrong, Leeds are a massive club, comparable with Spurs but no bigger. Spurs were massive as cup specialists during the 60s, 70s and 80s both domestically and in Europe, when cups were nearly as important with titles. It’s changed now – it’s all about the league and the CL but if you’re arguing current criteria are all important Leeds really have very little to recommend them.
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Yes – ‘you’ chose league titles. Others might chose other criteria. For instance, within the 50 year limit ‘you’ imposed, Spurs have won three European trophies, a feat Arsenal cannot match.
Also, just some considerations to trouble your slightly disturbing obsession with the ‘total dominance’ of Arsenal over Spurs, aside from any debate about current squad:
Spurs have the most highly touted youth set-up in England ATM (do some research on this).
Spurs have the best youth personnel in the country (Liam Brady’s words, not mine).
Spurs have the state-of-the-art training centre in Europe (and before you say anything sarcastic, like ‘wow’, players are certainly referencing it as a draw).
Ground work has begun on the new stadium and, again if you actually did your homework, Daniel Levy and co have made a point of avoiding the pitfalls that occurred with the development of the Emerates – and that includes in financing, Spurs are not likely to have quite the financial burden upon completion.
So, really, for anyone who doesn’t jsut draw either a simplistic or a prejuduce driven conclusion (or a combination of the two), Spurs have everything in place to continue the drive to push their way into the elite, and especially to take full advantage of any superiority gained. And so we revolve back to the issue of who has the best squad at the moment – after yesterdays acquisitions (Chiriche, Lamela and Ericksen), there are plenty of Arsenal fans who are just saying flat out that Spurs have the better sqad now.
And the amazing thing, unlike your sojourn with Peter Risdale, Daniel Levy has overseen this rise to prominence with perfect financial applumb, no debts, everything paid for within revenues generated, and a carefully managed wae policy. This latest recruitment drive hasn’t cost a net spend and hasn’t seen a rise in wages – amazing. I have to ask, is that what drives your bitterness. Sad, because I quite like Leeds the City, and always fond msot of your fans to be a decent bunch.
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So are Forest a bigger club than you lot?
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Spurs have good management and is doing whatever is in their power to make it a competition for the top 4 (which they have achieved twice in the last few years) and silverware without over spending – what is the “net spend” for Spurs this year?. How about the last 10 years?
Whether or not Spurs succeeds this year (which I believe they will succeed) will not stop them from succeeding next year or the year after. Spurs will succeed and Arsenal seem to be worried about that as there is only one way for Arsenal to go since they have accepted the Manchesters and Chelsea as their superiors.
P.S. What’s the point of watching the match (go on, I dare you to ask which match) if there is no point to Spurs?
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You mention that Leeds have a significant web presence. You use this as a barometer for their global standing. @lufc 40k twitter followers. @SpursOfficial 620k twitter followers
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Excellent!
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Being a Spurs fan I read tihis article with a huge dose of apprehension. But nevertheless, it’s an interesting question. What is a BIG club? Some are BIG, without a doubt. Juventus. AC Milan. Barcelona. Man Utd. Ajax. Bayern München. There’s maybe a dozen in that class. And then there are those who have the history and the potential to be there. Leeds Utd is maybe are one of those. Spurs are allmost there. And definitely have the potential to be there. These things change.
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Leeds have won the title 3 times, they’ve got one FA cup and one league cup to their name,.
Tottenham Hotspur have 2 league titles, 8 FA cups, 4 league cups, 2 European cups (including the first ever UEFA cup) and EUFA cup winners cup. Leeds will never be as big a club as Spurs, keep dreaming buddy.
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Incorrect – Leeds have won the Fairs Cup twice. That said, apologies to you guys for the above article which to me seems a rather futile wind-up. Mark Leeds fan).
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As a Yorkshireman dragged to Elland Road by my Leeds fan brother so glad l picked Spurs to follow since l was 9 years old. COYS.
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Hope you were at Elland Rd for the Cup game last season…
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Nah. And we won’t be at Yeovil this season either.
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Wait til you draw them in the FA cup!
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The fuure is white, blue and white. COYS !!
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This stinks of jealousy, write about your own club and its rivalries, or, do some research before you voice an opinion based on nothing but the air in your head. I notice you have only replied to one comment and it was to have another pop. Haven’t even got the balls to admit you were wrong e.g we have won 3 European cups in the 50 years we haven’t won the title. It’s not our fault your football club has gone down the toilet, stop acting like a spoilt child and find something more productive to do. Having pointed out you are old enough to remember a team from the seventies, you really don’t have any excuses for such poor behaviour!!!
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S’ok, you can admit it, you badly want to be a Spurs fan.
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You did forget to mention the 17 trophies after the winning the league.
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You have missed a FACT here..THFC is actually amongst the biggest and the richest 15 clubs in the world. Its something Leeds Utd. Couldn’t achieve not even once in their history. Still we must thank you for Lennon and Rose of course.
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Maybe Leeds are bigger than Spurs, maybe Forest and Blackburn are too, but Spurs are a serious force in English football and will be for decades to come with the new stadium on the way.
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one of the richest clubs in the world, one of the best supported club at home and abroad, a good history, trophies to crow about, a true flowing football style, so i think the real question after wasting a few minutes of my life reading this crap is whats the point of your article.
As Yorkshirespur i am a yorkshire born spurs fan also my old man could not get me to follow the Leeds as they play shit style football, at least since the 70’s when i ve supported the Spurs most years even if fruitless, attractive passing stylish football has graced the Lane and with the new squad long may it continue with a few bits of silverware.
Leeds spent money that they did not have and imploded, the Spurs have a rich owner and a way over the top fee from the Bale sale to build a good solid team COYS
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LOL you have ABSOLUTELY nothing to do Tottenham Hotspur my friend. Question – when jumping on the band wagon (as you have already admitted) why not go for one that have actually won something of relevance in your lifetime? Like LEEDS!!!
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I guess this article was written before the transfer window opened and Spurs spent more than £100 million (and they’re not finished yet) on some of the world’s most talented and coveted young footballers?
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Well you’ve just embarassed yourself.
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Surely you miss the point of being a football supporter? If only “big clubs” mattered, then perhaps the only teams worth supporting are the ones in the top four; hence this piece reads like tacit support of a super league.
The reason why a lot of people support football clubs is because they believe in the future, not the present, or simply an illustrious past. And dreaming of a brighter future while experiencing the highs and lows, for a lot of fans, is a lot more rewarding than just pinning your name to the winners. You are more sensitive to every incremental rise upwards, as well as every setback; with time, you feel a stronger affinity with your team.
And if your team does make it to the top -then by God have you earned the elation! That’s what being a football supporter is about.
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Leeds a big club what a joke could’nt fill the filthy hole they call home for derby game against Sheff Wed – small club in a small city just talk big !
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Literally one of the worst written articles I’ve ever read.
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Your article loses any validity the minute people read”Leeds are big club ” only in Yorkshire mate and even there the majority wouldn’t agree with you!
Interesting that you take so much interest in real football clubs … Must be awful watching all of us in the Premier league while Leeds blunder about in the wilderness. Enjoy obscurity it’s yours for ever!
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Funny that you don’t mention Man City’s newly aquired financial injection as a factor in keeping Tottenham on the cusp; without it Tottenham would have, by rights and FFP, been top 4 for the last 4 seasons.
Are City now considered a big club, bigger than Tottenham, because they won the league 2 years ago? Despite the near on 35 years banner in the Stretford End? Despite the fact, in recent years, they were playing in the 3rd tier of English football?
On that basis, your arguement is void. Shallow, misinformed ramblings of someone frustrated by 10 years in the PL graveyard of broken dreams.
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How to kick a hornets nest by Rob Atkinson… Touche my friend! COYS! I feel like this article is going to come back to haunt you….
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Leeds were a big club, and they can be big again – but in the here and now until they can get back to the Premiership they are little more than an irrelevant footnote in the current “big club” conversation. Sad but true. Big clubs simply don’t languish in the lower leagues for an entire decade – and counting.
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Fair point – but you haven’t factored in the main reason for this which is the impact our ex -chairman/ ‘owner’ made on the club/city during his tenure. Also the ridiculous money prevalent in the premiership now largely giving a ‘I’m alright Jack’ greed mentality, making it a non- sport and lottery for the ‘ also rans’ in the lower divisions!
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Odd article from a supporter of a club most famous for kicking the opposition, sacking one of the greatest British managers ever after 44 days, losing a cup final to 2nd division team and going bankrupt chasing their local rivals. Did I miss anything?
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Yes, you missed “Knocking Spuds out of last year’s FA Cup, Bale and all.”
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How dare you!! I can’t believe I wasted my life reading this “article” no wait “jealous dig” from a championship side. Spurs have plenty of history and are a sustainable EPL side, just because Leeds won a few EPLs a few years ago doesn’t mean anything, you couldn’t even manage your finances to stay in the EPL which is poor and you should be embarrassed to be even writing this article about a consistently top flight team. Let’s just end this by saying Spurs have more chances of winning 3 – 4 EPLs in the next 20 years than Leeds do in the next 40-50 years, and that’s a fact.
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