They like their football played on the grass in North London. Not for Spurs, and latterly Arsenal, is the long punt and second ball game the way fans enjoy it.
Tottenham Hotspur has a rich history in the top flight of English football, and the club is associated with a sense of class and a playing style which is easy on the eye. This philosophy doesn’t always bring prizes, as the club’s struggle to win a Premier League title testifies. But it does mean that the Whites have been blessed by some of the most attractive football talent spanning the past 50 years, since a time when they dominated the English league at the beginning of the 1960s.
Today we run the rule over five of Spurs’ best young stars. Three academy products and two players who arrived at the tender age of 21 who have each been central to some of the best football played at White Hart Lane.
Ledley King
Known as the finest defender in Spurs’ Premier League history, Ledley King was a Rolls Royce of a player He was a one club man, patrolling the defensive third for Spurs between 1999 and 2012, making 323 appearances. He also won 21 caps for England and would have undoubtedly achieved more had he not been dogged by injury.
He came to prominence when centre back Sol Campbell angered Spurs fans by moving to Arsenal, and that betrayal has often been compared unfavourably with King’s loyalty. But he was far more than a loyal servant, oozing class and composure with the ability to time tackles to perfection.
Paul Gascoigne
When he arrived at White Hart Lane as a brash 21-year old Paul Gascoigne was already a global star, following his thrilling role in England’s journey to the 1990 World Cup semi-final; and he was a hero on Tyneside where he learned his football at Newcastle United. He was nearest thing to genius the English game had seen since the wonderful talent of George Best wowed fans nationwide.
With superb ball control and balance, a spectacular array of passing and a fierce shot, Gascoigne was the complete attacking midfielder, but he also had a self destructive side. One of the many infamous moments in Gazza’s career came in his last appearance for Spurs, the 1991 FA Cup Final. He was already committed to joining Lazio the following season when he strode onto the Wembley pitch. But he left it on a stretcher, 15 minutes after the start, when a reckless high challenge on Nottingham Forest’s Gary Charles left Gazza with damaged knee ligaments. He recalls: “I remember Charles coming down the right. I tried to get a good challenge on him and let him know he was in a game.”
He was ‘daft as a brush’ as they say in Newcastle…but what a player!
Harry Kane
With the Premier League transfer rumour mill already at full speed the annual questions around whether Harry Kane is about to leave Spurs are being asked again. And there’s no wonder. Ever since he arrived at the club as an 11 year old he was destined for stardom and now, as captain of club and country, he is one of the hottest properties on the planet.
As a youngster he had productive loan spells at Millwall and Leicester City before scoring 31 goals across all competitions in his first full season in 2014/15. He’s been as prolific ever since when he’s on the pitch, but another injury to Kane has influenced our Premier League 2020 predictions as, without him, Spurs have struggled to climb into European contention this year.
Jimmy Greaves
There have been some pretty impressive scorers in the Premier League era but the most lethal top flight finisher of all time was the great Jimmy Greaves.
He was 21 when he arrived at Spurs, having begun his career at Chelsea, and he went on to score a colossal 266 goals for the Whites. With spells at Stamford Bridge and later West Ham, Greaves ended up with a total of 357 top flight goals. He’s known by England fans as the best natural goal-scorer of all time, and if Greaves was still around today in the Spurs team, our SBOBET tips would be heading towards ‘over 2.50 goals’ more often than not!
Glenn Hoddle
They’ve had their fair share at Spurs, but probably their most gifted player in modern times was midfield maestro Glenn Hoddle who joined the club as a 12 year old and made his debut as a 17 year old in 1975. The 1979/80 season was when he came of age, bagging 19 goals and winning the PFA Young Player of the Year award.
He scored 110 times for Spurs and probably made more assists with his beautiful delivery of a ball. Pragmatists sometimes saw him as a luxury, but no team in the top flight would have refused the chance to have him light up their own pitch.
Hoddle is well up with the very latest Premier League 2020 news as a TV pundit in England, but Spurs fans aren’t alone in wishing he was still working his graceful art on the pitch.
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