Tottenham as a second team !

I started going to the Lane in the mid 50s with my eldest brother to watch the first team. Once he got married and moved out I went to the first and reserve games every week whichever was at home.
Toward the end of the 60s I had a mate who was a gooner and we used to go to the respective home matches.
Always have supported THFC but whenever I've moved I have followed the local team as a second team.
Spurs always #1 but Watford when living in Hemel, Bournemouth when down there and Boston now I'm up here.

ricardomcd said:

Really can't believe I've just heard this but chap on talksport was talking about spurs bring his second team. His favourite team is, and you won't believe it , Arsenal. I kid you not absolutely nuts. Can this really be possible.

Click to expand...

Of course it is possible. If the mind is fucked, anything is possible. Did he sound old or anything? A logically thinking person, this person simply would not be. If you know about the rivalry between the two, you would not support both. Perhaps he hasn't comprehended the rivalry. So my guess is, his ticker has gone, or it was never 'on' to begin with.

Spurger King said:

Depends how old he was I guess. Bruce Forsyth is on record as saying he supports both us and the gooners. I think it was quite common many years ago for North Londoners to watch one team when the other was playing away.

Either that or he's an idiot.

Click to expand...

but he's only 86, not one hundred and 86. The rivalry is only 80 odd years old? News to me.

Dinghy said:

I can go better.. My old man (lifelong Spurs fan) has been to The Boleyn more than he has to WHL...

Click to expand...

I love how even you're confused about that.

DaSpurs said:

We can write that one off as simply the fact that tickets to the Boleyn have been considerably cheaper over his lifetime

You know, cuz they suck and haven't been in the top division that time n all

Click to expand...

But why would someone want to go and watch a derby rival play?

Simply attending matches of other clubs doesn't make someone a fan. Many of the examples given here are about old timers just going to matches rather than examples of people having a passionate support for those teams.

SpursManChris said:

But why would someone want to go and watch a derby rival play?

Click to expand...

culture was different in them times - football was a different game

The rivalry amoungst fans wasn't the same as it is now

You can't apply modern day logic to the scenario that that generation had

Firstly football was very much a working class sport then, people were not upwardly mobile like they are today

Socities were not as diverse either, people in working class areas were often 2-3 or more generations deep all within the same area and families still lived in walking distance of one another. People were less tribal about their specific teams and more connected to their town and their community

Football didnt have the same exposure then, you couldn't just watch any game you want on tele or stream it on the Internet andmost working class men wouldn't have hand the means to travel round the country supporting their team - as a result come Saturday afternoon when they wanted to go watch a game if the Spurs were playing away they'd frequently pop down the road to watch their other local team play so they could still enjoy their weekend working class pastime

People in London were pro london and anti else were - community spirit was strong in working class london ( yes there were also divides and rivalries from within but more united as an entity against outside london) so people in London would favour a London club over a non london club

Same way for a team people supported rival clubs against non English clubs when they played in Europe - because as Englishman they felt represented by the English team and United in support against the european teams (even if that English team were a domestic rival)

Societies were different - fan bases were much less diverse and far reaching . You're struggling to understand the way things were back then because you're looking at it through today's eyes where a Spurs supporter in Australia can watch every game from the comfort of their own home and where the concept of supporting your own teams from local catchment areas due to community support and representation are all but dead

Sorry I only had two hours sleep last night and I think I may be making less sense than I should but trust me I do have a valid point in there somewjere if you can crack the code

See, as a Yorkshire Lad, my Grandad has been a lifelong Bradford City fan and I've been going to a handful of games every season for about the last 8-9 years.

However my dad is a Spurs fan, as was his dad, went to my first game at Bolton in a League Cup tie, was just instantly hooked.

Been in love with Spurs ever since, still keep Bradford (and York) as my "Local Teams" however, I will always be a Spurs fan, no matter how many managers we sack, how many players we sell to Madrid, or how many times we make beating average opposition look harder than Ron Jeremy on Viagra...

COYS!

My dad told me that my grandad used to go to Highbury and probably west ham, when spurs wasn't playing, in the 30's. He was always spurs but like what the rest of you have said, if football was on, you'd go and watch.

Shea said:

Sorry I only had two hours sleep last night and I think I may be making less sense than I should

Click to expand...

HAHA, no not at all, that was a good read, cheers for that. Don't worry, I 'cracked the code' and saw your point which is completely valid; I am indeed looking at it from a modern set of eyes, 12,000 miles away, although, if I did live in England, I don't think my perspective would be any different. I'm sure there are English people here who are just as surprised as I am, like the thread starter for example. I just would've guessed that rivalries were just as strong back then as they are today. I'm wondering if some people back then didn't actually have a team that they supported and also, for those who did have a team, whether it was just as common for some of them to have another team they supported as it was for those who just merely attended another teams games, without any real passionate support. As I said, that was a good informative read in a good old bit of English footballing history; you should be a football historian, that is if you're not already

riggi said:

My dad told me that my granddad used to go to Highbury and probably west ham, when spurs wasn't playing, in the 30's. He was always spurs but like what the rest of you have said, if football was on, you'd go and watch.

Click to expand...

I know a guy whose grandad was the same with Fulham and Chelsea. Different eras, different statures I guess. Like you say, it didn't appear to get tribal/aggro til the 70s.

Kendall said:

I know a guy whose grandad was the same with Fulham and Chelsea. Different eras, different statures I guess. Like you say, it didn't appear to get tribal/aggro til the 70s.

Click to expand...

The idea is mad to me. I cant even sit in the home end when we play away. I almost got my bum stabbed* in Milan against ac!!

* with a knife.

riggi said:

The idea is mad to me. I cant even sit in the home end when we play away. I almost got my bum stabbed* in Milan against ac!!

* with a knife.

Click to expand...

Yeah I'm pretty sure I couldn't just waltz down to the Emirates and watch Arsenal beat Hull with the home crowds, but I have been to Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday Man United and Carlisle as a 'home fan' in reasonably recent times.

Kendall said:

Yeah I'm pretty sure I couldn't just waltz down to the Emirates and watch Arsenal beat Hull with the home crowds, but I have been to Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday Man United and Carlisle as a 'home fan' in reasonably recent times.

Click to expand...

I mean when they're playing us.

riggi said:

I mean when they're playing us.

Click to expand...

Not done that since I was about 10-11, when you can get away with it (Old Trafford, Elland Road, Highfield Road and Hillsborough).

As a 9 year old my parents sent me off to boarding school in Slough where a fair amount of the borders were from London. Most weekends a group of us nippers would go up to London on a Saturday morning and take it in turn to watch First Division games at Fulham, Chelsea, West Ham, Arsenal and the mighty Spurs where, thanks to two of my uncles who were ST holders at WHL, I had been a supporter of since 1957. Loved going to the games and although there was a fierce rivalry it very rarely caused fights amongst us as we were all such good mates.

Fulham Roma and Valencia


A slight hint of appreciation for United as well, they kept the chavs and scum at bay for years.

Has actually turned out to be a rather interesting thread. Nice to see some bits about football history in England from the perspective of the fan, and interesting to see where people's various "secondary allegiances" lie.

I heard that lad on Talksport. He sounded pretty blaise about football as a whole. Enthusiastic about the sport but in no way passionate.

I dont understand the notion of "second teams". I definitely don't understand anyone who claims they support 2 clubs! I understand people feeling goodwill towards a local team if they support a bigger club further away, as I do with both Northampton and MK Dons, but I don't hold anything more than a passing interest in them.

Ultimately the only club I feel any passion for is Spurs, and the level of emotion I invest in supporting Spurs (not to mention the monetary expense) is such that I've got nothing left to give any other club - even those which are only 15 mins down the road from me.

I've been to watch Arsenal a couple of times with Gooner mates over the years when I've had nothing better to do. Once on two blue microdots verses QPR back in the mid eighties. That was a fun day.

I could never go and watch those ****s West ham though.