Jimmypearce7
Well-Known Member
- Feb 23, 2005
- 1,477
- 2,257
I had the good fortune to see Spurs win the first four FA Cup semi finals I attended- Wolves, Leicester, Watford and Arsenal. Given we won the cup on three of those occasions, and that the three cup semi finals before that had also seen Cup wins, in ’61, ’62 and ’67, there was a time when Spurs getting to the FA Cup semi final pretty much meaning the cup was ours!
Since then I have been at the seven semi final defeats in a row, like many of you on here but if you weren’t because you were too young or couldn't go or even if you were…let’s relive the pain.
I was reflecting on which of them was worse. 1993 we lost to Arsenal from Tony Adams latish goal, we were better than them as a team then and weren’t the massive underdogs we were when we won in 1991. We should have had a penalty- Dixon on Anderton and nearly equalised at the end.
It hurt more because it was revenge for them on our amazing ’91 triumph.
1995 Everton at Elland Road- that 4-1 defeat was definitely up there with my worst experiences of supporting Spurs. I think the teams were fairly evenly matched but we had to play- or did play- Stuart Nethercott at full back and got ripped up by Everton’s Nigerian forward, Daniel Amokachi.
That wasn't the worst of it though. Miserable journey up there on an M1 clogged with Spurs coaches and Elland Road, which is a dump, being used for a semi as an experiment because it was being used in Euro ’96. We had half the tickets of course but were all stuck in one huge stand while Everton had the other three sides of the ground and looked like the home team.
Plus Andy Hinchcliffe gesturing and winding us up about the score and the long coach journey home, which was like a manic depressives day trip- 50 people on a coach spending five hours in complete silence.
Made the more painful by expecting more of course.
Newcastle in 1999 (or 8) doesn't register on the same scale. We weren’t great then, travelled to Old Trafford more in hope and lost to extra time goals by the then unstoppable Alan Shearer.
Then Arsenal in 2001. Daniel Levy had just taken over and just installed Glen Hoddle as manage. We went into the lead through the Ginger Pele but it never felt like we were going to win- we were a long way behind them at the time and Pires, who scored against us a lot, got the winner. Any defeat to Arsenal hurts, the more so in a big game but we saw this one coming.
2010 against Portsmouth at Wembley was part of the week in which the extremes of supporting Spurs were the greatest. We should have beaten Portsmouth at Wembley. They were a fading team, we were much better but a very unlucky slip from Michael Dawson plus dodgy refereeing saw us lose but that was followed by beating Chelsea and then Arsenal the same week, where we played brilliantly and fought our way up to a position where we qualified for the Champions League for the first time, so by the end of the week, a disaster had been rescued.
Chelsea in 2012 was an embarrassing 5-1 defeat and a shame having beaten them at Wembley twice in our only games against them there. A strong team and I remember Drogba’s opening goal because he was just in front of where I was sitting and he hit the ball so hard from nothing that it had gone in before I had even seen it leave his foot- and the same for Cudicini.
Then last week. Painful losing to Chelsea, having much of the play but again little luck. Ok they scored four goals and I guess you can’t argue with that. I thought they were very dirty, kicking straight through the back of Kane and Ali when they got the ball, in a way that I thought meant an automatic yellow now- but not in this game. Still a fighting performance and two great goals and never disappointed in this team, even when the result is.
Seven consecutive FA Cup semi final defeats is painful but I still feel privileged to be at them all and supporting the mighty Spurs- and I hope to go to another one soon. We have to win eventually!
Since then I have been at the seven semi final defeats in a row, like many of you on here but if you weren’t because you were too young or couldn't go or even if you were…let’s relive the pain.
I was reflecting on which of them was worse. 1993 we lost to Arsenal from Tony Adams latish goal, we were better than them as a team then and weren’t the massive underdogs we were when we won in 1991. We should have had a penalty- Dixon on Anderton and nearly equalised at the end.
It hurt more because it was revenge for them on our amazing ’91 triumph.
1995 Everton at Elland Road- that 4-1 defeat was definitely up there with my worst experiences of supporting Spurs. I think the teams were fairly evenly matched but we had to play- or did play- Stuart Nethercott at full back and got ripped up by Everton’s Nigerian forward, Daniel Amokachi.
That wasn't the worst of it though. Miserable journey up there on an M1 clogged with Spurs coaches and Elland Road, which is a dump, being used for a semi as an experiment because it was being used in Euro ’96. We had half the tickets of course but were all stuck in one huge stand while Everton had the other three sides of the ground and looked like the home team.
Plus Andy Hinchcliffe gesturing and winding us up about the score and the long coach journey home, which was like a manic depressives day trip- 50 people on a coach spending five hours in complete silence.
Made the more painful by expecting more of course.
Newcastle in 1999 (or 8) doesn't register on the same scale. We weren’t great then, travelled to Old Trafford more in hope and lost to extra time goals by the then unstoppable Alan Shearer.
Then Arsenal in 2001. Daniel Levy had just taken over and just installed Glen Hoddle as manage. We went into the lead through the Ginger Pele but it never felt like we were going to win- we were a long way behind them at the time and Pires, who scored against us a lot, got the winner. Any defeat to Arsenal hurts, the more so in a big game but we saw this one coming.
2010 against Portsmouth at Wembley was part of the week in which the extremes of supporting Spurs were the greatest. We should have beaten Portsmouth at Wembley. They were a fading team, we were much better but a very unlucky slip from Michael Dawson plus dodgy refereeing saw us lose but that was followed by beating Chelsea and then Arsenal the same week, where we played brilliantly and fought our way up to a position where we qualified for the Champions League for the first time, so by the end of the week, a disaster had been rescued.
Chelsea in 2012 was an embarrassing 5-1 defeat and a shame having beaten them at Wembley twice in our only games against them there. A strong team and I remember Drogba’s opening goal because he was just in front of where I was sitting and he hit the ball so hard from nothing that it had gone in before I had even seen it leave his foot- and the same for Cudicini.
Then last week. Painful losing to Chelsea, having much of the play but again little luck. Ok they scored four goals and I guess you can’t argue with that. I thought they were very dirty, kicking straight through the back of Kane and Ali when they got the ball, in a way that I thought meant an automatic yellow now- but not in this game. Still a fighting performance and two great goals and never disappointed in this team, even when the result is.
Seven consecutive FA Cup semi final defeats is painful but I still feel privileged to be at them all and supporting the mighty Spurs- and I hope to go to another one soon. We have to win eventually!
