The Nineties – Only one side in  it

As the nineties began both Spurs and Arsenal could face the future with excitement. The team from N.17 had recruited as manager arguably the best coach they have had in the fifty years or so since Bill Nicholson retired. Terry Venables was a hot property when Spurs acquired him in 1987, and he had a squad that had some stellar talents in Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker. Arsenal had failed to retain the title they won in 1989 but the team that took the title in 1990/91, while rarely compared with the Invincibles, came extremely close to going unbeaten through a season — and a very difficult season at that. They lost only one game, at Chelsea in February, and weathered the significant handicaps of having skipper Tony Adams ‘banged up‘ for several weeks for drink driving and having two points deducted for a brawl at Old Trafford in October.

Before the season, Graham had shown his ruthless streak by replacing John Lukic with David Seaman from QPR, who had probably the best season I’ve ever seen an Arsenal goalkeeper have. Arsenal also signed a mercurial Swedish winger, Anders Limpar, who the fans loved much more than Graham did! They strolled the league and were expected to do another double when they ran up against Spurs in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. An extraordinary free kick from Gascoigne and two Lineker goals gave Spurs an unexpected 3-1 win. A hyped-up Gascoigne ended up destroying his knee in the Final and Lineker had a penalty saved but Tottenham added another FA Cup to their collection with a 2-1 victory.

It was at this time that Alan Sugar arrived as Chairman at the Lane. Bemused by what passed for normal practice in the football world, especially relating to governance given his corporate background, he crossed swords with Terry Venables who decamped eventually to become England coach. A court case subsequently ensued between the two men as Sugar sued Venables for libel after the publication of Venables’ autobiography in 1994. It was hard to run a football club successfully with all that going on….and Tottenham didn’t! Since Venables took the helm at White Hart Lane up to the present day, Tottenham have had 24 managers, not including some caretaker partnerships that probably few of their fans can even remember. In the same period Arsenal have had five! That tells its own story; but the lack of stability at the Lane was largely of their own making. There were bright moments: Ossie Ardiles took the helm in 1993 and seemed to favour five upfront. For a brief period it was exciting but over time it looked naive and Ardiles eventually went the way of so many other Spurs’ bosses.

George Graham, having built a killing machine of  a team with an extraordinary defence and a fine attack, decided to sign Ian Wright from Crystal Palace, a brilliant and irrepressible goalscorer. But having done so Graham dumbed down the midfield with some of the dullest combinations ever seen in N5. Arsenal continued to accumulate trophies, winning a Cup double (both against Sheffield Wednesday) in 1993, getting revenge for the ’91 semi-final on the way to the FA Cup success. Their football was attritional, relying hugely on Wright to conjure goals (which he did regularly) and then shutting out the opposition with that superb defence. Arsenal took the Cup Winners Cup in Copenhagen a year later, against a very talented Parma side, with an Alan Smith goal. When Arsenal reached another Cup Winners Cup final in Paris the next year (losing to that long range Nayim goal) Graham had been relieved of his duties having been accused of taking a ‘bung’ from an agent for the transfer in of Pal Lydersen. He was replaced by Bruce Rioch, the fortunate benefactor of a decision (driven by Dein ) to sigh two bona fide world superstars in Dennis Bergkamp and David Platt. Rioch lasted one season, having fallen out badly with Wright, but his signing of Bergkamp was loudly criticised by Alan Sugar who suggested the trend to sign  ‘any Carlos Kickaball‘ was ill-thought out and a waste of money. Tottenham nevertheless made one of their most successful forays into the transfer market to sign Juergen Klinsmann, the German striker! Bergkamp was undoubtedly a catalyst in turning Arsenal’s fortunes ’round although he was initially concerned by the firing of Bruce Rioch. A few years ago I nearly bought a house in Norfolk that used to belong to Rioch and the vendor told me some fascinating tales about  Bruce’s time at the Arsenal. But I can’t consign them to print! Let’s just say Arsenal circa 1996 was not an easy club to manage!

Rioch was replaced by a little-known (in England) Frenchman called Arsène Wenger who had been working in Japan after a successful period in charge of Monaco. Wenger faced serious issues with Tony Adams admitting his alcoholism and Paul Merson acknowledging multiple addictions. It was a difficult environment to come into. But, armed with Graham’s back four, and able to harness Platt and Bergkamp and add his own signings like Vieira, Petit and Overmars, Wenger oversaw a revolution in the way the club was run and led Arsenal to its second Double in 1997/8. At the start of the season Ian Wright overtook Cliff Bastin’s record as Arsenal’s all time top goalscorer. But Wenger sensed injuries were marring his effectiveness and brought in a brilliant French striker, Nicolas Anelka to ultimately replace him.

Tottenham’s response was to hire George Graham, whose appeal to most Spurs fans was akin to a cup of cold sick, but Graham led Tottenham to the League Cup in 1998/9. Wenger, working closely with Dein, was transforming Arsenal on and off the field, but Sugar hadn’t helped Spurs to overcome the loss several years before of Glenn Hoddle…who had moved to Monaco to rebuild his career under Arsène Wenger!

Arsenal fans were amused as Sugar publicly berated Klinsmann when he decided to jump ship for Bayern Munich after a couple of personally productive but trophyless years. Sugar suggested he wouldn’t wash his car with Klinsmann’s shirt! When Klinsmann was re-signed a couple of years later on loan from Sampdoria it seemed that Sugar must have found another method of buffing up his Roller! But in his second spell, in a struggling team, Klinsmann failed to make the same impact.

As the new millennium approached Arsenal were a Champions League side  engaged in a titanic contest with Manchester United for supremacy . The treble that United obtained in 1999 might have been an Arsenal double had Schmeichel not saved Bergkamp’s penalty in the dying moments of the Cup semi-final. As we moved into a new century, Tottenham still faced an uphill battle to regain former glories whilst Arsenal were about to reach possibly the most exciting moment in their history.

The Noughties – The Campbell cataclysm

A new century brought a familiar pattern to the positions of the two North London rivals. Wenger was building an Arsenal side that were still trailing Manchester United in the league and starting to adjust to the Champions League. The Champions League was a distant dream for Tottenham who eventually turned from an old Arsenal star to one of their own, Glenn Hoddle, to chart their path forward. Hoddle was a massively talented  superstar and had become a moderately successful England manager. But he faced significant problems. He graduated to the role as Arsenal began to assemble a hugely talented team…and then he was hit with a blow so serious that it still resonates in North London.

Sol Campbell was the rock on which Tottenham’s team was built. As the expiry of his contract grew near there was feverish anticipation as to what his next move might be, with many of the Tottenham faithful hopeful that he would commit to a Tottenham renewal. Many of the biggest clubs in Europe courted him, as he was effectively on a free transfer. It would be wrong to say that he wasn’t linked to Arsenal but the enormity of what a switch across London would signify made such a transfer seem highly  unlikely. But on an early July morning in 2001 Sol Campbell walked into a press conference (that most journalists felt was arranged to announce the signing of Richard Wright) to announce that he was signing for Arsenal! POW!

If there was one moment when the level of toxicity increased between the two sets of supporters it was this one. Not only had Tottenham’s captain switched clubs, inviting a hail of abuse and condemnation from his boyhood club, but he had moved to Tottenham’s deadly rivals..and for free! It was a sensational moment for Arsenal, who didn’t have a bad defence to begin with, adding Campbell at the peak of his powers. To rub a bucket of salt into the wound, Campbell’s first season (which had seen him return to White Hart Lane with effigies hanging from lampposts around the ground) ended in him completing the league and cup double — Arsenal’s third. If ever a move justified the huge personal cost it was that one. Nothing underlined the differing status of the clubs more starkly.

A few weeks before a poignant moment prior to a tense a North London Derby illustrated that some situations transcend rivalry. Just minutes before the 2001 derby at Highbury the tragic, early death of David ‘ Rocky’ Rocastle was announced to the crowd. I winced at the thought of a minute’s silence with thousands of Spurs fans in the ground but to our immense relief the Spurs fans observed it impeccably. They did their club huge credit. A week later the teams met in a third FA Cup semi-final in nine years, this time at Old Trafford. An early Docherty goal threatened an upset but Vieira, who was monumental on the day, equalised and Robert Pires scored the winner.

Robert Pires  had signed from Marseille and Thierry Henry signed the season before from Juventus. Henry’s signing didn’t thrill me initially  because I saw him as a speedy winger but profligate finisher. Early signs were that this was a good estimate as he failed to impress, only scoring his first goal with the winner at Southampton several games into his new career; he disappeared for a while only to re-appear against Derby at Highbury as a much stronger-looking central striker. He was a revelation, and from then on his Arsenal career never looked back. He became the most thrilling attacker we had ever seen in an Arsenal shirt. Arsenal failed to win the Cup in a final at Cardiff against Liverpool where serial handballer Stephane Henchoz got away with murder and Michael Owen ran an ageing defence ragged in the last ten minutes after Arsenal  had dominated and led the game.

Arsenal returned to Cardiff twelve months later with a stronger team including Freddie Ljungberg on fire, but were sadly unable to field Pires, who had ruptured his ACL a few months earlier at a time when he was the most exciting player in the Premier League. Ray Parlour and Freddie notched two second half goals and a few days later produced a performance of defiance and resilience to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford 1-0 to clinch the title. It was a delicious way to wrap up that precious third double.

Tottenham were not enjoying such a good start to the new Millennium. Their first five seasons in the new century saw them finish 12th, 10th, 9th, 14th, and 8th again. It was hard not to feel that Sol Campbell was a very good judge! In 2001 Alan Sugar gave way as Chairman to Daniel Levy. Levy has since been Chairman of Tottenham for 23 years. We will examine his record as we go through the Noughties and beyond.  Hoddle gave way to Pleat, Santini (briefly) and then Martin Jol. We had returned to the sixties in reverse with Arsenal significantly stronger and St. Totteringham’s Day a formality, often occurring in early Spring. Arsenal won another FA Cup in 2003, and should have clinched another double but the zenith of Wenger’s reign was just about to occur, with Arsenal having arguably the greatest league season any club has ever experienced n English football.

Wenger had invited derision a few years earlier when he suggested that it was possible to go through an entire league season unbeaten. By this stage Roman Abramovich had arrived in English football, and as Dein put it ‘was firing fifty pound notes across our lawn!’ But in 2003/4 Arsenal were significantly stronger than any other league team, and their first target was securing the league title. The team contained some wonderful players, among the greatest not only to have worn the red and white of Arsenal but to have played in the Premier League: Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell, Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires, and of course Bergkamp and Henry, were genuinely world-class players. Arsenal had taken the decision to build a new ground at Ashburton Grove, within a stone’s throw of Highbury, but the realisation dawned that it would constrain the spending power of Wenger over the next few years. Some banks were only prepared to lend Arsenal money upon guarantees that Wenger would stay. He was the hottest manager in football and could have walked into any club job in the world. He chose to remain loyal to Arsenal despite working financially with one hand tied behind his back because of his loyalty to and love for the club, Arsenal were truly lucky to have had him at the helm at that time.

This stability and leadership contrasted sharply with Tottenham where Levy continually churned managers to seek success or at least some sort of parity with Arsenal. There are inevitably moments when the gap between rivals appears to be unbridgeable and this period represented one of the most difficult for Tottenham fans.

Arsenal didn’t race away in the ‘Invincible‘ season but they did steadily accumulate points and at times with the group of players that they had they were sublime. A slight stumble at home to Portsmouth where Arsenal trailed, that infamous game at Old Trafford where United got the sort of penalty at the end that only they got, after Vieira was sent off and Van Nistelrooy (Horseface for short) hit the bar — divine retribution served early. I remember watching the NLD at Highbury in Singapore in the early hours after spending the evening drinking with an exiled Tottenham friend. We trailed for over half the game after Anderton scored but Pires got his regular goal against the Spuds and a fortunate deflection of a Ljungberg shot earnt us the points on a day when Tottenham’s play had belied their modest league position. Arsenal tightened their grip on the league with a nine game winning run in the New Year, and had the opportunity to wrap up the title at White Hart Lane with five games to go. It was a game I barely took in at the time as my mother had been taken desperately ill, but it was a triumphant return to the glorious scenes in 1971 (although I am told the Arsenal fans there were in fear of their lives after the latter game). Two early goals by Vieira and Pires set us on our way, but a Redknapp goal midway through the second half was followed by a farcical ending where Mad Jens tried to poleaxe Robbie Keane and conceded a penalty which the Irishman converted to give Tottenham something to celebrate on an otherwise bitter day for the Lilywhites.

Many Arsenal players and Arsene Wenger have shared how difficult it was to motivate themselves to go unbeaten in the last four games and we trailed for a while in a sticky game at Portsmouth until Jose Antonio Reyes, a surprise January signing, equalised. We even trailed to bottom of the table Leicester in our last game at home but an Henry penalty and a beautifully worked move between Bergkamp and Vieira gave us victory. The only sadness of that season was that we exited the Champions League in the quarter finals to a Chelsea team we had beaten three times previously, having drawn with them in the first leg at the Bus Stop. If ever an Arsenal side should have won the Champions League it was that one. It would have been a fitting accolade for a quite wonderful side. Much was made of the attacking brilliance of that side, but we only conceded 26 goals all season and only conceded two goals in a game three times that term.

That era must have been utter misery for Tottenham, although they regularly produced spirited performances in the North London Derby including a 5-4 defeat at the Lane the following season . That season Arsenal won the Cup fortuitously on penalties against a United side that had earlier  kicked them to pieces in a shameful game at Old Trafford that saw the end of a 49 match unbeaten run. Conspiracy theories abound about the game that ended in ‘Pizzagate’.

Martin Jol moved into the hot seat at White Hart Lane and started to improve the quality and resilience of the Tottenham side but again envious glances were cast towards Arsenal in 2006 when Arsenal reached the Champions League Final in Paris. Arsenal’s team was changing. Vieira had left, Pires was about to and there was speculation about Henry and Cole’s futures. We set an amazing defensive record of fourteen clean sheets with a defence of Eboue, Toure, and Senderos, with Flamini as a makeshift left-back. Much credit was given to Martin Keown, who drilled the defence that season. Ten minutes or thereabouts from glory with ten men after Lehmann’s dismissal, we took an unlikely lead through Campbell and had great chances to make it 2-0. That game still creates an ache in my heart as it did in Dave Faber’s. The Cup with Big Ears still eludes us.

Arsenal had closed Highbury in an emotional ceremony a few weeks before the final after a season where Spurs threatened to deprive them of a Champions League place. On the last day of the season Arsenal played Wigan in the Highbury farewell whereas Tottenham travelled to West Ham. No Arsenal fan could have chosen a better team  to confront them with and their hopes were hit even further when it emerged that their team had been hit by a stomach bug. ’Lasagnegate‘ lives on in North London football folklore and has again spawned conspiracy theories that suggest foul play on behalf of a devious Arsenal chef. Whatever. Tottenham lost 2-1 and as Highbury closed it was incongruous to hear the Highbury North Bank singing ‘ I’m forever blowing bubbles’ whilst the Bobby Moore Stand at Upton Park erupted in ‘Good Old Arsenal‘. Two old football citadels that no longer exist.

Tottenham’s much improved season pointed to a brighter future and a team that possessed quality and potential. There was a real battle for supremacy again even though Jol left in 2007 to be replaced by Juande Ramos. Tottenham were now genuine contenders for the Champions League and Arsenal were feeling the pinch after moving into their new stadium. They had to sell Henry to Barcelona after he had overtaken Ian Wright as Arsenal’s record scorer. Every Arsenal fan had a heavy heart after that deal even if they recognised the financial imperative of the deal. The thought that Henry had played his last game for Arsenal and scored his last goal was too tough to bear.

The struggle to remain competitive whilst under cash constraints did not cow Wenger, in fact it was one of his greatest achievements: to build a  vibrant young team around the young captain Cesc Fabregas, who had joined from Barcelona  and made his first team debut for Arsenal at 16. Juande Ramos did not have a stellar career in North London but he did win the League Cup, in 2008 beating Chelsea 2-1 after extra time. It was the last trophy that they have won and remains Levy’s only trophy during his tenure but Tottenham were at last on a playing par with Arsenal and very close to elite European qualification. It took a change of  manager to achieve it with Harry Redknapp taking over the reins but in 2009 Peter Crouch notched the goal at the Etihad that took them into the Champions League where they acquitted themselves capably.

Their shining star was Gareth Bale, a converted Welsh left back who became a superstar, and seemingly the go-to player who could win games single-handedly as evidenced by a brilliant hat-trick against Inter Milan.  Redknapp liked to play the incorrigible old rogue but he shouldn’t be underestimated as a tactician and he improved Spurs largely because he persuaded Levy to invest in players like Van de Vaart, Modric, and Defoe who allied with Bale and the underestimated Ledley King to give them more than a veneer of class.

Tottenham felt rightly that they were now among the elite of English football. Arsenal were still regularly qualifying for the Champions League and had both established stars like Fabregas and Van Persie, augmented by rising stars like Wilshere and Ramsey, but there was a feeling that the price paid for the move to the new stadium was handicapping the investment in the team and behind the scenes there was a power struggle at Arsenal.

David Dein had introduced Stan Kroenke of KSE to the board as a potential investor despite a vitriolic response from Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood.  Kroenke became a director in 2007 and steadily began to buy shares. Dein then had a change of heart and backed Alisher Usmanov, the now disgraced Uzbek oligarch. Tensions rose on the board, and Dein left after stellar service for which he was very well remunerated by the sale of his shares. There was no doubt that Arsenal owed a huge debt to Wenger in helping them to stay competitive but at the same time it was hard to imagine Arsenal challenging for the title again. Losing his great confidante and sounding board, Dein, undoubtedly affected Wenger who never seemed quite as authoritative again. Tottenham felt, with some justification, that  they had Arsenal in their sights and could overtake them.

In the final part we will see what happened as Tottenham assembled the best side they have had since that 1961 Double side and found a manager who helped them to re-connect with the traditional football style they were  associated with. Arsenal fans began to turn against Wenger despite his continued ability to win trophies. And we will try to decide what the future will hold for the two North London giants.

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Enjoy the new season playing the Goonerholicsforever Prediction Contest, in aid of the Willow Foundation!

Can you harness your inner Mystic Meg and out-predict defending champion Pangloss in foreseeing the final Premier League table for the 2024-25 season? 

Will you be more clairvoyant than CER and GSD were last season in predicting the FA Cup winner? Or TTG and Uply when it comes to the League Cup? 

What’s your bet on the first manager to get the tin tack this season? Have you got a better inside track or insight than Dr F. Jnr?

You can only find out by entering the 2024-25 edition of the GHF Predictathon.

Again, the purpose of the contest is twofold. Firstly, it is to increase your enjoyment of the upcoming season by providing a degree of light-hearted competitive rivalry as the season progresses. Secondly, it will enable us to support the Willow Foundation with a further source of charitable funding.

Check out the “GHF Contests” tab at the top of the page for The Rules, the entry blank and information about how to enter the contest, and how the contest will be scored.

Good luck!