The Tottenham Thread 12/13

[THFC6061]

Swansea City host Tottenham Hotspur at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday 30th March 2013 (KO 15:00) in the 31st round of matches in the 2012-13 Premier League season.

Swansea come into the match in 9th place in the table on 40 points, while Tottenham are in 4th place on 54 points. This will be the 41st time the two teams have met.

Swansea City were founded in 1912 as Swansea Town (they changed their name to Swansea City in 1969) and joined the Second Division of the Southern League for the 1913-14 season. After World War One, The Jacks became members of the SL First Division and joined the Football League in season 1920-21 when the Southern League was incorporated to form the Third Division of the Football League. The following season the division was re-named the Third Division South.

The first meeting between Spurs and Swansea came in the Second Division in November 1928 at Vetch Field with the home side winning 4-0. The reverse fixture in March 1929 at White Hart Lane ended in a 1-1 draw.

The clubs met for a further eight seasons in Division Two between seasons 1930-31 and 1938-39 with 10 wins for Spurs, 2 wins for Swansea and 4 matches drawn.

During the Second World War, the clubs played two games in the Football League South with a win each.

The clubs played for two more seasons in Division Two after WW2 with three wins for Spurs and one for Swansea.

Spurs and Swansea have played five games in the Football League Cup, the first of which came in the second round in September 1970 with Tottenham winning 3-0 at the Lane with goals from Steve Perryman, Martin Peters and Roger Morgan.

Eight years later, Swansea drew with Spurs 2-2 at Vetch Field in the second round first leg and won 3-1 at White Hart Lane.

The most recent League Cup meetings came in the second round in 1991 with Swansea winning 1-0 at home in the first leg and Spurs winning 5-1 at White Hart Lane with goals from Paul Stewart, Vinnie Samways, Gary Lineker, Paul Allen and an own goal.

Swansea City won promotion to the Top Flight of English Football for the first time in season 1981-82 and were league leaders at one stage before finishing in 6th position. The match at Vetch Field in September 1981 resulted in a 2-1 win for The Swans with Glenn Hoddle scoring for Spurs, while the return match at the Lane in May 1982 was won 2-1 by Spurs with Gary Brooke scoring both goals.

A similar set of results came in Swansea's second season in Division One with a 2-0 home win in Swansea and a 1-0 home win in Tottenham.

The two clubs came in a friendly played in Swansea in November 1992, which resulted in a 3-3 draw.

Tottenham Hotspur and Swansea City have never met in the FA Cup. Swansea became the first Welsh club to play in the Premier League by winning the play-off against Reading at Wembley 4-2 thanks mainly to a Scott Sinclair hat-trick.

The fixture at the Liberty Stadium in December 2011 finished in a 1-1 draw with Spurs going ahead just before half-time through Rafael van der Vaart but Swansea salvaged a point with a late equaliser from Scott Sinclair.

Rafael van der Vaart put Spurs 1-0 up at halftime in the match at White Hart Lane in April 2012 with a 19th minute goal. Sigurdsson equalised for Swansea in the 59th minute but a brace from Emmanuel Adebayor secured the three points for Spurs.

During the summer Tottenham Hotspur signed Icelandic midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson from 1899 Hoffenheim but who had been on loan at Swansea City for the 2011-12 season.

The game at White Hart Lane in December 2012 was won by a Jan Vertonghen goal scored in the 75th minute. Swansea won the first major trophy in their history in February 2013 when they beat Bradford City in the Football League Cup Final 5-0.

Overall, Spurs have won 22, Swansea have won 10 and 8 of the 40 matches played so far between the two clubs have been drawn.

They Played for Spurs & Swansea....

Terry Boyle
Derek Brazil
Ivor Brown
Ron Burgess (also Swansea coach & manager)
Steven Caulker
Willie Davies
Gerry Francis (Swansea player, Spurs manager)
Roger Gibbins
Mark Gower
Charlie Handley
Percy Hooper
Jack Illingworth
Cliff Jones
Ernie Jones
Mark Kendall
Derek King
Doug Livermore (Swansea coach, Spurs asst. manager)
Terry Medwin (Spurs player, Swansea asst. manager)
Joe Meek
Paul Price
Wayne Routledge
Gylfi Sigurdsson
Micky Stead
Arthur Willis (Spurs player, Swansea coach)
Alan Woods

 

[THFC6061]

SPURS TEAM NEWS:

Michael Dawson and Aaron Lennon are back in the frame to face Swansea on Saturday.

Centre-back Michael was forced off at half-time in our last outing against Fulham on March 17, a slight muscle injury that denied him the chance to join up with the England squad after he was recalled by Roy Hodgson.

Aaron had to sit out the Fulham match through injury and that ruled him out of international duty as well.

"Michael trained fully today with the team and gave a positive response," reported Andre after training on Thursday.

"Aaron trained fully with the team for the last two days, so they are in contention to come back. Aaron has been excellent for us and it's good to have him back."

Further good news sees Younes Kaboul stepping up his training on his return from a long-term knee injury. "Younes has trained with the team, so let's see how he reacts," added Andre.

 

[Slicker than Sommeil]

I thought this was Bluemoon, not BBC Sport?

 

[jimharri]

Great; another table from 6061.

 

[Barcon]

What's good about having Dawson back? The white Tom Huddlestone.

 

[THFC6061]

What's good about having Dawson back? The white Tom Huddlestone.

Dawson has had a fantastic season for Spurs.

And to think he was deemed surplus to requirements last summer.

 

[jimharri]

Dawson is pure shite. Remember the 5-1 ''dahn the lane''? The fourth goal, yeah? Sergio left him for dead. And Spurs were more than happy to see the back of him not that long ago.

 

[blink922]

What's good about having Dawson back? The white Tom Huddlestone.

Dawson has had a fantastic season for Spurs.

And to think he was deemed surplus to requirements last summer.

If all your players were as good as you claim them to be you'd be in first by 20 points.

 

[THFC6061]

Over on Glory Glory, we're having an interesting discussion about what would be the definitive all-time best Spurs XI.

Here's my choice:

Vivian Woodward should be the first name on anyone's all-time greatest Spurs XI - he was the greatest player in the world of his generation and lead Great Britain to two Olympic Games gold medals.

We've had some great goalkeepers over the years but Pat Jennings is the obvious choice.

Mike England and Ledley King in central defence for me.

Tommy Clay at left back with Cyril Knowles on the right.

Dave Mackay and Danny Blanchflower in central midfield.

I'd opt for the flying Welshman Gareth Bale to partner Woodward the wings.

And upfront Martin Chivers to partner Jimmy Greaves.

 

[Danamy]

Over on Glory Glory, we're having an interesting discussion about what would be the definitive all-time best Spurs XI.

Here's my choice:

Vivian Woodward should be the first name on anyone's all-time greatest Spurs XI - he was the greatest player in the world of his generation and lead Great Britain to two Olympic Games gold medals.

We've had some great goalkeepers over the years but Pat Jennings is the obvious choice.

Mike England and Ledley King in central defence for me.

Tommy Clay at left back with Cyril Knowles on the right.

Dave Mackay and Danny Blanchflower in central midfield.

I'd opt for the flying Welshman Gareth Bale to partner Woodward the wings.

And upfront Martin Chivers to partner Jimmy Greaves.

No room for Hoddle?

The man is a complete bellend but he was a master with the ball at his feet

 

[THFC6061]

No room for Hoddle?

The man is a complete bellend but he was a master with the ball at his feet

Hoddle was indeed a great player but I opted for our double-winning captain Danny Blanchflower instead.

You could debate the relative merits of both players till the cows come home, but overall I feel Blanchflower achieved more with Spurs (and a World Cup Quarter Final with Northern Ireland) than Hoddle did.

 

[Danamy]

No room for Hoddle?

The man is a complete bellend but he was a master with the ball at his feet

Hoddle was indeed a great player but I opted for our double-winning captain Danny Blanchflower instead.

You could debate the relative merits of both players till the cows come home, but overall I feel Blanchflower achieved more with Spurs (and a World Cup Quarter Final with Northern Ireland) than Hoddle did.

Well chuck Dave out then? ;-)

 

[NipHolmes]

Sorry to cause some trouble but imo Campbell aka Judas was a better CB than King.

Just because he left the way he did should not change the way he's rated as a player, saying that it's easier to say it as a neutral I must concede.

 

[TFC]

Sorry to cause some trouble but imo Campbell aka Judas was a better CB than King.

Just because he left the way he did should not change the way he's rated as a player, saying that it's easier to say it as a neutral I must concede.

I may have not watched Spurs as much as say a Spurs fan, but I always thought Ledley was good, but overrated by many.

 

[NipHolmes]

Sorry to cause some trouble but imo Campbell aka Judas was a better CB than King.

Just because he left the way he did should not change the way he's rated as a player, saying that it's easier to say it as a neutral I must concede.

I may have not watched Spurs as much as say a Spurs fan, but I always thought Ledley was good, but overrated by many.

Couldn't agree more.

For my money Campbell was the best CB of a generation and topped Terry and Wio all day every day.

Absolute phenom yet his greatness is forgotten and coated over with bile. I get the reason you hate him, I'd be incensed if Kompany wore his contract down and moved to the rags but it wouldn't mean I forgot how great a defender he is/was.

Campbell is above King and shoudl be on the team above.

 

[THFC6061]

No room for Hoddle?

The man is a complete bellend but he was a master with the ball at his feet

Hoddle was indeed a great player but I opted for our double-winning captain Danny Blanchflower instead.

You could debate the relative merits of both players till the cows come home, but overall I feel Blanchflower achieved more with Spurs (and a World Cup Quarter Final with Northern Ireland) than Hoddle did.

Well chuck Dave out then? ;-)

Every great team needs an "enforcer" to protect the defence and break-up attacks and there were none better than Mackay in that role.

But his reputation as a hard man hides the fact that Bill Nicholson rated him as the most skillful player he ever managed at Spurs.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

Over on Glory Glory, we're having an interesting discussion about what would be the definitive all-time best Spurs XI.

Here's my choice:

Vivian Woodward should be the first name on anyone's all-time greatest Spurs XI - he was the greatest player in the world of his generation and lead Great Britain to two Olympic Games gold medals.

We've had some great goalkeepers over the years but Pat Jennings is the obvious choice.

Mike England and Ledley King in central defence for me.

Tommy Clay at left back with Cyril Knowles on the right.

Dave Mackay and Danny Blanchflower in central midfield.

I'd opt for the flying Welshman Gareth Bale to partner Woodward the wings.

And upfront Martin Chivers to partner Jimmy Greaves.

A rare glitch: you've got Clay and Knowles the wrong way round.

 

[THFC6061]

Over on Glory Glory, we're having an interesting discussion about what would be the definitive all-time best Spurs XI.

Here's my choice:

Vivian Woodward should be the first name on anyone's all-time greatest Spurs XI - he was the greatest player in the world of his generation and lead Great Britain to two Olympic Games gold medals.

We've had some great goalkeepers over the years but Pat Jennings is the obvious choice.

Mike England and Ledley King in central defence for me.

Tommy Clay at left back with Cyril Knowles on the right.

Dave Mackay and Danny Blanchflower in central midfield.

I'd opt for the flying Welshman Gareth Bale to partner Woodward the wings.

And upfront Martin Chivers to partner Jimmy Greaves.

A rare glitch: you've got Clay and Knowles the wrong way round.

Knowles was a left back (as shown correctly in the graphic) and would have won far more England caps than he did were it not for the equally excellent Terry Cooper at Leeds United.

Tommy Clay was mainly a right back (Alf Ramsey would be my alternative to him) although he filled-in across the back line and even had a stint as an emergency goalkeeper when Jacques was injured.

 

[GHoddle]

What's good about having Dawson back? The white Tom Huddlestone.

Dawson has had a fantastic season for Spurs.

And to think he was deemed surplus to requirements last summer.

If all your players were as good as you claim them to be you'd be in first by 20 points.

Tbf Dawson has been one of our better players. The reason we're not higher up in the table is because of Adebayor and Defoe mainly, can't hit a barn door and haven't scored since Christmas, Sandro's injury and Parker the headless chicken 90% of the time taking his place, and mental lapses from our fullbacks, in particular Walker, often costing us.

Dawson has been excellent this season though.

 

[Ancient Citizen]

It is amazing Adebayor has yet again, failed to last the course. When City bought him, I was very pleased, and he justified my pleasure for around 4 months, then gradually, pleasure turned to puzzlement, then despair and finally, thank fuck we flogged him.
He starts any new venture with verve and vigour,
He ends one with apathy and sloth.