We started this series with a quick overview of the early years, the birth of the club leading up to their first FA Cup Triumph in 1901. That was the first great Spurs side and some would argue one of the best sides that the world of Football had seen in its early years. So lets take a look in more detail at that 1901 side and the three key decisions that led up to it..

To get a full picture of that team one has to go back a couple of years for as is true today, great sides do not come together in one season, rather they are built over a period of time. A series of events takes place and a legend is born and so it was that in 1898 Spurs were not doing that well achieving mediocre success on the pitch and announcing a loss for the season of £500. Things needed to change if Spurs were to become a successful club and there were three things that changed the club forever.

Firstly on March 2nd 1898, the club that had started off as a team of local lads playing football on marshland became a Limited Company. The club was not taking enough money in Gate receipts and was going broke so the help of Charles Roberts was sought. A former Baseball pitcher with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Roberts was known in the north of England for organising fund raising events and military tattoos. After taking a look at Spurs’ finances he concluded that a mere event was not going to be enough and so it was on his suggestion that the club became Limited. This protected the Committee from financial risk and allowed for investment and was a step being taken by many of the clubs up north. The money men had moved into the game.

Shares were issued (although it has to be said they did not sell well – three quarters of the 1000 issued remained unsold) and a new board of directors installed. The board comprised Roberts, who remained a director until 1943, John Oliver, Former players Bobby Buckle & Jack Thompson and Ralph Bullock.

Gates began to improve including a crowd of 14,000 for the visit of Woolwich Arsenal to Northumberland Park At this match it was obvious the old ground couldn’t cope with the numbers as spectators climbed onto the roof of the refreshment hut and it collapsed. And  so a new ground was needed, sought and found at Beckwiths Nursery behind the White Hart. The Landlord of the White Hart heard of the interest and put a rumour around that a football club was interested in the former nursery (which was now owned by Charringtons). He had previously run a pub in Millwall near the Den and knew the value to his trade of having a football club nearby. The Spurs Directors met Charringtons who agreed to lease them the ground on condition that 1000 spectators could be guaranteed for first team games (and 500 for reserve matches) and that was the second of the three major events around that time that were to shape our club. On 4^th September 1899 Spurs entertained  Notts County  (the countries oldest professional club) in a friendly, winning 4-1 in front of 5000 paying customers in the first Spurs match at White Hart Lane.

In 1901 Roberts financed the purchase of  the freehold of the ground as well as land and houses behind the Northern end with help from Charringtons turning the bulk of the purchase price into a mortgage to be paid back over a long term. (buying land around the ground – pub landlords – ground development - sound familiar?)

The third turning point came in 1898 with the appointment of Scotsman John Cameron as player manager. He was the man who transformed a mediocre side taking existing players, Jack Jones, the captain and Thomas Smith and in 1899 adding keeper George Clawley, left back Sandy Tait, right half Tom Morris, centre half  Edward Hughes, inside left David Copeland and left winger John Kirwan. Something was still missing however and that piece of the jigsaw was completed at the beginning of the 1900-1901 season when centre forward Alexander ‘Sandy’ Brown was signed from Portsmouth. The Dimitar Berbatov of his day whose record of 15 goals in one seasons FA Cup still stands to this day.

And so it was that five scots, two Welshmen, Three Englishmen and an Irishman – none of whom were born within 100 miles of Tottenham became the first ‘great’ side in English Football.

They were the three decisions that lifted our club from being a small local side, to one that could compete on a national level and win major prizes. Three decisions that firmly established Tottenham Hotspur Football Club

A  couple of things you may not know about the 1901 Cup. The final was the first game to be filmed in its entirety by Pathe News. How I would love to get a copy of that especially as the footage clearly shows the the game should never have gone to a replay. With Spurs leading 2-1 the Spurs keeper Clawley fumbled a Lipsham shot on his line with Bennett closing in fast but somehow managed to divert the ball around the post. Clawley appealed for a goal kick . Bennett tried to claim a corner but the referee, Mr Kingscott for reasons best known to himself, awarded a Goal. Had they had the benefit of seeing the pathe footage they would have seen that the ball had never crossed the line. Some things never change.

Something else that never changes is railway companys’ reluctance to run their services to accommodate Spurs fans and it was their refusal in to issue cut price tickets for the replay that meant that only 20,470 fans turned up to see Spurs win 3-1 with goals from Cameron (levelling the score at 1-1 after Sheffield united had taken the lead), Tom Smith and finally Sandy Brown. And not only did we win but we started a tradition when Spurs Director Morton Cadmans wife tied navy blue and white ribbons to the handles of the cup. 

Next time – the early league years

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• Spurs - The Early years

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