1986/87: Manchester United v Tottenham

Anyone associated with Manchester United must have been a little bit sick of Tottenham by the end of the 2024/25 season. Four times the clubs met, each time the north London club victorious, most memorably in the final of the Europa League. 

The final in Bilbao may have been rewarding to Tottenham supporters, their 16-year trophy drought finally ending. Yet to any neutrals who chose to watch that match, the entertainment was in short supply. Let us hope that the live Premier League match between the two clubs at Old Trafford this weekend is slightly more exciting.

A repeat of the corresponding league fixture 40 years ago would be more than acceptable. The live BBC match in December 1986 gave us goals, mistakes, moments of brilliance, comedy, bravery, and a welcome palate cleanser after the depressing EastEnders omnibus. As an armchair supporter, it was a very enjoyable way to spend a Sunday.

1983: A Christmas football feast

It is a Christmas tradition up there with eating too much turkey, watching James Bond films, and numerous family rows. Football on Boxing Day may not have always been popular with players in the past, yet for supporters it has often provided the ideal palate cleanser.

So when news broke recently of a distinct lack of top-flight matches on Boxing Day, a gnashing of teeth could be heard up and down the country. Another brick removed from the wall of football tradition, the influence of television and a swelling calendar impacting the beautiful game. Never mind that there is a full Football League and National League fixtures that day, apparently it is the top table people want to feast at.

It hasn't always been this way. In fact there was a time when just like mince pies and chocolates, we overindulged in football at Christmas. The 1983/84 season was a prime example of this. The vast majority of clubs would play on both Boxing Day and December 27, players expected to be disciplined enough to forgo that extra glass of sherry and then perform twice in the space of 24 hours.

1980/81: Exeter's FA Cup run

Exeter City take on Nottingham Forest in the final match of the 2025 FA Cup fourth round, hoping to pull off a shock against the Premier League high flyers. With victories over Barnet, Chesterfield and Oxford United, Gary Caldwell's team have exceeded expectations in reaching the fourth round. But the current team has a lot more work to do if they want to match the achievements of the 1980/81 squad.

Promoted to Division Three in the 1976/77 season under Johnny Newman and then Bobby Saxton, Exeter consolidated their position over the next two campaigns. When Saxton made the move to Plymouth during in January 1979, new manager Brian Godfrey arrived with a solid platform to build on.

1981/82: Tottenham v West Ham

Performing heroics against a local rival is a sure fire way in sport to guarantee a place in the hearts of your team's supporters. In football there are numerous examples of players enjoying a 90 minutes to remember in derby matches: Gary Rowell, Alan Sunderland, Ian Rush, Craig Bryson, Phil Foden and Erling Haaland. An object lesson in how to win friends and influence people. 

Another example of this could be found on the evening of September 2, 1981. Newly promoted West Ham went to White Hart Lane knowing that the clash would be a significant examination of their ability to compete in the top flight. What followed was the stuff of dreams. A memorable night for both the club and their number nine.

1982/83: Burnley humble Tottenham

Burnley probably need to win at Tottenham on Sunday to have a chance of staying in the Premier League. But history is not on their side. Admittedly the two clubs have spent a number of years in different divisions, yet the Clarets have lost eleven matches and drawn once in their twelve visits to White Hart Lane since 1993.

You have to go back a further ten years for Burnley's last victory at Tottenham. An extraordinary Milk Cup quarter final win that defied belief, tore up the form book, and smashed up the template on how to prepare for a football match at the top level. On and off the pitch, chaos ruled on Wednesday January 19, 1983.

Golden goals: Steve MacKenzie (1981)

There are moments in sporting history that are often forgotten. For all Kevin Pietersen's heroics, the contribution of Andrew Strauss on the first day of the final Ashes Test in 2005 should not be underestimated. Ian Poulter may have stolen the headlines late on Saturday during the 2012 Ryder Cup, but please remember the role played by Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald in the previous match. And then there is Gordon Smith.

Smith deserves a lot more than being the man remembered for spurning a golden opportunity to win the 1983 FA Cup for Brighton. Scoring a goal in an FA Cup final - the opener at Wembley against Manchester United - should have been the standout moment in Smith's career. Yet subsequent events will always overshadow this.

1983/84: Tottenham v Nottingham Forest

It was a move that divided opinion. When news broke in the summer of 1983 that Division One matches would be shown live on BBC and ITV, there was more anxiety than expectation. From this point in time, the relationship between the national game and television would change the sport forever.

The £5.2 million deal struck would see both channels allocated five league matches each, although the BBC only covered four due to a technicians' strike leading to the Watford-West Ham fixture being scrapped. There was certainly no chance of over exposure during the first full season of live coverage.

1979/80: Tottenham v Arsenal

Squad rotation is now sadly a pivotal part of the FA Cup third round experience. Each year most Premier League clubs and those in the Championship striving for a slice of the cash cow make sweeping changes to their starting XIs, with the famous old competition suffering as a consequence.

Of course it wasn't always this way. There are a number of tales from the distant past of marathon seasons, cup replay sagas, and players out on their feet as managers without the luxury of vast squads attempted to drain every drop of energy from their reserves.

1986/87: Manchester United v Tottenham

Manchester United and Tottenham had a history of entertaining BBC audiences. In December 1983, the first live league match shown on the BBC saw the home team come out on top, winning 4-2 in a thrilling if sometimes calamitous Friday evening. A lot had changed in the intervening three years as the teams prepared to face each other at the same ground.

Keith Burkinshaw eight year spell in charge at White Hart Lane had ended, and although his successor Peter Shreeves threatened to win the league at Tottenham in his first year of the club, a new man was in charge come the start of the 1986/87 campaign. David Pleat was the latest man to try and win Tottenham's first championship since 1961. 

1986/87: Clive Allen

As Erling Haaland threatens to break every goal scoring record that exists, a few questions hang in the air. Can he score over 40 league goals in the season? How many hat-tricks will he score? Will he surpass Dixie Dean's mark of 60 league goals scored in the 1927/28 season? Is he a robot? 

Surely even Haaland cannot break Dean's record? But it would not be a complete surprise if the Norwegian manages to exceed the exploits of a notable season in the career of Clive Allen. The 1986/87 campaign would see the Tottenham forward score 49 goals in all competitions, as the club under the new management of David Pleat chased a domestic treble.

1983/84: Manchester United v Tottenham

There was very little hype. No cheerleaders on the pitch, no fireworks, no whole new ball game as Sky would have us believe at the start of the Premier League. The first live league match on the BBC on Friday December 16, 1983, was in many ways the complete opposite to what we experience now. An undersold product that on the pitch would exceed expectations.

The Division One fixture between Manchester United and Tottenham was an ideal beginning for live league football on the BBC. But circumstances would play a part in this. It had been intended that the Watford-West Ham match in October would be the first live league match on the BBC. But a technicians strike prevented this.

1984/85: Everton v Tottenham

It was hard not to get carried away by the rise of Everton in 1984. Supporters were swept along as a team previously struggling under Howard Kendall turned the corner and hit the road to Wembley twice. There may have been disappointment in the Milk Cup final, but an FA Cup triumph pointed to a brighter future.

"It will be remembered joyously by those who love Everton, as the day this great club emerged again from the gloomy shadows cast by their conquering neighbours," Frank McGhee wrote in the Express, after the 2-0 win over Watford. A Charity Shield win against Liverpool increased the belief that Everton were now real contenders for the big prize.

1987: Arsenal win four times at White Hart Lane

This is an edited version of my original article that appeared in issue 283 of The Gooner.

Arsenal played their first match at the new White Hart Lane during Project Restart, losing 2-1 to a late Toby Alderweireld header, continuing a poor run of league form at the home of their rivals. Without a league win in N17 since 2014 – Tomas Rosicky’s screamer separating the teams – at least Arsenal fans have the consolation of winning three trophies in that period.

You can’t beat the feeling of winning at the home of your rivals. Therefore, you can understand just how high Arsenal fans must have felt in 1987. In the space of ten months during this memorable year, Arsenal left White Hart Lane with four 2-1 wins, each demonstrating the newfound spirit sweeping through the club.

1987 FA Cup final: As it happened

Preamble

Good afternoon. What are we in for today? Will Coventry end their 104-year trophy drought and put their name on the FA Cup for the first time. Or will Chas and Dave be proved right? Seven times Tottenham have won the cup, and is number eight coming up? The bookies certainly think so, with Tottenham at 4/9 and Coventry 7/4.

1980s: Football in the snow

As we approach the festive period, there is a strong chance that P-P will appear on more and more results pages, as winter weather begins to hit fixture programmes across the UK. Although many pitches can cope with snow and ice, many a game is called off due to worries over spectator safety getting to and from the ground.

1984 UEFA Cup: Tony Parks

Sport has a habit of creating heroes from the ranks of the previously unknown. In football, one such example was the tale of Nigel Spink. A 23-year-old goalkeeper, who had previously only played one game for Aston Villa, played a significant role in their 1982 European Cup triumph. Two years later, another young English keeper would take centre stage in a European final.

Great saves of the 80s: 1985 Neville Southall

The sad passing of Gordon Banks has inspired me to start a new series: great saves of the 1980s. The first entry involves a Welshman at the peak of his powers, and a defining moment in the 1984/85 Division One season.

Although he is often regarded as one of the world’s best goalkeepers of the 1980s, it had actually taken Neville Southall a few years to establish himself as Everton’s number one. Making his debut in 1981, a spell out on loan at Port Vale in early 1983 suggested that his days at Everton were numbered.

1988: Tottenham ground issues

It seems that hosting football matches in N17 is not solely a modern problem for Tottenham Hotspur. Back in August 1988 the club failed to fulfil a home fixture on the opening day of the season; it would be an appropriately messy start to Terry Venables' first full campaign in charge.

1986: Tottenham v Liverpool

Liverpool appeared unusually vulnerable as they made the visit to White Hart Lane on Sunday March 2, 1986. After losing 2-0 to Everton at Anfield the week before, Kenny Dalglish’s team were grimly trying to stay in the title race, trailing their Merseyside rivals by eight points with twelve matches remaining.

1984/85 UEFA Cup: Tottenham v Real Madrid

With Tottenham and Real Madrid going head-to-head in the 2017/18 Champions League, this week I am taking a look back to their 1985 UEFA Cup quarter final, and two particularly harrowing games for Steve Perryman.

It said a lot regarding the recent fortunes of Real Madrid that, in the eyes of many, they went into their 1985 UEFA Cup quarter final with Tottenham as underdogs. A recent run of just one win in ten matches had seen the club slip out of the race for La Liga, something not made easier by the fact that Terry Venables' Barcelona were on their way to the title. Manager Amancio Amaro was under heaps of pressure, especially with President Luis de Carlos standing down, and Ramon Mendoza expected to take his place in the summer of '85.