England Premier League 12/22 16:30 17 [11] Tottenham v Liverpool [1] L 3-6
England EFL Cup 12/19 20:00 3 Tottenham v Man Utd W 4-3
England Premier League 12/15 19:00 16 [20] Southampton v Tottenham [12] W 0-5
UEFA Europa League 12/12 20:00 6 [8] Rangers v Tottenham [9] D 1-1
England Premier League 12/08 16:30 15 [11] Tottenham v Chelsea [2] L 3-4
England Premier League 12/05 20:15 14 [13] Bournemouth v Tottenham [8] L 1-0
England Premier League 12/03 19:45 14 Bournemouth v Tottenham - Postponed
England Premier League 12/01 13:30 13 [8] Tottenham v Fulham [12] D 1-1
UEFA Europa League 11/28 20:00 5 [7] Tottenham v Roma [20] D 2-2
TEST Fixtures 11/27 14:45 - Tottenham v Man City D 1-1
England Premier League 11/23 17:30 12 [2] Man City v Tottenham [10] W 0-4
England Premier League 11/10 14:00 11 [9] Tottenham v Ipswich [19] L 1-2
UEFA Europa League 11/07 17:45 4 [5] Galatasaray v Tottenham [2] L 3-2
England Premier League 11/03 14:00 10 [10] Tottenham v Aston Villa [5] W 4-1
England EFL Cup 10/30 20:15 10 Tottenham v Man City W 2-1
England Premier League 10/27 14:00 9 [18] Crystal Palace v Tottenham [8] L 1-0
UEFA Europa League 10/24 19:00 3 [5] Tottenham v AZ [18] W 1-0
England Premier League 10/19 11:30 8 [9] Tottenham v West Ham [12] W 4-1
England Premier League 10/06 15:30 7 [10] Brighton v Tottenham [8] L 3-2
UEFA Europa League 10/03 16:45 2 [26] Ferencvarosi TC v Tottenham [4] W 1-2
England Premier League 09/29 15:30 6 [11] Man Utd v Tottenham [10] W 0-3
UEFA Europa League 09/26 19:35 1 [15] Tottenham v FK Qarabag [15] W 3-0
England Premier League 09/21 14:00 5 [13] Tottenham v Brentford [9] W 3-1
England EFL Cup 09/18 19:00 9 Coventry v Tottenham W 1-2
England Premier League 09/15 13:00 4 [13] Tottenham v Arsenal [6] L 0-1
England Premier League 09/01 12:30 3 [10] Newcastle v Tottenham [9] L 2-1
England Premier League 08/24 14:00 2 [12] Tottenham v Everton [20] W 4-0
TEST Fixtures 08/20 09:03 - Liverpool v Tottenham D 0-0
England Premier League 08/19 19:00 1 [11] Leicester v Tottenham [12] D 1-1
Elite Club Friendlies 08/10 16:30 - Tottenham v Bayern Munich L 2-3

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, TOT-ən-əm, , tot-nəm) or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team has played its home matches in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium since 2019, replacing their former home of White Hart Lane, which had been demolished to make way for the new stadium on the same site.

Founded in 1882, Tottenham Hotspur's emblem is a cockerel standing upon a football, with the Latin motto Audere est Facere ("to dare is to do"). The club has traditionally worn white shirts and navy blue shorts as their home kit since the 1898–99 season. Their training ground is on Hotspur Way in Bulls Cross, Enfield. After its inception, Tottenham won the FA Cup for the first time in 1901, the only non-League club to do so since the formation of the Football League in 1888. Tottenham were the first club in the 20th century to achieve the League and FA Cup Double, winning both competitions in the 1960–61 season. After successfully defending the FA Cup in 1962, in 1963 they became the first British club to win a UEFA club competition – the European Cup Winners' Cup. They were also the inaugural winners of the UEFA Cup in 1972, becoming the first British club to win two different major European trophies. They collected at least one major trophy in each of the six decades from the 1950s to 2000s, an achievement only matched by Manchester United.

In domestic football, Spurs have won two league titles, eight FA Cups, four League Cups, and seven FA Community Shields. In European football, they have won one European Cup Winners' Cup and two UEFA Cups. Tottenham were also runners-up in the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League. They have a long-standing rivalry with nearby club Arsenal, with whom they contest the North London derby. Tottenham is owned by ENIC Group, which purchased the club in 2001. The club was estimated to be worth £2.6 billion ($3.2 billion) in 2024, and it was the eighth-highest-earning football club in the world, with an annual revenue of £549.2 million in 2023.

History

Formation and early years (1882–1908)

Spurs' first and second teams in 1885. Club president John Ripsher top row second right, team captain Jack Jull middle row fourth left, Bobby Buckle bottom row second left.

Originally named Hotspur Football Club, the club was formed on 5 September 1882 by a group of schoolboys led by Bobby Buckle. They were members of the Hotspur Cricket Club and the football club was formed to play sports during the winter months. A year later the boys sought help with the club from John Ripsher, the Bible class teacher at All Hallows Church, who became the first president of the club and its treasurer. Ripsher helped and supported the boys through the club's formative years, reorganised and found premises for the club. In April 1884 the club was renamed "Tottenham Hotspur Football Club" to avoid confusion with another London club named Hotspur, whose post had been mistakenly delivered to North London. Nicknames for the club include "Spurs" and "the Lilywhites".

Sandy Brown (unseen) scoring the third goal for Tottenham Hotspur in the 1901 FA Cup Final replay against Sheffield United

Initially, the north London side played games between themselves and friendly matches against other local clubs. The first recorded match took place on 30 September 1882 against a local team named the Radicals, which Hotspur lost 2–0. The team entered their first cup competition in the London Association Cup, and won 5–2 in their first competitive match on 17 October 1885 against a company's works team called St Albans. The club's fixtures began to attract the interest of the local community and attendances at its home matches increased. In 1892, they played for the first time in a league, the short-lived Southern Alliance.

The club turned professional on 20 December 1895 and, in the summer of 1896, was admitted to Division One of the Southern League (the third tier at the time). On 2 March 1898, the club also became a limited company, the Tottenham Hotspur Football and Athletic Company. Soon after, Frank Brettell became the first ever manager of Spurs, and he signed John Cameron, who took over as player-manager when Brettell left a year later. Cameron would have a significant impact on Spurs, helping the club win its first trophy, the Southern League title in the 1899–1900 season. The following year Spurs won the 1901 FA Cup by beating Sheffield United 3–1 in a replay of the final, after the first game ended in a 2–2 draw. In doing so they became the only non-League club to achieve the feat since the formation of The Football League in 1888.

Early decades in the Football League (1908–1958)

In 1908, the club was elected into the Football League Second Division and won promotion to the First Division in their first season, finishing runners-up. In 1912, Peter McWilliam became manager; Tottenham finished bottom of the league at the end of the 1914–15 season when football was suspended due to the First World War. Spurs were relegated to the Second Division on the resumption of league football after the war, but quickly returned to the First Division as Second Division champions of the 1919–20 season.

Spurs captain Arthur Grimsdell displaying the cup to fans on Tottenham High Road after the 1921 final

On 23 April 1921, McWilliam guided Spurs to their second FA Cup win, beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–0 in the Cup Final. Spurs finished second to Liverpool in the league in 1922, but would finish mid-table in the next five seasons. Spurs were relegated in the 1927–28 season after McWilliam left. For most of the 1930s and 40s, Spurs languished in the Second Division, apart from a brief return to the top flight in the 1933–34 and 1934–35 seasons.

Former Spurs player Arthur Rowe became manager in 1949. Rowe developed a style of play, known as "push and run", that proved to be successful in his early years as manager. He took the team back to the First Division after finishing top of the Second Division in the 1949–50 season. In his second season in charge, Tottenham won their first ever top-tier league championship title when they finished top of the First Division for the 1950–51 season. Rowe resigned in April 1955 due to a stress-induced illness from managing the club. Before he left, he signed one of Spurs' most celebrated players, Danny Blanchflower, who won the FWA Footballer of the Year twice while at Tottenham.

Bill Nicholson and the glory years (1958–1974)

Danny Blanchflower with the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup trophy in 1963

Bill Nicholson took over as manager in October 1958. He became the club's most successful manager, guiding the team to major trophy success three seasons in a row in the early 1960s: the Double in 1961, the FA Cup in 1962 and the Cup Winners' Cup in 1963. Nicholson signed Dave Mackay and John White in 1959, two influential players of the Double-winning team, and Jimmy Greaves in 1961, the most prolific goal-scorer in the history of the top tier of English football.

The 1960–61 season started with a run of 11 wins, followed by a draw and another four wins, at that time the best ever start by any club in the top flight of English football. The title was won on 17 April 1961 when they beat the eventual runner-up Sheffield Wednesday at home 2–1, with three more games still to play. The Double was achieved when Spurs won 2–0 against Leicester City in the final of the 1960–61 FA Cup. It was the first Double of the 20th century, and the first since Aston Villa achieved the feat in 1897. The next year Spurs won their consecutive FA Cup after beating Burnley in the 1962 FA Cup Final.

On 15 May 1963, Tottenham became the first British team to win a European trophy by winning the 1962–63 European Cup Winners' Cup when they beat Atlético Madrid 5–1 in the final. Spurs also became the first British team to win two different European trophies when they won the 1971–72 UEFA Cup with a rebuilt team that included Martin Chivers, Pat Jennings, and Steve Perryman. They had also won the FA Cup in 1967, two League Cups (in 1971 and 1973), as well as a second place league finish (1962–63) and runners-up to the 1973–74 UEFA Cup. In total, Nicholson won eight major trophies in his 16 years at the club as manager.

Burkinshaw to Venables (1974–1992)

Notable Spurs players of the early 1980s include Steve Perryman, Osvaldo Ardiles, and Glenn Hoddle. Ajax vs Spurs 1981.

Spurs went into a period of decline after the successes of the early 1970s, and Nicholson resigned after a poor start to the 1974–75 season. The team was then relegated at the end of the 1976–77 season with Keith Burkinshaw as manager. Burkinshaw quickly returned the club to the top flight, building a team that included Glenn Hoddle, as well as two Argentinians, Osvaldo Ardiles and Ricardo Villa, which was unusual as players from outside the British Isles were rare at that time. The team that Burkinshaw rebuilt went on to win the FA Cup in 1981 and 1982 and the UEFA Cup in 1984.

The 1980s was a period of change that began with a new phase of redevelopment at White Hart Lane, as well as a change of directors. Irving Scholar took over the club and moved it in a more commercial direction, the beginning of the transformation of English football clubs into commercial enterprises. Debt at the club would again lead to a change in the boardroom, and Terry Venables teamed up with businessman Alan Sugar in June 1991 to take control of Tottenham Hotspur plc. Venables, who had become manager in 1987, signed players such as Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker. Under Venables, Spurs won the 1990–91 FA Cup, making them the first club to win eight FA Cups.

Premier League football (1992–present)

Spurs players of the 2016–17 season, including Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Son Heung-min, Christian Eriksen, Victor Wanyama, and Jan Vertonghen

Tottenham was one of the five clubs that pushed for the founding of the Premier League, created with the approval of The Football Association, replacing the Football League First Division as the highest division of English football. Despite a succession of managers and players such as Teddy Sheringham, Jürgen Klinsmann and David Ginola, for a long period in the Premier League until the late 2000s, Spurs finished mid-table most seasons with few trophies won. They won the League Cup in 1999 under George Graham, and again in 2008 under Juande Ramos. Performance improved under Harry Redknapp with players such as Gareth Bale and Luka Modrić, and the club finished in the top five in the early 2010s.

In February 2001, Sugar sold his shareholding in Spurs to ENIC Sports plc, run by Joe Lewis and Daniel Levy, and stepped down as chairman. Lewis and Levy would eventually own 85% of the club, with Levy responsible for the running of the club. They appointed Mauricio Pochettino as head coach, who was in the role between 2014 and 2019. Under Pochettino, Spurs finished second in the 2016–17 season, their highest league finish since the 1962–63 season, and advanced to the UEFA Champions League final in 2019, the club's first, where they ultimately lost to Liverpool 2–0. Pochettino was subsequently sacked after a poor start to the 2019–20 season, in November 2019, and was replaced by José Mourinho.

Mourinho was sacked in April 2021, while Nuno Espírito Santo lasted just four months as his successor. The next manager, Antonio Conte, guided Spurs to fourth during the 2021–22 season and back to a Champions League place. Following a poor run of form, Conte criticised the players and management of the club in press conferences; after exiting both the Champions League and FA Cup, he departed the club by mutual agreement in March 2023. Ange Postecoglou took over as head coach on 1 July 2023 and the club qualified for the 2024-25 UEFA Europa League after a fifth-place finish in the Premier League.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham, is a professional soccer team based in London, England. Founded in 1882, Tottenham is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in English football history.

Known for their iconic white and navy blue kits, Tottenham plays their home matches at the state-of-the-art Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which has a seating capacity of over 62,000 fans. The team has a passionate fan base, known as the "Spurs," who support the club with unwavering loyalty and enthusiasm.

Tottenham has a rich history of success, having won numerous domestic and international titles, including multiple FA Cups, League Cups, and UEFA Cup titles. The team has also produced some of the greatest players in the sport, such as Harry Kane, Gareth Bale, and Teddy Sheringham.

Under the leadership of their talented manager, Tottenham continues to compete at the highest level of English football, consistently challenging for top honors in the Premier League and European competitions. With a strong squad of talented players and a winning mentality, Tottenham remains a formidable force in the world of soccer.