What Happened The Last Time Spurs Were Relegated And Are There Lessons To Learn?

Glenn Hoddle was successful tears successful nan dressing room. Others sat successful disbelief, wondering what nan early held.

Tottenham were nan first English nine successful nan 20th period to triumph nan convention and FA Cup Double, successful 1961, and nan first to assistance a European trophy erstwhile they won nan Cup Winners’ Cup 2 years later. They were renowned for playing charismatic shot and nan goals of Jimmy Greaves.

Under their head Bill Nicholson, they added 2 League Cups and nan Uefa Cup astatine nan commencement of nan 1970s. And now they had been relegated.

Confirmation arrived connected 7 May 1977 via a 5-0 thrashing astatine Maine Road by Manchester City, who were challenging for nan First Division title. Peter Taylor was successful nan dressing room that time and remembers nan “shock” and a “rubbish feeling”.

Pat Jennings fails to forestall a extremity connected nan time that Spurs were relegated from nan First Division successful 1977 astatine Maine Road. Photograph: Granger/Alamy

Hoddle, a promising teen conscionable breaking through, wrote successful his autobiography of being “overcome by guilt aft failing to prevention my boyhood nine from relegation and letting nan fans down. It was a dreadful feeling, scarring maine inside.”

What happened to scope this catastrophic point? How had 1 of nan country’s biggest clubs dropped retired of nan apical flight? And tin lessons learned from Spurs’ unlikeliest relegation thief nan existent team, who are sucked into a struggle pinch Igor Tudor unable to halt nan freefall?

“Sad Spurs deed stone bottom,” publication a header successful nan Sunday Mirror the time aft relegation. Pat Jennings, considered nan champion goalkeeper successful nan world, told reporters: “Relegation has not conscionable happened coming – it’s been happening for 3 years.”

He was referring to Nicholson’s resignation aft losing nan first 4 games of nan 1974-75 season, ending a 16-year managerial reign and sending “shock waves done nan dressing room”, Jennings recalled successful his 1983 autobiography. In truth, nan Spurs empire had been crumbling successful nan seasons earlier that, chiefly owing to an inability to switch players.

In nan mid-60s nan skipper Danny Blanchflower retired, nan guardant John White was struck by lightning connected a play people and died, and nan winger Terry Medwin’s profession was ended by a surgery limb – nan links to that awesome Double squad breaking apart.

Terry Neill, who spent a decade arsenic a centre-back for Arsenal, succeeded Nicholson and nan nine vanished 19th – 1 spot and 1 constituent supra nan relegation area successful a 22-team league. After guiding Spurs to an improved but still disappointing ninth, Neill near unexpectedly successful nan summertime of 1976 to negociate Arsenal.

The Spurs fans were restless astatine White Hart Lane from early connected successful nan 1976-77 season. Photograph: Colorsport/Shutterstock

In stepped Keith Burkinshaw, antecedently a first-team coach, to return complaint of a squad weakened by nan departures of much cardinal players, including Martin Chivers.

They mislaid nan first 2 games of nan play and ne'er recovered. In mid-October they travelled to Derby and were thrashed 8-2. Taylor, who signed from Crystal Palace that September, says rows were “pretty normal” backmost past and recalls heated reflections astir Monday mornings that season.

“We surely had immoderate honesty,” Taylor says. “I don’t cognize if they’ve sewage that now. Steve Perryman was nan champion skipper you could ever play for. Pat Jennings wasn’t nan noisiest, but if he said you listened. Terry Naylor was large and determined. You couldn’t get a much honorable worker connected nan transportation than John Pratt.”

There were blazing rows. Hoddle recalls nan defenders blaming nan attackers and nan attackers blaming nan defenders. Taylor, a winger, says: “We conceded 72 goals that season. I deliberation we had 10 times much flair players than they person now but conceded excessively galore goals.”

Andy Keeley guards nan adjacent station during a location conclusion by Coventry City. Photograph: Colorsport/Shutterstock

Already melancholic fans were speedy to move connected nan players astatine White Hart Lane. “Home games were a struggle,” Hoddle reflected. “The crowd were connected apical of nan squad and it wasn’t perfect erstwhile a bad walk met pinch jeers.”

Occasionally, location were flashes of hope. They hit nan champions Liverpool astatine location successful March and galore believed it would spark a turnaround. They won doubly successful nan consequent 11 games. In a last guidelines they hit Aston Villa 3-1 astatine location and believed again. But a week later they travelled to Maine Road and it was over.

“I suppose it could beryllium a bully point for america provided we travel consecutive back,” Jennings said that day. The Guardian’s main shot correspondent, David Lacey, wrote that Burkinshaw had taken “down nan astir promising Tottenham side, from nan constituent of position of individual ability, for respective seasons”.

They vanished connected 33 points, erstwhile it was still 2 points for a win. Three much points would person saved them. When Taylor checks nan 1976-77 Division One array connected his iPad, he still can’t “believe we only sewage that galore points”.

Steve Perryman crunches into Liam Brady during conclusion astatine Highbury. Photograph: Colorsport/Shutterstock

The gravity of nan business was still sinking successful erstwhile they played nan past crippled of nan season, beating Leicester 2-0 astatine White Hart Lane. Fans turned up successful droves, “cheered each kick” and swarmed connected to nan pitch.

“It was a trifle eerie successful nan circumstances, for I expected them to spell location softly alternatively of kicking up nan benignant of din you usually get erstwhile a squad has won something,” Jennings recalled. “When a nine has been successful nan First Division for 27 years it is accepted arsenic a right, and I deliberation astir of nan lads that day had nan nasty emotion we had fto down erstwhile Spurs teams – particularly nan celebrated ‘Double’ side.”

Jennings near for Arsenal, insisting he was pushed retired of nan sinking vessel alternatively than jumped from it. But nan halfway stayed and Burkinshaw survived.

“This is 1 of nan biggest differences now,” Taylor says. “The players that stayed wanted to play for Tottenham Hotspur. They wanted to get nan nine back. Steve Perryman and Glenn Hoddle were person to nan nine than astir people. Terry Naylor, Johnny Pratt, loads of others – they were Tottenham lovers.”

Glenn Hoddle (left) and Peter Taylor during a tie against Millwall successful nan Second Division successful March 1978. Photograph: Colorsport/Shutterstock

He adds: “They’re horrible memories, but thankfully nan group who stayed had nan characteristic to get backmost up again.”

They outscored everyone connected their measurement back, but still scraped promotion successful 3rd spot connected extremity difference.

Burkinshaw past adopted an innovative approach, signing Argentina’s Ossie Ardíles and Ricky Villa aft they had won nan 1978 World Cup, astatine a clip erstwhile overseas players were uncommon successful English football, and introducing a sports psychologist. He went connected to go 1 of nan club’s top managers, winning 2 FA Cups and nan Uefa Cup wrong nan adjacent six years.

“They request to realise immoderate of nan things, for illustration recruitment, that person not been done decently and that’s why they’re successful this situation,” Taylor says. “I’m still keeping my fingers crossed they get a mates of wins and scrape home. But if they don’t it’s going to springiness them a footwear up nan backside.”