Tottenham Hotspur

Our eldest son Paul's father-in-law, Martyn, is a Tottenham Hotspur fan. Tottenham Hotspur is one of those clubs that in the 55 years I've been watching football have always tried to play play attractive football and are always a pleasure to watch. 

In the 1960-61 season Tottenham became the first English team of the 20th century to achieve a League and FA Cup double, and although they're not my team I can still reel off the Tottenham team from that period: Brown, Baker, Henry, Blanchflower, Norman, Mackay, Jones, White, Smith, Allen and Dyson (reciting the names of football teams like that always makes me feel like Michael Palin's character Gordon Ottershaw in the Ripping Yarns episode 'Golden Gordon'!). John White was tragically killed on a golf course by a lightening strike in 1964. Danny Blanchflower was the brother of Manchester United's Jackie Blanchflower who survived the Munich air crash but received such severe injuries that he was never able to play again.

In September of the season after the double Tottenham played Manchester United at Old Trafford and I took my camera along to the game and below are some of the photographs I took - the colour transparencies have deteriorated somewhat in the intervening years.

Teams:

Manchester United - Gregg, Brennan, Cantwell, Stiles, Foulkes, Setters, Quixall, Viollet, Herd, Pearson, Charlton.

Tottenham - Brown, Baker, Henry, Blanchflower, Norman, Marchi, Jones, White, Smith, Allen, Dyson

Gregg saves during a Spurs attack in the first half. The other defending United players, from left to right, are Stiles, Foulkes, Brennan, Cantwell and Setters with Quixall in the background. The Tottenham players are (I think) White, Smith, Jones and Dyson.

The closest Spurs player here is, I think, Cliff Jones and the two United players next to him Foulkes and Stiles. Canwell's in the middle with Setters just beyond Harry Gregg.

Harry Gregg punching clear from Bobby Smith with Bill Foulkes in close attendance.

The second half and the nearest United players are Bobby Charlton, Dennis Viollet and David Herd, and I think that's Mark Pearson on the other side of Spurs goalkeeper Bill Brown. Danny Blanchflower's the Spurs player between Charlton and Viollet and I think that's Ron Henry on the other side of Charlton.

United players from the left are Nobby Stiles, Maurice Setters, David Herd and Bobby Charlton hidden behind the Spurs player in the middle. Tottenham players are Ron Henry, Danny Blanchflower and, I think, Peter Baker and Tony Marchi. Bill Brown in goal, of course.

One of the problems of taking photographs in a crowd. This is the United winning goal scored in the 67th minute. The ball's in the net behind the big head of the man in front of me. Albert Quixall, the goalscorer is also out of sight to the left of the picture. The United players are Charlton, Herd, Setters, Pearson and Stiles. To the left of the photo is Spurs number 5 Maurice Norman, Ron Henry's the number 3, and Danny Blanchflower's the player to be seen to the right behind the goal stanchion. Not sure who the Spurs player in the centre is - it could be Tony Marchi again. And that's Bill Brown's leg just beyond the arm of the man in front of me.

A close match ending in a 1-0 win for United, but Dave Mackay was missing for Spurs and that could have made all the difference.