Tottenham Hotspur: Why are we so widely hated?
Originally published February 12th 2019
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club are one of the historic teams of the English game: it is a fact. However, many fans of opposing teams may want to dispute this.
Spurs were the first team to ever win the League and FA Cup double, the first British team to win a European trophy, and the pioneers of the ‘push and run’ style that epitomised English football for decades.
In the modern game, Spurs are operating well above what their financial station should realistically allow, yet there they are season after season, pushing the teams that routinely splash upwards of £100m per transfer window all the way, unearthing young British players to develop into world beating mega-stars.
Harry Kane and Dele Alli are prime examples, but the conveyor belt doesn’t stop with these two — Harry Winks, Kieran Trippier, Eric Dier and Danny Rose have all had huge impacts on the England national team; Dier and Trippier providing English fans with two of their greatest sporting moments as supporters.
With so much history and current promise, why on earth does everyone hate us?
I believe that the primary factor contributing to hatred towards Spurs is an anti-Semitic feeling toward the club, given it’s Jewish ownership and following, the inspiration behind the reactionary ‘Yid Army’ chant.
There is evidence of anti-Semitic hatred from fans of other clubs, most notably Chelsea and West Ham, who in recent months have been warned for anti-Semitic chants towards Tottenham fans.
Opposition fans also seem to believe that Spurs have a delusion of grandeur, after winning just one major trophy in the past 10 years, likely to become 11 this season barring a miracle.
However, I don’t believe there is anything of the sort around the Tottenham fan base — we know we are a very good side, but we are also all too aware that we are sickeningly unsuccessful for a club that has had, and currently does have, some of the Premier League’s best talent.
The hatred that Spurs players and fans experience is to-tally unjustified. I totally understand and accept the rivalry which local teams develop: West Ham, Arsenal and Chelsea being among some of the fiercest games I’ve ever attended, but it can and often does step over the line from tribal rivalry into downright abuse.
At many a derby fixture, I have been called a ‘yid c***’ and heard clear anti-Semitic chanting from fans of other clubs, most notably Chelsea and West Ham, who in recent months have been warned about and punished for these chants.
Aside from the local rivalry, Spurs attract hatred from around the country, with Liverpool fans forming a vendetta against Harry Kane and Erik Lamela for having the audacity to be legitimately fouled in a 2–2 draw last February, which has only intensified as the months have passed.
Spurs should not be attracting such a relentless stream of abuse, being labelled “bottlers” despite Liverpool losing two European finals and throwing away a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League with three games to go.
Tottenham’s net spend since Pochettino’s arrival in 2014 stands at just £18m, after the sale of Moussa Dembele to China in the January transfer window, and yet they sit third in the Premier League with a decent chance of advancing to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
There’s a blueprint for success without spending eye-watering amounts at Tottenham Hotspur, which I and many other Spurs fans believe shouldn’t be treated like a badge of honour. With a little more investment on the pitch, the team could achieve great things, but like so many other clubs, the owners are only in it for the profit.
The fans have had to put up with so much from the owners, this season in particular with the drawn-out stadium delays, being told a blatant lie, then being told to go back to Wembley and get charged through the nose for it.
Our fanbase is one of the most grounded, patient and loyal in the country, which should be respected, and not heavily vilified for recognising that on-pitch success is not exclusively trophy-based, as it currently is.
To quickly summarise, I feel that there is a cocktail of reasons for the Spurs hate: envy from clubs lower down in the league that want similar growth without the mega investment, annoyance from the traditionally giant clubs for pesky Tottenham taking a rightful seat at the top table, and of course an underlying feeling of anti-Semitism. Given our effective operating methods, highly attractive style of play and the immense loyalty displayed by an extremely patient fanbase, it is all entirely unjustified.
