Five... fantastic home finales
We've had all the emotions in our final home match of the season over the years, from relegation despite a win in 1977 to a return to the top flight the next season, from a UEFA Cup win in 1984 to the White Hart Lane Finale in 2017 - here are five to remember...
The great escape
28.04.1975 - Spurs 4-2 Leeds United
Pat Jennings picks this game as the one that mattered the most of his 611 as a Spurs player - remembering, that includes winning the FA Cup (1967), League Cup twice (1971, 1973) and UEFA Cup (1972) - as a storming display against the reigning champions saw us avoid relegation. To set the scene, to avoid the drop, we needed a draw (we had a better goal difference than Luton and Chelsea) against the famous Leeds side that included the likes of Frank Gray, Billy Bremner, Gordon McQueen, Norman Hunter, Allan Clarke, Joe Jordan, Terry Yorath and Peter Lorimer. Leeds couldn’t match their previous title-winning campaign but underlined their class by reaching the European Cup Final - they were due to play Bayern Munich a month later. We gave ourselves a chance by beating Wolves, QPR, Luton and Chelsea in the closing weeks of the season, but a 1-0 defeat at Arsenal just two days before saw us step back on the tightrope - only a positive result against Leeds would do. A win was delivered in best Spurs style. Roared on by a crowd of 49,886, we flew out of the traps, went ahead early through Cyril Knowles and after dominating, finally made it 2-0 in the second half when Martin Chivers scored from close range. Knowles made it 3-0 from the penalty spot and after Jordan pulled a goal back, Alfie Conn put the issue beyond doubt with the fourth. Lorimer had the final word for 4-2, but we were safe, for now...
Spurs: Jennings, Kinnear, Osgood, Naylor, Knowles, Conn, Beal, Perryman, Pratt, Chivers, Jones.
The return
26.04.1978 - Spurs 1-0 Hull City
Having staved off relegation in 1974/75, we suffered the dreaded drop two seasons later. Expected to return at the first attempt, we'd started well, but a run of four wins in 11 in February and March saw the promotion race close up as we fought it out with Bolton, Southampton and Brighton for the three places back into the First Division. Back to back defeats against Brighton and Sunderland saw us slip to third with two matches remaining. Billed simply in the official matchday programme as 'one of the most crucial weeks in our history', we faced Hull in our final home game and Southampton on the final day. We had to beat a Hull side who were already down but ready to scrap. Indeed, it stayed goalless until five minutes from time when captain fantastic Steve Perryman, the skipper determined to lead the Club back to the top flight, delivered one of the most important moments of his 854-game Spurs career, pouncing from close range after Hull goalkeeper Edwin Blackburn spilled a cross. That win meant we needed just a point at Southampton to go up, and we clinched third place with a goalless draw at The Dell, just holding off Brighton on goal difference after they won their last two matches.
Spurs: Daines, Naylor, McAllister, Perryman, Holmes, Pratt, Hoddle, McNab, Taylor, Jones, Duncan (Armstrong).
The glory, glory night
23.05.1984 - Spurs 1-1 Anderlecht
Voted by fans as their favourite match at White Hart Lane as we approached the Finale in 2017, this was a night that had just about everything, most notably almost unbearable tension, as we lifted the UEFA Cup on the final day of 1983/84. The story is now part of Club folklore. To summarise, we claimed a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Belgium thanks to Paul Miller's goal but for the second leg, we were without Ray Clemence and Glenn Hoddle, injured, Ossie Ardiles could only make it onto the bench, also injured, while skipper Steve Perryman was suspended. Graham Roberts took over the armband and produced an inspirational performance, firstly scoring a late equaliser after Anderlecht took the lead on the hour and threatened to ruin the party and then drilling home our first penalty during the shoot-out. 'Robbo' levelled 10 minutes from time and it stayed at 1-1, 2-2 on aggregate, through extra time, so we went to penalties. Tony Parks saved Anderlecht's first take from Morten Olsen and with Robbo, Mark Falco, Gary Stevens and Steve Archibald all scoring, Danny Thomas had the chance to land the trophy, only for Jacky Munaron to save his spot-kick. Distraught, the home crowd broke into a chorus of 'there's only one Danny Thomas' as he trudged back to the halfway line and, seconds later, Parksy turned away Arnór Gudjohnsen's penalty to send N17 into raptures.
Spurs: Parks, Thomas, Miller (Dick), Roberts (c), Hughton, Stevens, Mabbutt (Ardiles), Hazard, Galvin, Falco, Archibald.
Watch - UEFA Cup Final, 1984, revisited
The thunderbolt
01.05.2010 - Spurs 1-0 Bolton
Everyone remembers that thrilling evening at the Etihad in May, 2010, where Peter Crouch's late winner against Manchester City booked a place in the UEFA Champions League for the first time. Four days earlier, another must-win game, our final home match of a memorable 2009/10 campaign under Harry Redknapp. We hadn't been out of the top six all season, but after winning six in seven in the Premier League, we were rocked by an FA Cup semi-final loss to Portsmouth. We recovered in style with back-to-back home wins against Arsenal and Chelsea and our final match in N17 that term pitted us against Owen Coyle's Bolton. It was a game we dominated - 25 efforts at goal - but it needed a wonder strike from Tom Huddlestone to land the points, a trademark humdinger into the top corner from one of best strikers of a ball we've seen. Four days later, we were in dreamland...
Spurs: Gomes, Kaboul, Dawson, King, Assou-Ekotto, Bentley (Lennon), Huddlestone, Modric, Bale, Pavlyuchenko (Gudjohnsen), Defoe (Crouch).
The Finale
14.05.2017 - Spurs 2-1 Manchester United
The end of an era - 118 years at our famous old stadium came to an end on a day to remember in May, 2017. What a way to go, as well. Not only did we beat Manchester United, but this result meant we completed the final season at the Lane unbeaten, including 17 wins out of 19 in the Premier League. The final home game of 2016/17 saw us dominate United, with Victor Wanyama's towering header giving us an early lead and Harry Kane's finish at the near post from Christian Eriksen's free-kick doubling the lead. That would mean Kane would be the last Spurs player to score at White Hart Lane, although the last player to score was Wayne Rooney, England's current all-time one and two marking the occasion in N17. The parade of legends afterwards took emotions into overdrive, not least when a rainbow appeared over the East Stand. We followed up with a 6-1 win at Leicester and 7-1 win at Hull to finish second in the Premier League, with Harry taking the Golden Boot with eight goals in that final week.
Spurs: Lloris (c), Trippier (Walker), Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies, Dier, Wanyama, Eriksen (Nkoudou), Dele, Son (Dembele), Kane.