Mud, sweat, tears and an Afghan Hound - legends' derby stories

It's north London derby time again. A rivalry that will soon be 100 years old - the first derby following Arsenal's move to Highbury dates back to January, 1921 - kicks off again at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday (4.30pm).

We've spoken to a number of legends down the years and, in this special feature, we've collated their responses when asked one question:

What emotions and memories are stirred when we say the word 'Arsenal'?

Here's what they had to say...

Cliff Jones: "They wouldn't let me into Highbury"

Flying winger and double-winner Cliff joined us in 1958 and made his debut against Arsenal on 22 February that year. He went on to make 378 appearances in all competitions and is our fifth all-time goalscorer on 159, adding the FA Cup in 1962 and 1967 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1963 to his double haul.

"Mention Arsenal and it brings huge emotions. When I first arrived at Tottenham, my first game was against them at Highbury. Bill Nicholson (then first team coach to Jimmy Anderson) took me to one side and said, ‘Cliff, there are lots of derbies in this country but this one, Spurs-Arsenal, is the biggest of the lot’. I'll never forget my debut. I was doing my National Service at the time and I was stationed in St John's Wood. Bill told me to meet at 1.30pm at Highbury. I travelled across from St John's Wood by Tube to Arsenal, arrived at the entrance to the famous Marble Halls at Highbury - but the commissionaire on the door didn't recognise me and wouldn't let me in! I said, 'but I'm playing today' and he said, 'yes, I've heard that one before, son' and left me standing there! All I could do was send a message in to Bill, he came out, pointed at me and said to the commissionaire, 'yes, that's him, good to see you Cliff' but he then looked down at his watch and declared, 'by the way, you're late'. What a great start! I couldn't get in and then I was late! I got into the dressing room and then Bill looked at my football boots. In those days, there wasn't any screw-in studs or anything like that, you knocked pegs into the soles of the boots. Bill said, 'I'm not too impressed by your boots' but I couldn't do anything about it at that point. Anyway, about 30 minutes into the game, I came up against the Arsenal full-back Jim Fotheringham, a big, tall lad. I cut inside him and then I had Jack Kelsey, the famous Arsenal goalkeeper and my Welsh team-mate, in my sights. I was just about to smash it past him and I slipped over. I completely duffed it. Of course, when I came back into the dressing room, Bill came up to me and said, 'son, I told you, from now on, we'll be looking after your boots!' We always had cracking games against the Arsenal and my debut was no different, a 4-4 draw. It was an amazing start to my Spurs career."

Gary Mabbutt: "We found the Afghan - and won 5-0"

Legendary former defender and our captain for 11 years, 'Mabbsy' led us to a famous semi-final victory over Arsenal in 1991, on our way to lifting the FA Cup. He played 611 times for us between 1982-1998, also winning the FA Cup in 1982 and the UEFA Cup in 1984. Alongside Steve Perryman, he's played in most north London derbies for Spurs...

"It’s the game of the season. No matter what’s happened in the rest of the season, no matter how either team has been playing, as long as you win that game the fans will forgive you. No matter what people say about how teams change, who might be our biggest rivals, Arsenal is always the one we have to win. I was lucky enough to play in a lot of games against them, some great, some not so great, but every single time we played them, no matter what, just win it! The funny thing is that some of my good friends are Arsenal fans so there is so much rivalry, the banter... if we didn’t win I just turned the phone off. Of course, when we won, it was the other way around!

"I remember a game in the early 1980s (1983) when we beat them 5-0 at the Lane. I had a dog at the time, an Afghan Hound. I left to go to the game at White Hart Lane and suddenly got a call to say the dog had gone missing. Afghans aren’t the best at coming home if you do happen to lose them! I kept getting calls from my girlfriend saying, ‘we can’t find the dog anywhere’ and I was just saying ‘get everyone out there looking!’ This was in the build-up to the game! Anyway, thankfully, I got the message about 10 minutes before the game that we'd found the dog. Then we ended up winning 5-0! That was a strange one, all that going on behind the scenes and then we went out there and stuffed them! The dog was called Cleopatra, or ‘Cleo’ for short."

Martin Chivers: "I loved to score against them"

Fourth in our all-time goalscoring list with 174 goals in 367 appearances, UEFA Cup Final hero in 1972, 'Big Chiv' made his home debut against Arsenal on 20 January, 1968. Martin also won the League Cup in 1971 and 1973.

"Arsenal was my first game at White Hart Lane after I joined Tottenham in January, 1968 - in front of 58,000. I played with Jimmy (Greaves) and Gilly (Alan Gilzean) up front. We beat them 1-0, Gilly scored. It was a game Bill Nicholson was always desperate to win. My memories of that game? It was muddy! The drains had broken and there was six inches of mud all around the pitch! I trudged around trying to avoid tackles from Ian Ure, who was desperately trying to get me and we got the result. You never forget your first game anyway, but against the Arsenal... I remember afterwards I was sat between Jimmy and Gilly and Jim tapped me on the leg and said, ‘how did you enjoy that?’ and I said, ‘fantastic, unbelievable, we beat the Arsenal, 58 thousand here, but I can’t play on that pitch, Jim’. No sooner had I finished, Jimmy belted across the changing room, ‘Bill, Chiv’s just told me he can’t play on that pitch!’ You can imagine what Bill said, ‘well I’ve got news for you son, you’re playing on it every week’. That’s when I realised Bill didn’t have a sense of humour! I loved to score against them, and I scored a few. One of my big rivals was Peter Storey, a physical player, he’d kick his own grandmother! But we got on so well when we met up for England. We even roomed together!"

Micky Hazard: "I scored a worldy in front of the North Bank"

Micky Hazard came through the youth system after joining us aged 16 in 1976. He scored in his first derby at Highbury in 1982 and went on to win the FA Cup and UEFA Cup in 160 appearances in two spells between 1980-1994.

"I'll never forget my first-ever north London derby at Highbury. I was 21. On my way there I was nervous but I’d played through the ages in the youth system and for the reserves and I’d been at the Club since I was 16, so I knew what it was all about. I’d been through the process of learning exactly what it meant. So on the way there, it was building up and building up - and I scored a worldy. Ricky Villa passed me the ball, I went past three men and smacked it into the top corner from 25 yards. I then set up another goal for Garth Crooks, jinked through the offside trap and squared it for Garth to tap in. We won 3-1 and there we were, in front of the North Bank celebrating. What a moment. It was a great era for us."

Graham Roberts: "This is the derby"

A fierce competitor, 'Robbo' won the FA Cup twice and famously captained us to UEFA Cup glory in 1984. His first derby was only his second appearance for us in November, 1980. He went on to play 287 times for us in all competitions between 1980-86.

"This is the derby. People are starting to say that Chelsea’s the bigger rivalry - that will never, ever be. This is the one, the one you want to win, the one you look forward to, the one the fans want. I remember my first derby, November 1980, a League Cup tie, we won 1-0 at the Lane. I came on as substitute. I remember tackling Kenny Sansom and putting him on the running track. I was playing right-back, he was left-back. We were 1-0 up and it was about putting our bodies on the line to get that win. I also remember when Mark Falco and Chris Hughton both scored two goals in a 5-0 win at the Lane, we were brilliant that day. We went to Highbury and won 3-1. That was a great day. I never feared them. We had some great games. They beat us as well, I remember a 4-2 at home, I think Charlie Nicholas might have scored twice in one of his first games for them. So, in the next game, he got it!"

Mark Falco: "It's the be-all and end-all"

Another player to come through the youth system, Mark was born nearby in Hackney and knew all about this rivalry from an early age. He scored 89 goals in 236 games for us between 1979-86.

"My first thought is always ‘beat them’ and even better, win well. It’s the be-all and end-all, just win that game. You never want to lose against them. You have to be top dog in your area. Where I grew up in Hackney you either supported Tottenham or Arsenal. I took the good side! Everyone talks about the 5-0 in my era (April, 1983) but I also remember scoring the winner at Highbury on New Year’s Day in 1985 - that sent us to the top of the league. We came from 1-0 down that day to win 2-1 and it was always nice to score in front of the North Bank! The 5-0... they’d beaten us 5-0 a few years before (1978) and it was always rammed down our throats. It was nice to get revenge."

Teddy Sheringham: "I'd use the word 'naughty' in our time"

One of only 17 players to score 100 goals or more for Spurs, Teddy joined us in 1992/93 and helped us do the double over Arsenal in his first season. He scored 124 goals for us in 277 games in two spells between 1992-2003.

"I loved the games. They were hectic, I would use the word ‘naughty’ in our time. In all the time I was at Spurs I played against the old Arsenal back four that put their hands up for offside every two seconds, which made it very congested on the pitch. They were clever though. It was tough going at the time. We were chasing them and it wasn't a nice feeling. That's changing now. You have to give as good as you get and try to come out on top. I remember beating them at Highbury at the end of the season in 1992/93. They had a cup final to prepare for and they put out a weaker team, but that didn’t matter to us, it was still Arsenal-Tottenham and we still won at Highbury. That was always nice and to get on the scoresheet, lovely!"

JJ: "I loved it, simple as that"

Jermaine Jenas was unstoppable in north London derbies in 2008. The midfielder scored three goals in three games against Arsenal - two took us to Wembley, where we lifted the League Cup, the third helped secure a draw in one of the all-time great derby matches. Now a respected pundit on BBC and BT Sport, ‘JJ’ described how this fixture used to ‘light me up'...

“On a personal level, I used to enjoy the pressure of the week, not just the game, but the week. At that time, I lived in a predominantly Arsenal area. I used to enjoy walking around in derby week - let’s just say the Arsenal fans didn’t like me! I loved training that week, looking around the dressing room, seeing players differently and thinking how they would handle it. I was 100% from Monday’s training session and leading into the game, I knew what was required. Don’t get me wrong, we had some terrible moments, beaten by big numbers at the Emirates, but we also had some amazing moments. All I knew was that there was something about this fixture that I felt in a Tottenham shirt I was built for. It was like a match made in heaven. I loved it, simple as that.”

Rafa VDV: "My favourite goal? All of them..."

Rafa van der Vaart only spent 18 months at Spurs, but left a cult hero. It wasn't just down to his swashbuckling displays in the white shirt, but his performances against Arsenal left an indelible mark - four games, four goals including a goal and two assists at the Emirates in November, 2010, as we came from 2-0 down to win 3-2.

"You can’t compare it with anything, anything. It’s not just scoring either, it’s winning as well. You want to win. I had a few goals at the White Hart Lane, amazing. We also won 3-2 at Arsenal, one of the best ever. Those are the days you never forget. I remember the home game against Arsenal when I scored twice, one penalty (3-3, April 2011). The atmosphere that day... I know we didn’t win the game but it was such a special feeling. I thought, ‘now, this is football’. I scored a lot of goals but that was down to the whole team, and we had a special vibe. Of course, scoring against Arsenal was the best feeling ever. My favourite goal? I can't pick one. It was all of them because of what it meant to the people."

The Archive - Arsenal 2-3 Spurs - 20.10.10