North West Spurs: “We're just like a happy family!”
Meet our Official Supporters' Clubs - North West Spurs
Tue 19 May 2020, 11:40|
Tottenham Hotspur
It's often said the best ideas spring out of a few ice cold beers - and that’s certainly the case for Patrick and Emma Nottage, and with them, North West Spurs.
Brought together by an incredible twist of fate 18 years ago - more on that later this week - Emma and Patrick married in 2004 and, together, they’ve helped formed a force for supporting Spurs in Manchester and the north-west of England.
However, go back 10 years, and the pair believed they were fighting a lone Lilywhite battle in an area, naturally, dominated by Manchester and Liverpool. “We thought we were the only Spurs fans up here,” said Emma.
That would soon change...
“The whole idea for North West Spurs came from Patrick about five, six years ago,” continued Emma, who is the club’s secretary, while Patrick is chairman. “He was sat having a beer and said ‘right, as I’m living up here now, I’m going to join a supporters’ club’.
“However, there wasn’t a club close, the nearest was Anglesey. Well, the best ideas come around when you’re having a beer, don’t they? He said ‘right, I’m going to set up a supporters’ club’. From that day, he got in touch with Spurs, got the wheels in motion within a matter of weeks, started the club and ‘boom’...”
That ‘boom’ now sees NW Spurs boast over 200 paid members, a Facebook group of 600 and growing and an even bigger following on Twitter.
“At the time, we thought we were on our own with Spurs, but it turns out there are Spurs fans everywhere!” added Emma. “It went from that idea that night into where we are now. It’s the best feeling in the world and I couldn’t be without these people in my life now, we’re just like a happy family.”
Based out of the Seven Oaks in Chinatown, Manchester, NW Spurs members travel down to games by car - often car sharing - coach and train. “One of our greatest times so far was the Champions League Final last year,” added Emma. “As soon as we beat Ajax my phone was ‘ping, ping, ping, ping’, there was so much interest.
“In the end we managed to get a coach load to Madrid, 49 fans. I was so worried! It was like sending your kids on their first coach trip! But it went brilliantly. The stories they told me... they were messaging me all the way. We could have filled five coaches. It was the best thing we’ve done yet. We also had two pubs full here!”
Speaking of Ajax, Emma has her ‘Ajax story’ - how about watching the drama unfold with legendary defender, Paul Miller? Goalscorer in our UEFA Cup Final first leg back in 1984, ‘Maxi’ was a surprise, much-welcome guest at the Seven Oaks that night in May last year.
"Paul was in Manchester and wanted to know where best to watch the game,” added Emma. “We didn’t tell anyone he was going to be there, we just let him turn up. As you can imagine, everyone’s face just dropped! It was brilliant.”
Finally, a nod to ‘one of their own’. Jay Flynn, NW Spurs member, has become a social media sensation during lockdown with his ‘Virtual Pub Quiz’ across Facebook and YouTube.
Millions of people have watched Jay’s quiz, raising £366,000 for charity (figure, 15 May) including the NHS and Alzheimer’s Research UK. To give an example of its popularity, Saturday’s quiz had 368,000 views on You Tube and raised over £200,000 for Alzheimer’s Research UK. The quiz has also entered the Guinness Book of World Records (most viewers of a live-stream quiz) and Jay’s effort have been recognised by Downing Street via the Prime Minister’s daily Points of Light award last week.
“We’re so proud of him,” said Emma. “He wanted to do a quiz during lockdown and it went viral. It’s gone crazy, unbelievable! He’s had celebrities involved like Dame Judi Dench, Gary Barlow, Stephen Fry. Jay, we all love him to bits - and he’s so humble about it all.”
