Cockerel chorus

The giant cockerel on our stadium roof stirs the hearts of many Spurs fans. But, for one family in particular, its smaller copper cousin recently proved an even bigger attraction.

That original, created in 1909 and on display at Lilywhite House, was designed by former Spurs player William Scott. And his granddaughter Linda saw it for the first time when she joined an official tour of the stadium last week.

Linda was at the ground with her Spurs-supporting son Jason Lock and his children Jessica and Billy. Linda’s father Alex had followed William into the metal working business, and both had worked at an Edmonton foundry before the family moved from their Tottenham home to the south coast.

In addition to designing and casting the original, William was also on hand to help install the cockerel on top of our old West Stand at White Hart Lane just in time for our inaugural season in the First Division, with the club having gained Football League status the year before.

From it’s lofty perch on that side of the ground - and later above our East Stand - our world-famous feathered friend has looked down on many glorious moments in our history. And now, in its retirement, it has handed over that role to the scaled up 4.5m replica that stands proudly atop our South Stand.

Hopefully it too will crow loudly as a new era of success dawns at N17 in the not too distant future.

For the family it proved a special visit, as Jason explains: “My mum had never seen it before although she had obviously heard all about it. So, she was so pleased to finally witness her grandfather’s work as it would have been when he made it.

“Although I was a regular at the Lane myself, I had never seen that original one either because it had been replaced by two fibreglass replicas by then.

“As a family we have always wondered about this connection. We found a plaque relating to the cockerel’s creation when we cleared out my grandfather’s home and that really made me wonder but he was a very Victorian guy who never really spoke about anything!

“It always seemed to hover in the background but more a suggestion than a reality. In the end I learned more from the Spurs historian when I made contact than from any family member that I spoke to.”

Our cockerel has a proud history of its own and is even more special because of William Scott’s close association with the club in our amateur and evolving days. A full-back, he made three first team appearances for Spurs in friendlies during the 1896-97 season.