MIND THE GAP: 22 years of 'St. Totteringham's Day'
May 5, 2017 18:51:06 GMT
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Post by ange postecoslamp on May 5, 2017 18:51:06 GMT
The circumstances have changed over the years, from foregone conclusion, through unbelievable collapses to downright controversial circumstances, but every year, without fail, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal side have finished above local rivals Tottenham in the Premier League. It seems like that run is finally at an end, but write off St. Totteringham at your peril.
Few things, it seems, are constant year-to-year; the Earth goes around the Sun, the leaves turn red and fall off, and Arsenal finish above Tottenham in the Premier League. No matter how unlikely it seems in the lead up to the season’s end, for twenty-two years in a row, both clubs transpire to find a way to finish in that order when all 38 games have been played. It is a source of constant despair for Spurs fans, and a source of glee so potent for Arsenal fans that they have given it a name - St. Totteringham’s Day - the day when Spurs can, mathematically, no longer best Arsenal in that given season.
It has been a mainstay occurrence in my life as a Tottenham fan since before I can remember. But in that time, the spirit of St. Totteringham has changed, from a distant joke in the unbalanced rivalry of my childhood, to the acute heartbreak as the gap between the two sides grew ever closer and closer without quite reaching that tipping point. Barring an unbelievable series of events, this season will finally be the time when the roles are reversed.
But if there’s one thing to be learned from 21 years of St. Totteringham’s Days, it’s that the unbelievable is to be expected.
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St. Totteringham was borne of the halcyon days of the late 90’s and early 2000’s where Arsenal occupied an undisputed place atop the Premier League mountain with only Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United for company. From the 1997/98 season through to 2004/05, Arsenal finished inside the top 2 every single year, picking up three titles and an undefeated league season along the way.
As the fledgling Premier League exploded in popularity, and, by extension, profitability, the teams at the top became financial juggernauts. Arsenal and United were able to attract and hoard world-class talents like Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry year-on-year, further cementing the gap between themselves and the chasing pack.
During this time, Tottenham were sat firmly among the have-nots. Despite often boasting a great talent or two in the side - from Klinsmann to Ginola - the supporting cast was found lacking, and so the side drifted firmly in mid-table, between highs of 9th place and lows of 14th. A simple lack of clout in the transfer market meant that they would never be able to build a team capable of competing with their neighbours at Highbury, and so St. Totteringham’s Day was an inevitability before the season even began.
The turning point came in 2004, when the second major disruption to English football’s financial world occurred in the form of Russian multi-billionaire Roman Abramovich’s purchase of Chelsea. During the Premier League’s growth years, the best clubs got the lion’s share of the new TV money, and so the rich got richer for as long as they sustained their winning ways. Now, all of a sudden, there was a way for a team to become rich and stay rich, regardless of results on the field. Chelsea’s vast foreign wealth allowed them to lure targets away from the traditional superpowers of Arsenal and United. The money in the Premier League exploded like never before, and all of a sudden, being a successful team wasn’t enough to guarantee you a run at the best players.
Arsenal were hit hard by this change in climate, as key players like Ashley Cole followed the money elsewhere, while paying for their new stadium limited their chances at finding top class talent in the transfer market. Across the road in N17, Tottenham, buoyed by a smart new manager in Martin Jol and a team built from the newly accessible pool of talented European players, were on the up.
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A rivalry is at its fiercest when it’s close - you’d be hard pressed to find a Chelsea fan too concerned with their neighbours Fulham right now - and so as Arsenal got pushed to the periphery by Chelsea, United and a resurgent Liverpool, they found themselves more often looking across town at a Spurs side now much closer to their equal, challenging for Europe under Jol and their star-du-jour unearthed from abroad, Dimitar Berbatov.
All of a sudden, the gap between themselves and Tottenham evolved from a jokey yardstick by which Arsenal measured their distance from the ‘have-nots’, to a desperate need to not slip away into becoming just another also-ran themselves.
As such, the first truly memorable St. Totteringham’s Day was the final day of the 2005/06 season; the infamous ‘lasagne-gate’. Tottenham entered the final day of the season in fourth, one point ahead of their local rivals, with the opportunity to ensure qualification for the Champions League, and out-finish Arsenal while they did so, in their own hands.
On the morning of their final match, several key players were ruled out with a sudden bout of violent food poisoning. Spurs lost, Arsenal clinched 4th place. Conspiracy theories abound from Spurs fans about the players being poisoned by an Arsenal-supporting chef, while an outpouring of schadenfreude masked relief for the Gunners. Their prized ‘gap’ had closed too close for comfort, their pride only saved by what eventually transpired to be a case of the norovirus.
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After Jol’s departure following another season in 5th, Spurs returned briefly to the mid-table wilderness they had emerged from, before coming back with a bang under Harry Redknapp. Once again, a crop of talented English lads was fortified by cultured finds from the mainland, most notably that of Luka Modric. They clinched a triumphant 4th in 2010, before supplementing a good campaign to 5th with an exciting Champions League campaign and the emergence of Gareth Bale in 2011, but crucially, they were still held just out of touching distance of Arsenal, forever seemingly one place behind, until, the season of 2011/12.
Tottenham entered the new year being talked about for the first time as serious title contenders. They have lost just one Premier League game since August. By the end of the month, they sit, in a 3-way title fight, 12 points clear of cross-town rivals Arsenal, who are mired in a four-way battle for 4th place that they don’t look like winning. The balance of power in North London seems to have finally shifted.
By the late weeks of April, after a collapse that included a run of 9 games with just one win, Tottenham crater out in 5th place, eventually pulling their season around at the close to finish 4th, tying the club’s best ever result. Spurs fans would be overjoyed, but there’s a catch; rivals Arsenal - once written off - are one one point ahead in 3rd.
The collapse is linked to ‘Arry’s shameless self-advertisement for the vacant England manager’s job and this, paired with the rising heat of allegations over tax fraud, was the final straw for Redknapp.
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St Totteringham reared his ugly head again the following season. Spurs now under Andre Villas-Boas, their 9th manager of Wenger’s tenure at Arsenal, rode the superstardom of Gareth Bale to a record points haul, and for the second year in a row, entered the final week of the season within touching distance of Arsenal.
And unlike the year before, Spurs had momentum on their side. A win, at home to an already-safe Sunderland side with nothing to play for, seemed guaranteed, and indeed, came as promised. All Arsenal had to do was slip up away at talented Newcastle. This time, the pressure was on Arsenal. They walked out 1-0 winners, securing 4th place and a finish above Spurs for the 18th consecutive year.
And then, after a year under Tim Sherwood that most Spurs fans would rather forget, followed by a year of rebuilding under Mauricio Pochettino, Spurs fans learned the hardest way yet last year that a place above their North London opponents isn’t guaranteed until it’s guaranteed.
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The 2015-16 season was the perfect stage for the upheaval of status quo across the English footballing landscape. Leicester City, a team just two years into their stint in the top flight, led the league into its final run-in.
As Leicester sprinted towards an unprecedented title, the only team given any hope of catching them were the equally surprising Spurs. For once oblivious to the growing gap to Arsenal behind them, Spurs played as though free from the pressure of finishing above their rivals, focusing instead on what was billed as a two-horse race for the title. Their chase came up short following a bad-tempered draw with Chelsea that not only secured Leicester the title but also saw season-ending suspensions for several key players.
Now left looking backwards at Arsenal behind them, Spurs faltered. All of a sudden, on the final day, the cushion over Wenger’s side was just two points. Nonetheless, a draw or better against already-relegated Newcastle would be enough to secure an historic 2nd place, and to vanquish a 20-year cloud hanging over the club.
They, of course, lost 5-1. It was Tottenham’s biggest defeat of the season by some margin. Whether it was the psychological weight of St. Totteringham’s Day or not, we’ll never know. But even when it looked impossible for Spurs to finish below Arsenal, they found a way.
A win for Tottenham in the North London Derby on 30th April will almost certainly secure a finish above Arsenal for the first time since Arsene Wenger took charge in 1995. But after twenty-one years, Spurs fans have seen enough to know that ‘almost certainly’ isn’t enough.
