Your first Spurs game

[Rufio]

My first game was against derby In the 2001/2002 season. I had never been to a football match before and started working as a programme seller when I was 16 at the lane. Derby was my first game. One of the managers before the game let me walk on the pitch. It was so green. After I finished work I decided to sneak in and find a seat. I don't remember much about the game except for the drum and being over whelmed by the crowd. I really felt like I was at home. Continued to work at spurs for 6 years and as a result have sat in all the stands trying to find seats. As a rule the stewards in the shelf and park lane were pretty cool whilst alot of the Paxton stewards were job worth wankers. I remember one lady in particular was always on my case.

After about two years one programme seller showed my a spot in the shelf at the back near the drum where we could watch games. What was great was that using our staff pass we could go through the park lane onto the corner of the pitch then walk up into the shelf. I saw many epic games up there including the 4 4 against villa and chelsea. The 5 1 against Chelsea and Robinsons goal against Watford. What I will miss about the shelf is the way you recognise all the faces. 31 now and the same people still recognise me from back in the day. Really gutted that WHL is ending.

 

[SouthCoastSpur]

Man City opening game of the season, Aug 25th 1990, just after Italia 90. 2 from Lineker, 1 from Gazza.

Was in the Paxton Road lower as a Junior Spur, think it cost me £5 to get in and stand. Absolutely loved it and regularly made the 3 hr round trip on the tube and British Rail that season, culminating in FA Cup semi at Wembley with Gazza's free kick.

 

[Mensa]

Being the son of a tight United fan and growing up on the Thanet riviera I didn't get to go to the lane until April 1994 at 13 years old for Southampton game, Samways Anderton and Sedgely scored and I honestly don't remember anything about the game I just remember the stadium, in particular the south stand being developed and nobody being in it!

The reserves did come down to play Ramsgate in 1993 so that was technically first, and who would have known Nethercott, Caskey and Mahorn would have gone on to be household names!!

Funny enough 23 years later this March Southampton was my last game too, sad to see it go but got to be done to compete. Any one of you going tomorrow just enjoy it, soak it all in COYS

 

[Paul Allen's Omen]

My first game at White Hart Lane was a reserve game in 1989. Spurs beat Luton Town 2-1 don't remember much about the game but Bobby Mimms was in goal and John Moncur stood out from the rest of the team. Security let me run around the edge of the pitch after the game had ended!

My first proper game was in September 1992 in the East Stand upper when Spurs beat Everton 2-1, Spurs were 1-0 down when Paul Allen equalised with 10 minutes to go and a 17 year old Andy Turner got the winner in injury time. I think I must have re-read the programme about 50 times in the following week.

 

[WashingtonDCSPUR]

Spurs v Man U
1966/67 season.

 

[Mrs Perryman]

I always thought the first game I went to was spurs Bolton 77-78 div 2 season then I looked at the records and the Bristol rovers 9-0 game was before the Bolton game.

The strange thing is that I distinctly remember that the Bristol rovers game was not the first time I went to the lane.

That's means spurs 9-0 is the first game I can recall going to.

Fantastic memory. I couldn't go to this one, as my mum and dad were going back to Malta for good and we were having a small going-away party. But as it was televised by the BBC (when they showed Second Division games) and this was before video recorders/i-play, etc, I insisted we watched it - Mum wasn't impressed . We could have had a cricket score that day. Funny seeing Glen wearing the No 4 shirt. Peter Taylor was probably better known for his Norman Wisdom impression. Colin Lee hardly did anything else for us but what a dream debut, he followed Stevie P to Brentford. Met Ian Moores and John Gorman the following year on holiday in Malta, they were staying at the complex my mum worked at.

 

[Mrs Perryman]

My first game at White Hart Lane was a reserve game in 1989. Spurs beat Luton Town 2-1 don't remember much about the game but Bobby Mimms was in goal and John Moncur stood out from the rest of the team. Security let me run around the edge of the pitch after the game had ended!

My first proper game was in September 1992 in the East Stand upper when Spurs beat Everton 2-1, Spurs were 1-0 down when Paul Allen equalised with 10 minutes to go and a 17 year old Andy Turner got the winner in injury time. I think I must have re-read the programme about 50 times in the following week.

think we were still standing on the Shelf for this one, but I couldn't go to this as I was so ill - this is how I measure my level of sickness - if I can't get to Spurs, I must be really ill! Remember listening to the game on the radio and just about managed to raise a weakened cheer.

 

[B-0-Sspurs]

my first game
my first european
my last 2nd division game

pre-match pix of Sunderland... ground tour

Those photos are amazing, thanks for sharing. Reminds me how much white Hart lane has changed over the years, like others have written bit like triggers broom!!

 

[StuG]

November 1983. Spurs v Liverpool.

Finished 2-2.

 

[Paul Allen's Omen]

think we were still standing on the Shelf for this one, but I couldn't go to this as I was so ill - this is how I measure my level of sickness - if I can't get to Spurs, I must be really ill! Remember listening to the game on the radio and just about managed to raise a weakened cheer.

Standing was still there on the shelf, but it was that thin strip between the two tiers of seats. Standing was also still present on Paxton Road.

The condition my parents stipulated about taking me to the lane was that it would be in the seating area, by the time I was old enough to go with just my school mates, the seating had been ripped out.

My one big regret is never having the standing experience at the Lane, been to lower league grounds where they still have standing but I can imagine it's no where near the same.

 

[Silverback]

August 1969 - Spurs v Ipswich. We won 3-2 with Greavsie scoring one and having another 2 disallowed.

 

[brumspur]

A few of us at school talked of going to a spurs game but it was just talk, apart from Jeff who shared that same burning desire as me to go to a game. Jeff said it was easy enough to do, a 102 bus ride from Golders Green Bus station to Sterling corner and we could just walk down the High Road and we would be there. We vowed to do it and in the current season too, the only stumbling block was funds! I had a paper round so I was ok but Jeff was not so lucky, I offered to pay for him but he was too proud to accept my offer. At the end of March he got some birthday money and we were on, unfortunately the Easter Holidays saw Jeff away with his family and games against QPR and Derby slipped by. There were only two home games left so we determined Saturday 30th April 1977 at home to Aston Villa was the day we were going to make it to the Lane.

I don’t think I slept a wink that night, we had agreed to be at Golders Green bus station for 10 am, I was a couple of minutes late but Jeff was not yet at the station so no problem. I excitedly waited for Jeff to arrive, after the 3rd 102 came and went I started to get worried surely Jeff would be coming, of course he would, maybe I was late and he decided not to wait for me. I was crestfallen and didn’t know what to do. I decided to go on my own and maybe I’d meet Jeff at the ground.

The plan was to follow the crowd and get off the bus at the same stop as everyone else and follow them to the ground; the slight flaw in the plan was that being so early I was the only person on the bus going to the game. Thankfully the scarf I was proudly wearing around my neck was a giveaway and the bus conductor (it was that long ago!)told me if I was going to the game I should get off here and walk down the High Street. The walk was a bit longer than I expected and I was just beginning to think I’d taken a wrong turn when I saw it, the street sign saying PAXTON ROAD, and wow I was so excited. I walked down the short distance and waited at the first turnstile I found. It was probably an hour before the turnstiles opened but I just stood there with an inane grin on my face I couldn’t believe it I was really going to see Spurs play.


The turnstile finally opened and I was in, I ran up to the terracing and wow I was in, the sun was beating down and the stadium looked amazing. I ran behind the goal and stood in amazement. As people gradually entered the ground I decided to see if Jeff was around, I went up and down the Paxton Road end and could see no sign of Jeff, I walked through the gate and walked along the East Stand, I didn’t know it was called the Shelf side in them days and I walked up to the middle terrace, quickly coming down deciding it was too steep and high for me. I went back to the Paxton Road end. The place began to fill up and the atmosphere was electric. We started well but fell behind to an early goal. We were soon level with a piece of magic from a young midfielder called Glenn Hoddle who curled in a 20 yard free kick (I course I didn’t know it at the time but young Glenn was going to be a source of great joy over the coming seasons as I became a regular at White Hart Lane.

As the players came out for the second half I truly was in heaven, and undoubtedly the highlight of my day my idol the one and only PAT JENNINGS was about 10 feet away from me smiling and humbly applauding the Paxton Road, what an imposing figure he was but what a gentleman and what a legend, and I got to see him play (sadly my second visit to the lane two weeks later was to be the last time I saw him in a Spurs shirt). We were the better team in the second half but time was running out when we struck a late to go in front, and moments later the place exploded as we got a third. WE ARE STAYING UP the crowd roared and a couple of kids ran onto the pitch and there shaking hands with Pat Jennings was Jeff! Apparently he had been grounded until his parents thought it would be too late for him to get to the game but he was in the ground just before kick-off. He was escorted from the ground by a burly police man which drew boos from several fans saying he was only an excited kid and they should put him back in the crowd. Moments later the final whistle went and white hart lane erupted. I was literally carried out of the ground by the swell of people heading towards the exit with my feet of the ground.
It was love at first sight
COYS

 

[StuG]

A few of us at school talked of going to a spurs game but it was just talk, apart from Jeff who shared that same burning desire as me to go to a game. Jeff said it was easy enough to do, a 102 bus ride from Golders Green Bus station to Sterling corner and we could just walk down the High Road and we would be there. We vowed to do it and in the current season too, the only stumbling block was funds! I had a paper round so I was ok but Jeff was not so lucky, I offered to pay for him but he was too proud to accept my offer. At the end of March he got some birthday money and we were on, unfortunately the Easter Holidays saw Jeff away with his family and games against QPR and Derby slipped by. There were only two home games left so we determined Saturday 30th April 1977 at home to Aston Villa was the day we were going to make it to the Lane.

I don’t think I slept a wink that night, we had agreed to be at Golders Green bus station for 10 am, I was a couple of minutes late but Jeff was not yet at the station so no problem. I excitedly waited for Jeff to arrive, after the 3rd 102 came and went I started to get worried surely Jeff would be coming, of course he would, maybe I was late and he decided not to wait for me. I was crestfallen and didn’t know what to do. I decided to go on my own and maybe I’d meet Jeff at the ground.

The plan was to follow the crowd and get off the bus at the same stop as everyone else and follow them to the ground; the slight flaw in the plan was that being so early I was the only person on the bus going to the game. Thankfully the scarf I was proudly wearing around my neck was a giveaway and the bus conductor (it was that long ago!)told me if I was going to the game I should get off here and walk down the High Street. The walk was a bit longer than I expected and I was just beginning to think I’d taken a wrong turn when I saw it, the street sign saying PAXTON ROAD, and wow I was so excited. I walked down the short distance and waited at the first turnstile I found. It was probably an hour before the turnstiles opened but I just stood there with an inane grin on my face I couldn’t believe it I was really going to see Spurs play.


The turnstile finally opened and I was in, I ran up to the terracing and wow I was in, the sun was beating down and the stadium looked amazing. I ran behind the goal and stood in amazement. As people gradually entered the ground I decided to see if Jeff was around, I went up and down the Paxton Road end and could see no sign of Jeff, I walked through the gate and walked along the East Stand, I didn’t know it was called the Shelf side in them days and I walked up to the middle terrace, quickly coming down deciding it was too steep and high for me. I went back to the Paxton Road end. The place began to fill up and the atmosphere was electric. We started well but fell behind to an early goal. We were soon level with a piece of magic from a young midfielder called Glenn Hoddle who curled in a 20 yard free kick (I course I didn’t know it at the time but young Glenn was going to be a source of great joy over the coming seasons as I became a regular at White Hart Lane.

As the players came out for the second half I truly was in heaven, and undoubtedly the highlight of my day my idol the one and only PAT JENNINGS was about 10 feet away from me smiling and humbly applauding the Paxton Road, what an imposing figure he was but what a gentleman and what a legend, and I got to see him play (sadly my second visit to the lane two weeks later was to be the last time I saw him in a Spurs shirt). We were the better team in the second half but time was running out when we struck a late to go in front, and moments later the place exploded as we got a third. WE ARE STAYING UP the crowd roared and a couple of kids ran onto the pitch and there shaking hands with Pat Jennings was Jeff! Apparently he had been grounded until his parents thought it would be too late for him to get to the game but he was in the ground just before kick-off. He was escorted from the ground by a burly police man which drew boos from several fans saying he was only an excited kid and they should put him back in the crowd. Moments later the final whistle went and white hart lane erupted. I was literally carried out of the ground by the swell of people heading towards the exit with my feet of the ground.
It was love at first sight
COYS

Loved reading that.

 

[Randomitable]

December 1979 versus Aston Villa. We lost. It rained. Saw Ardiles, Villa, Perryman and Hoddle that day. Ardiles was the scorer for Spurs. Awesome experience.

 

[Woodside Hotspur]

I'm old:

23rd August 1972. Spurs 2 Birmingham City 0
Spurs starting 11 was:-

Pat Jennings
Phil Beal
Joe Kinnear
Mike England
Cyril Knowles
John Pratt
Martin Peters
Steve Perryman
Ralph Coates
Martin Chivers
Alan Gilzean

Went with my dad. Later went alone and stood on the Shelf for many years. My dad's been gone for 26 years now and I have a tear in my eye that I will never be able to go to the Lane again.

 

[NakedToast]

Mines was an Europa game vs Maribor 9th November 2012

 

[Nick "Trevor" Sharp]

Having followed them since '87 I didn't actually get to WHL until 1995, the year Gerry Francis took over from Ossie.

It was a dull 0-0 against Liverpool. Ruddock fouled Klinsmann on a cross into the box, but the German had the resulting penalty saved by Calamity James. Yep, a real "classic"... still, check out the lineup:

Walker
Austin, Nethercott, Mabbutt, Edinburgh
Anderton, Howells, Rosenthal, Barmby
Klinsmann, Sheringham

 

[Mil]

Cant remember....i think it was a pre season friendly in 85. Forest rings a bell?

 

[Scott THFC]

1991 Southampton Away
The old bright yellow kit with the diamonds across the shoulder. Gordon Durie's first season.
Going through the Archer Road end narrow gates into the away end, still with a central pen. Pie at half time on the Old Dell terracing. Then walking back to the station en mass cheering and shouting in the summer sun!
Erik Thorstvedt, Terry Fenwick, Pat van den Hauwe, Gary Mabbutt, Vincent Samways, Paul Allen, Paul Stewart, Steve Sedgley, David Howells, Gary Lineker, Gordon Durie .

2008 Chelsea Home 4-4 midweek game with Berbatov missing the 5-4 chance to win it from 6yds up in front of the North Stand!
"And in a grandstand finish, Cudicini produced a wonder save from Berbatov when the Bulgarian looked poised to cap a magnificent match with the winner."
Robinson, Hutton, Woodgate, King (Bent 68), Chimbonda, Lennon, Jenas (Huddlestone 46), Zokora, Malbranque, Berbatov, Keane.

 

[1882]

My first proper game was in September 1992 in the East Stand upper when Spurs beat Everton 2-1, Spurs were 1-0 down when Paul Allen equalised with 10 minutes to go and a 17 year old Andy Turner got the winner in injury time. I think I must have re-read the programme about 50 times in the following week.

I never knew Bob Carolgees was a West Stand lower steward at Spurs in the early '90s!