Tottenham Hotspur are the entertainers of English soccer. There have been many battles between style and substance during the club's long history, but style has always won out with Spurs fans expecting to be entertained by their team above all else.
That does not mean to say the club has not enjoyed its fair share of success. Far from it, Spurs were the first British side to win a major European trophy, the first side to win the league and cup double in the 20th century and the only non-league club ever to have lifted the FA Cup.
Their reputation for playing the game in the right way began with Arthur Rowe's 'push and run' side of the early Fifties. Moving the ball rapidly from player to player, the team's fluid movement won them the First Division title for the first time in their history in 1951. Among the stars of that side were Alf Ramsey, the man who would lead England to World Cup glory in 1966 and Bill Nicholson, who went on to become Tottenham Hotspur's greatest ever manager.
Nicholson took over in 1958 and in his 16 years in charge lifted 8 trophies, including the league and FA Cup double in 1961, the Cup Winners' Cup in 1963 and the UEFA Cup in 1972. Spurs again found success in the Eighties with a team based around the mercurial talents of Glenn Hoddle, winning two FA Cups and the UEFA Cup under Keith Burkinshaw.
Success has proved harder to come by for Spurs fans in recent times but they have been kept on the edge of their seats by some of the most gifted players to have graced the English game. Paul Gascoigne, Teddy Sheringham, Jurgen Klinsmann, David Ginola and Dimitar Berbatov have all been worth the entrance fee alone at White Hart Lane.