http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8W0mnX2TNQ Simply amazing stuff, the people running up the steps to get into the ground hours before the kick off, getting ready to see their idols, just how I felt as a kid, and try to still feel now, though no terraces to run onto alas, of course. Wonderful, wonderful clips of the 1960 Spurs team, and some other fans seen too. Massive mistake in the film refers to the 'Hampden Roar' pertaining to Celtic fans - how the hell did that get past the film editors? You can tell Cliff Michelmore the narrator wasn't a football fan, but the pictures tell everything, priceless, absolutely priceless. Brought a tear to my eye watching this, and another tear because I can never see going to football in England ever being as good again. Maybe I'm just a nostalgic old fool, who knows. For our younger posters 'Look at Life' was a regualar magazine feature shown in cinemas in those days. Hence the incredible quality of the clip compared to any normal TV footage of the time. Notice too how the FA Cup is seen as the key prize to win, for so many that was the case. When people sneer at us not winning the lge since 1961, they forget that our FA Cup wins in 62 and 67 were every bit as precious as a league title back then. Maybe the ones since not so much, although even 81 and 82 was massive if not quite as big as the title by then. Incidentally had we won the game featured v City we probably would have won the title that season as we only missed out by two points, behind Burnley and Wolves.
17 years later, and I was one of the ickle kids peering thru the semi-circle rings on top of the walls at the Paxton end. The Shelf as always, looked awesome when filled to the brim.
That was a lovely blast from the past, thanks JPG. Those were the days when if we didn't agree with the ref the old music hall song "Oh my, what a referee, what a referee, what a referee, Oh my what a referee and his little wooden whistle wouldn't whistle" rang around the ground to much hilarity. So much nicer than todays comments! It was very nostalgic seeing the band, one of my earliest memories as a 5 year old in 1947. I do agree that football won't ever be as good as those times again. Everything has changed, priorities, way of life, respect (lack of), expectations. We started every season not having a clue who would win the league or cup. It could be anyone, unlike now where its a 1 in 4/5 foregone conclusion. Your post brought a tear to my eye too, thanks for the memories...
This was prior double season,1959-60 ( I think) when at Easter when we finished up with egg on our faces.We were the best team in the league that season but those results around Easter just killed us!Believe it...we were the best. Gosh,seeing Cecil Poynton,Johnny Wallace,the Pathetic Spurs band playing the same old rubbish (but we still loved 'em!).Bert Trautman keeping us out as we lost to City 1-0 at the Lane....and finally,the fans picking up their bikes in Park Lane. I liked the Paxton Road end,under cover. Nice to see all those fans at Wolverhampton when they had very strong teams..... Strange.In those days of 60,000 crowds,who would have thought our ground today can only hold,what,35,000?
Cheers SOS, and with regards to the Shelf I spent a lot of time there too. It was one few places in the first division anyway where you could stand but be up a level for a better view, and often a great atmosphere too. Not always of course, mustn't get carried away. But one of the many great things about the terraces was if you were stood next to a moany **** you could move away rather than end up having a row with him.
Yep a different world Maggie, you're even older than me and will have wonderful memories that I'll never know. Of course we mustn't get too carried away, the past wasn't always better but as oldsters we tend to remember with fond (and sometimes teary) eyes Glad to be of help to all who have enjoyed the video.
Hi smithy, yep the bikes caught my eye too. Imagine cycling to the Lane these days and what's more just leaving it against a wall outside the ground ... I assume they were locked up, I'm not even sure about that, but still a different world. And those cheery blokes arriving in a taxi - look at the lack of traffic on the road! I also loved the Rossi's ice cream van but I couldn't see any hot dog stalls in that street, strange. I bet you remember the bloke who sold peanuts in the ground and often you couldn't get too near to him, so he'd have to throw the bag to you.
Well,the bikes were kept in peoples homes at the High Road end of Park Lane.Well that's where I left mine before watching reserve games....and our reserve teams in those days could of held their own in Div 2 or 3! My peanut man was a crippled chap that actually shelled the peanuts and put them in 6 penny bags.He would call at the pubs.Always dressed very smartly. Funny about that Spurs band.Something was obviously missing when they changed to records..... You would,in days of old,see a man running on the field to attend to an injured player.Seemed all he had was a sponge and a bucket of water......but unlike todays players,the sponge and water did the trick and they were off and running! ....and you never saw players rolling over half a dozen times as if shot as you do today! The water must have been freezing!!!!!?
Cheers for the info Smithy. I've never cycled to the Lane, we always used the train to WHL station. As a kid I'd get off the station and start running through that estate hearing the crowd noise, if I wasn't already in the ground long before the kick off - it was just soooo exciting.
I lived in Lordship Lane next to the Great Cambridge Road and as a really,really young boy (I was once!) I would be out playing and could here the Spurs crowd there. After the game there would be crowds of fans walking home filling Risley Avenue!Big crowds then.....
Thank you Mr Greaves that film is priceless . People certainly were smarter, slimmer and surprisingly look like they had more hair on average. Rationing had only come to end a few years back , so with inbuilt frugality , and many more physical jobs we look like a nation of athletes . Those days as a schoolboy doing "Knees up Mother Brown " on the Shelf or in the Paxton , with the man in the white coat shouting Peanuts !, the monkey nut man has cometh. Those memories come flooding back. As a young boy taken to that Super Scruffy busy Cafe in the Park Lane with the rather abrupt staff, before a game for a bacon roll by my father, anybody remember it's name ? The modest way the players lived is interesting but still superior to the average man.
One thing I miss is the "first come first served" entry. Whenever there was a big game with a 3pm KO, sometimes we would already have to be in the queue around 12:30pm to ensure we got our slots at the front of the terrace before the horde came in.
1987 league semi final against the Arse , A lot later, but 50 thousand inside and another 50 Thousand locked outside. The atmosphere.s in those days were so much richer, compared with today's tepid affairs.
I hated having to get to the ground at about 7 am to line up around the ground on a Sunday morning to get a ticket for a cup game home or away. I can remember a dreadful night in 1971 when I lined up at about 5 pm for this particular game.I think I may have been sick after the game.Arsenal beat us at the Lane 1-0 (usual result for Arsenal that year!) and they won the league on that win!!!!! So maybe our 1-0 victories will let us "do an Arsenal".But unlikely!
I lived too far away to get to midweek games so I missed the Arsenal match in 1971. It wasn't on the TV of course and I couldn't find a radio commentary either. No Ceefax or internet then either so no way to find out what was going on!. I remember watching the BBC news at 9pm and towards the end of the programme the announcer said that the situation at WHL had 'just dramatically changed'. It was goal average then and it was very tight such that Arsenal would win the league with any win or a 0-0 draw, but a loss or any other draw would leave them second. So logically a 'dramatic change' had to be a Spurs goal (leaving Arsenal needing to score 2) as an Arsenal one didn't change anything. I was so disappointed then to hear it was 1-0 to Arsenal.
It was'nt until the 70's and i was working in london that i could afford to go to WHL.I will Alway's remember my first match,it was Greavsie's Testimonial,after that i loved the European nights,and midweek games.Hated playing Middlesbrough who were a first Division team then,they always seemed to beat us.
"Includes clips from Spurs v Man City in the 1960 season. Also snippets of Wolves, Cardiff and Celtic fans"
