Tottenham Hotspur

The club was founded in 1882 as Hotspur Football Club. The team was renamed Tottenham Hotspur Football Club in 1884, as another team in London was also named Hotspur. They mostly played local teams and friendly games and joined the Southern Alliance in 1892.

They turned professional in 1895 and played in the Southern League in 1896. Nicknamed the Spurs and the Lilywhites, the team hired manager Frank Brettell. John Cameron took over as player-manager a year later, and the team won the Southern League in 1899-1900. They became the first and still only non-League club to win the FA Cup in 1901 when they beat Sheffield United.

Spurs finally joined the Football League in 1906 and, in their first season, won promotion to the First Division. They finished last in the final season before World War I, and when the leagues resumed in 1919-20, they had to play in the Second Division. Spurs won the title that year and went back up to the First Division.

Peter McWilliam guided the team to the 1921 FA Cup title with a win over Wolves. They finished second to Liverpool in 1921-22 league play and stayed in the top tier until 1927-28. McWilliam left, and the Spurs stayed in the Second Division for all but two seasons leading up to World War II.

Tottenham finished second in 1949-50 and earned a promotion back to the First Division. They went straight to the top of the First Division and won their first-ever League Championship in 1950-51. Manager Arthur Rowe stayed for the next four years but resigned in 1955.

Bill Nicholson was named manager in 1958. He led Spurs to the Double in 1961 with a FA Cup win and a League Championship. Little did they know at the time, that it would still be their most recent title as of 2022. They won the FA Cup again in 1962 and triumphed on the continent with the 1963 European Cup Winners’ Cup. The win over Atletico Madrid made them the first British team to win a European trophy.

They went on to win the FA Cup in 1967, a League Cup in both 1971 and 1973, and the UEFA Cup in 1971-72. The latter made them the first British team to ever win two different European competitions. Nicholson ended his 16-year run with eight major trophies.

However, Spurs went into a tailspin when Nicholson left in 1974. They were relegated at the end of 1976-77 before coming back up the following year. Under manager Keith Burkinshaw they won the 1980-81 and 1981-82 FA Cups. They qualified for and won the 1983-84 UEFA Cup as well.

Terry Venables became manager and brought in stars Gary Lineker and Paul Gascoigne. As a result, Spurs won the 1990-91 FA Cup. At the time, that gave them a record eight FA Cups, but 30 years later, they are still on eight.

Spurs were founding members of the Premier League in 1992-93. They won the League Cup in 1998-99, and the team was sold in 2001 to ENIC Sports, run by Joe Lewis and Daniel Levy. The team won the League Cup again in 2008 and started to climb up the Premier League standings.

They enjoyed success in the late 2010s under Mauricio Pochettino. The team finished second in the Premier League in 2016-17, their best finish in 54 years. They also reached their first UEFA Champions League Final in 2019 but lost to Liverpool 2-0. The 2019-20 season started poorly, and Pochettino was replaced by Jose Mourinho.

The former Chelsea skipper made it just 17 months and was fired before the 2020-21 season ended. Nuno Espirito Santo lasted just four months in the 2021-22 season before Antonio Conte took over. Son Heung-min won the Golden Boot ahead of Harry Kane in 2021-22 as the team rallied to finish fourth and return to the Champions League.

Tottenham Hotspur has a major rivalry with Arsenal that impacts more than the Premier League standings. The North London Derby dates back to 1913 and involves neighborhood bragging rights. Spurs also have London rivalries with Chelsea and West Ham United.