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Here is Brian Judson's preview of the game
Full Record of Spurs -v- Arsenal
Prem Pl W D L For-Ag Pts
Home 10 4 4 2 10 - 9 16
Away 9 1 5 3 7 -10 8
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Total(Prem) 19 5 9 5 17 -19 24
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Football Lge
Home(Div 1) 55 24 12 19 93 -83 63
Away(Div 1) 55 16 12 27 65 -85 46
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Total(Div 1) 110 40 24 46 158 -168 109
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Total(Prem) 19 5 9 5 17 -19 24
Total(Div 1) 110 40 24 46 158 -168 109
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Grand Total 129 45 33 51 175 -187 133
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And so to Highbury where we must do all we can to prevent Arsenal from
completing yet another Cup and League Double! No matter what injuries they
seem to pick up (Ashley Cole is their latest problem), the Gunners seem to
take things in their stride. With Manchester United surrendering home
points unexpectedly to Middlesbrough, Arsenal have the advantage of
crucial games in hand.
So, time to wander down memory lane at past encounters at Highbury ....
The highest number of goals Spurs have ever scored at Highbury has been 4.
We once won 4-2 at Highbury (in December 1926) and twice drew 4-4 there.
In our 4-2 win in December 1926, Frank Osborne scored twice, Jimmy Seed
and Charley 'Tich' Handley completed the rout. Butler and Brain were the
Arsenal scorers. Brain was later to become the first player to transfer
from Arsenal to Spurs towards the end of his career.
The first of the two 4-4 draws was on 22nd February 1958. Spurs had begun
the season with some poor form and had to rely on the old guard when
beating Arsenal 3-1 at White Hart Lane the previous autumn. In this match
Cliff Jones made his debut for Tottenham after rejecting Arsenal. At the
time, Cliff was the most expensive player that Tottenham had ever bought
and the weight of the fee burdened him. He was unable to reproduce the
form he had shown for Swansea. Henry conceded an own goal in the 3rd
minute but Smith put Spurs ahead after 30 minutes. Clapton put Arsenal
ahead early in the second half but Harmer quickly equalised. Nutt and Herd
then scored a goal apiece to give Arsenal what looked a winning 4-2 lead
after 77 minutes. But Harmer netted from a penalty after 86 minutes and a
minute later a Smith goal drew Spurs level. Spurs finished the season in
3rd place to Arsenal's 12th.
The second of the 4-4 draws was on a Tuesday evening in October 1963.
Spurs were top of the table and Arsenal weren't far behind. The gates were
shut on a 68,000 crowd 45 minutes before the kick-off with thousands still
locked out. Greaves put Spurs ahead after 3 minutes and Smith added a
second after 20 minutes. Dyson then conceded a penalty when he sent
Armstrong flying and Eastham converted the penalty on the half-hour. From
the kick-off, Mackay let fly from some 40 yards to put Spurs 3-1 ahead.
Shortly afterwards, a goal by Jones was strangely disallowed for no
apparent reason. Within seconds of that incident Eastham took advantage of
a Tottenham defensive mix-up to reduce the arrears. But Smith restored
Spurs two goal advantage before half-time when he thumped home a cross
from White. There the score remained until there was five minutes left to
play. Baker reduced the arrears after evading a tackle from Norman and in
the dying seconds of the match, Strong struck to force a draw.
Our worst ever defeat by Arsenal at Highbury occurred on October 20th 1935
when Arsenal thrashed us 5-1. Arsenal were away at the top of the table
with five wins from ten matches, having beaten Liverpool 8-1, Blackburn
4-0, West Bromwich Albion 4-3, Birmingham 5-1 and Manchester City 3-1. In
10 games they rattled in 30 goals. Spurs were in mid-table at this stage
of the season. Their first choice team collapsed as Arsenal ran riot.
Beasley put Arsenal 1-0 ahead soon after the half-hour. Tom Evans then
conceded an own goal. Ted Drake rattled in a hat-trick by scoring in the
42nd, 50th and 85th minute before George Hunt scored a consolation goal
four minutes from the end. Apart from pre-war friendlies, that was our
last visit to Highbury for nearly 17 years.
Over the years that I have followed Spurs, there have been very few
occasions when both teams have been either at the top or the bottom of the
table. Usually, one side or the other has the ascendancy. One of the few
occasions that Spurs and Arsenal were at the foot of the table was in
September 1955 when both sides made a dreadful start to the season. Spurs
only secured 1 point from their first 6 matches and Arsenal were not too
far away with only 5 points from their first 6 matches. I can remember a
table that autumn in which the bottom three clubs were Arsenal, Chelsea
and Spurs. Arsenal and Chelsea eventually climbed away from the bottom but
Spurs were in the middle of a relegation battle until just before the end
of the season. That was, I think, the last time Arsenal flirted with the
bottom half of the table, although they have finished in the bottom half
of the table (once as low as 17th) without being embroiled in the
relegation battle. The season they finished 17th was when a crowd of 4,554
became the lowest ever attendance at Arsenal.
And the outcome of this weekend's match? Much as I would like to predict a
Tottenham victory, it is hard to see how I can be optimistic given the
strength in depth the Gunners have. We can see the signs of better times
to come where Tottenham are concerned but I can't see anything other than
an Arsenal win on Saturday. I would love to be proved wrong!
COME ON YOU SPURS!
Cheers, Brian
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