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· Away fans! Find a hotel near the ground here!
· Last Year's Game - Lost 1-2
· Last Year's Spursometer - 49%
· This season's away game - Lost 0-1
· This week - last year
· What happened in the Premiership in Match 37 2004-5
· Spurs lost at Middlesbrough. Bolton drew at Portsmouth
Premier Pl W D L For-Ag Pts
Home 6 3 1 2 10 - 8 10
Away 7 1 2 4 6 -11 5
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Total(Prem) 13 4 3 6 16 -19 15
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Football Lge
Home (Div 1) 29 17 5 7 57 - 31 39
Away (Div 1) 29 9 3 17 38 - 52 21
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Total(Div 1) 58 26 8 24 95 - 83 60
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Football Lge
Home (Div 2) 2 2 0 0 3 - 1 4
Away (Div 2) 2 1 0 1 1 - 1 2
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Total(Div 2) 4 3 0 1 4 - 2 6
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Total(Prem) 13 4 3 6 16 -19 15
Total(Div 1) 58 26 8 24 95 -83 60
Total(Div 2) 4 3 0 1 4 - 2 6
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Grand Total 75 33 11 31 115 -104 81
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Last Six Premiership results:-
Spurs
Spurs 2-1 West Brom
Newcastle 3-1 Spurs
Spurs 2-1 Man City
Everton 0-1 Spurs
Spurs 1-2 Man Utd
Arsenal 1-1 Spurs
Bolton
Bolton 1-2 Man Utd
B'mingham 1-0 Bolton
Liverpool 1-0 Bolton
Bolton 0-2 Chelsea
West Brom 0-0 Bolton
Bolton 4-1 Charlton
Pos P W D L F -A GD Pts
4 Spurs 36 17 11 8 51-36 15 62
8 Bolton 35 14 10 11 47-39 8 52
When we last played Bolton at White Hart Lane (23rd October, 2004), it was the day we mourned the passing of Bill Nicholson. Bolton fans respectfully joined us in perfect silence and applause as the moving video montage and image of "Sir" Bill was played before us on the Jumbotron. I said on that day that Bill's loving benign spirit would look down on us from the great pitch in the sky, and whilst we lost on that day (and four more consecutive Premiership games), it would be wonderful to think that "Mr Tottenham" has been pulling some strings for us in the 18 months since he left us.
Incredibly, Bolton have beaten Spurs in the last SIX consecutive Premiership meetings. Days after that last home defeat we did win an exciting extra-time League Cup match 4-3, but the last time we were the League conquerors was in October 2002, when Robbie Keane scored two (either side of a Youri Djorkaeff goal), before Simon Davies wrapped it up for us in the last minute. Robbie scored in that last home game, when it was his first League goal of the 2004-5 season.
This time last year, we travelled to Middlesbrough for what was effectively a play-off match for the last remaining UEFA Cup place. Sadly we lost that day, and Boro (and Bolton) went on to take UEFA Cup slots. In the case of Bolton, it was the first time they had entered European competition, and they battled away in this season's tournament until "The Round of 32" in February this year, when they lost to Marseille.
Now we meet in different circumstances. Spurs have already qualified for the UEFA Cup, and need to win to maintain the fight for fourth place and (we hope) the Champions League. Bolton had until recently looked dead certs for UEFA again, until they entered a run of 5 consecutive defeats, only ended recently with a draw at West Brom, then last Saturday a return to form with a 4-1 pasting of a weakened Charlton side.
14 different players have scored Premiership goals for Bolton this season, but at their head are skipper Kevin Nolan, and Stelios Giannakopoulos, who have both scored 9. You can expect the Bolton fans to call "Nolan for England" especially if he scores again on Sunday. Spurs, of course, must seek to prevent such an occurrence, but I fear that Bolton will be strong, in the knowledge that they need the 3 points as much as we do, with Newcastle's late surge threatening to keep them out of 6th place.
Spurs will be missing Jermaine Jenas again, as clearly Martin Jol feels he cannot risk aggravating his shin injury. Edgar Davids is suspended, Mido is doubtful, and Ledley King is of course missing. Teemu Tainio will be fit, but the absence of Davids does mean there will be a different shape to the midfield. Perhaps Danny Murphy will get a start this week. There might even be a sighting of January signing Hossam Ghaly, who has only two or three Reserve outings to his name since his arrival.
It will be a great atmosphere for the last home game of the season, and we're all looking forward to greeting the players in the post-match parade. There is business to be done first, though, and I am taking Spurs to win 2-0 with goals by Robbie Keane, and perhaps one from the midfield. That would put us a delightful 7 points ahead of the gooners, who don't play till Monday night. A win on Sunday would also ensure that we start the last game of the season in the fourth place we have held since December, and that we covet so much.
It's time to bring that run of defeats against Bolton to an end! It's time to Slam Sam!
The referee for this game will be Alan Wiley. A detailed profile of the official is available on the message board (open to members only).
Did you know?
Don McAllister was signed by Spurs from Bolton on 1st February, 1975. McAllister was a central defender, born on 26th May 1953. Don made 204 full appearances (+ 5 as sub), scoring 10 goals in total. Perhaps the most famous of these was against his old team, when Spurs beat them 1-0 at The Lane in April 1978, which was of course a promotion season for both teams.
I had the pleasure of meeting Don on Wednesday night at the 1981 Cup Final squad re-union dinner. Don played two games in that run, although he missed the Final, and played his last game for Spurs in May 1981. Don transferred to Charlton in August '81, and still looks out for the results of the three teams he played for. Don emigrated to Australia 16 years ago, and having travelled especially for the reunion was due to return home before this Sunday's match.
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