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Give "Sulli" a cheer, then score two (or more)!
The last time that Spurs took part in Round Two of the Carling Cup was on the fateful night of Tuesday September 20th, 2005 at Grimsby. Spurs lost dramatically 1-0 to a late goal, and played just about their strongest available team against fourth tier opposition. Both Keane and Defoe started too.
This became Spurs' shortest ever season in terms of games, as they got knocked out by Leicester in the third round of the FA Cup too. The consolation was to finish fifth (thanks to "Lasagne-gate"), and so nearly qualify for the champions League. It was the start of three consecutive seasons in Europe for Spurs.
The League Cup competition seems to start earlier each year, with this year's first round played even before the Premier League started their programme. The last time Spurs played a League Cup game in August was as long ago as 27th August, 1980, when they won the first leg of a tie against Leyton Orient 1-0, with a goal by John Lacy in front of a crowd of over 20,000. The late Mark Kendall was in goal for Spurs that day, and the rest of the team was Gordon Smith, Lacy, Yorath, Perryman, Hughton, Villa, Hoddle, Crooks, Archibald and Ardiles. Spurs also won the second leg (3-1).
Spurs have very rarely played Doncaster Rovers, and have never visited the Keepmoat Stadium before, as Rovers only took up residence in 2007, 4 years after their return from what was the Vauxhall Conference. Having suffered the ignominy of non-league football for 5 years, Rovers have made a somewhat meteoric rise to the Championship, where they held their own last season.
Famous past managers of Doncaster Rovers include Lawrie McNenemy (before he went to Southampton), Billy Bremner (twice) and former Spurs Double winner Dave Mackay (1987-89). Kerry Dixon was also player-manager there for a year in the nineties.
Doncaster were first elected to the Football League in 1901, but failed re-election in 1905 for the second time, and spent 18 years out of the league until 1923. They have never been a top-flight club, but spent the years 1901-3, 1935-7, 1947-48, and 1950-58 in Division Two. Now they are back in the second tier of League football with a new stadium that has the capacity of 15,231.
Spurs' complete record against Rovers is as follows:-
21.12.35 (A) Div 2 L 1-2 Morrison
25.04.36 (H) Div 2 W 3-1 Meek (2), Duncan
12.12.36 (H) Div 2 W 2-0 McCormick, G.S.Hunt
17.04.37 (A) Div 2 D 1-1 Morrison
27.09.47 (H) Div 2 W 2-0 Jordan (2)
14.02.48 (A) Div 2 D 1-1 Woodward
18.02.56 (A) FACR5 W 2-0 Brooks, Smith
03.12.75 (H) LC-QF W 7-2 Pratt, Chivers (2)
Duncan (3), Chappell (o.g.)
Bobby Smith, who scored the second goal in our FA Cup win of 1956 had joined Spurs from Chelsea earlier that season, and his goal against Rovers was only his fourth goal for the club where he would become the record high scorer, only to be beaten by Jimmy Greaves. Johnny Brooks (who scored the other goal) was to leave Spurs for Chelsea in the move that brought Les Allen to White Hart Lane in December 1959.
Doncaster are currently 17th in the Championship after 4 games with three draws to their credit and a defeat against front-runners Middlesbrough. Rovers knocked out Sven Goren-Eriksson's Notts County in the first round with a goal by 28 year old James Coppinger. Their squad includes goalkeeper Neil Sullivan who will be received with enthusiasm by the visiting fans, provided he plays. "Sulli" was with us between June 2000 and August 2003, and kept goal for us in the Worthington Cup Final of 2002, played at Cardiff, when we lost 2-1 to Blackburn. "Sulli" is a veteran of 39 years now, and after a brief spell at Chelsea, played for Leeds, before his loan, then transfer to Doncaster.
"Rovers" will be hoping for more giant-killing glory in the same vein as their 2005-06 campaign, when they got past Manchester City (on penalties), and Aston Villa before succumbing on penalties in the quarter-final to Arsenal.
Doncaster also have former Man United player Quinton Fortune in their squad, together with John Oster, now 30, but once a youngster at Everton, who has since travelled via Sunderland, Reading and Crystal palec to name just three clubs.
Harry Redknapp will surely have half an eye on Saturday's Premier League game against Birmingham, but the only obvious team change will be the resting of Ledley King, with other squad members such as Hutton, Naughton, O'Hara, Bentley, Crouch and Pavlyuchenko hoping to be involved. Whilst the team changes should not be too radical, whoever represents us ought to come away with a two-goal win, although of course history illustrates only too well the potential pitfall of a game like this. I'll go for 2-0 to Spurs.
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