This preview was written by Brian Judson

Full Record of Spurs -v- Liverpool

Prem          Pl   W   D   L  For-Ag  Pts
Home           6   1   3   2    9-11   6
Away           6   1   2   3    6-14   5
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Total (Prem)  12   2   5   5   15-25  11
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Football Lge
Home (Div 1)  49  24  10  15   73-58  62
Away (Div 1)  49   4  14  31   38-95  24
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Total (Div 1) 98  28  24  46  111-153 86
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Total (Prem)  12   2   5   5   15-25  11
Total (Div 1) 98  28  24  46  111-153 86
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Grand Total  110  30  29  51  126-178 97
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Unlike many Listees I am not someone who mourned the passing of the terraces but I did mourn the death of the Kop at Liverpool because there was nothing more exciting from a fan's point of view to see and hear the Kop in full cry. There was many a day when I wished the Spurs fans could have been as entertaining and witty as those on the Kop. I always enjoyed seeing the Kop swaying as they sang YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE and am still devastated that anthem had to be used to help the survivors and bereaved from the trauma of the Hillsborough disaster.

Don't get me wrong : there'll never be another club in my heart other than Tottenham but I do get annoyed and uptight because people won't get behind the team sometimes, particularly when they are playing poorly and are being barracked for it. Happily today we don't see that happening like we did a few months ago.

Liverpool, since Shankly first strode into the Boot Room in 1959, have always been a friendly club and one whose visits I always looked forward to. They always gave 100 per cent, never accepted they had lost a match and generally won trophies most seasons. They have had many great players in each of the decades since they returned to the top class at the end of season 1961-62 : Hunt, St John, Yeats, Peter Thompson, Smith, Lawrence, Clemence, Hughes, Phil Thompson, Keegan, Toshack, Souness to name but a few of the older heroes of the Kop.

The Park Lane end was always awash with red and white and they created a great hullabaloo when the teams came out. They always seemed to have 22 red shirts playing against 11 white shirts and often made five raids on the Tottenham goal before the first couple of minutes had slipped by.

Uncharacteristically for Liverpool, their first trip to Tottenham ended in a 7-2 defeat on Easter Monday 1963. We had lost 5-2 on the Good Friday at Anfield, which killed off our chances of regaining the championship. On the Monday, James P was at his imperious best, scoring four goals out of the seven. Never since have Tottenham had the temerity to thrash Liverpool!

A year later, Spurs again in the hunt for the title and Liverpool came to us on Good Friday 1964. But Spurs crashed 3-1 and Nicholson knew in his heart the time had come to break up the squad. Blanchflower had already gone, Mackay was recovering from his first broken leg and results had not been good enough.

The following April, Spurs won 3-0. I remember the game mostly because Roy Low scored a goal in the game. He was one of a batch of promising players who were experimented with between the demise of the double team and the rise of the 1967 Cup Winners team. Low was one of the unlucky ones who had to look elsewhere for first team football. Incidentally, Low had the distinction of being Spurs' first ever substitute - in September 1965 against Arsenal.

Over the years there have been many great games but surely the most surprising result was one in a game I missed because I was away on a training course at the time. Spurs beat Liverpool 1-0 thanks to a rare Ralph Coates goal during the season we were relegated.

In 1981-82 we had a terrible backlog of fixtures as we were competing for four trophies until a late stage of the season. We drew 2-2 at Tottenham with goals from Archibald and Perryman. Perryman scored at least one goal in each of the 17 seasons he played for Tottenham.

In 1984-85, Garth Crooks wrote himself into the history books by scoring the goals that beat Liverpool at home and away, 1-0. It was only the third time that Spurs had beaten Liverpool home and away in the same season.

In 1988-89, we drew at Anfield and lost at Tottenham and our worst ever full back (currently coaching at Crystal Palace under one T. Venables) scored both goals. I cannot bring myself to write his name here : British residents should think of a posh West London store that shares his name if they wonder who I'm talking about. Those who know who I mean please desist from mentioning the 'F' word!

A year later and we had plenty to sing about : Paul Stewart scored the only goal of the game in March 1990.

And so I think I must leave it there .....

The outcome of this week's match? If we can fight fire with fire and give 110 per cent, I feel sure we can continue to climb the table and beat Liverpool, 1-0. It won't be an easy match and we must scrap for the ball.

Cheers, Brian

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