This preview was written by Brian Judson

Full Record of Sheffield Wednesday -v- Spurs

Prem              Pl   W   D   L   For-Ag  Pts
Home               6   3   1   2     9-9   10
Away               6   2   0   4     8-10   6
==============================================
Total (Prem)      12   5   1   6    17-19  16
==============================================
Football Lge
Home (Div 1)      34  23   6   5    87-43  56
Away (Div 1)      34   7   7  20    34-58  26
==============================================
Total (Div 1)     68  30  13  25   111-101 82
==============================================
Football Lge
Home (Div 2)       6   4   1   1    15-8    9
Away (Div 2)       6   1   1   4     5-10   3
==============================================
Total (Div 2)     12   5   2   5    20-18   12
==============================================
Total (Prem)      12   5   1   6    17-19  16
Total (Div 1)     68  30  13  25   111-101 82
Total (Div 2)     12   5   2   5    20-18  12
===============================================
Grand Total       92  40  16  36   148-138 110
===============================================

Hopefully, this will be the fixture that will kick-start our season!

Over the years, Sheffield Wednesday have had their ups-and-downs but seem to have decided to have a rest from their yo-yo operations for the time being. Spurs have thrashed Sheffield Wednesday at Tottenham over the years. A return to that sort of result would be more than welcomed by the faithful.

The most significant victory out of the 46 games played at Tottenham was the 2-1 victory over the Owls on Monday 17th April 1961. Postponed from the Saturday because England were thrashing Scotland, 9-3, the gates were locked with 61,205 crammed into the ground and thousands locked out.

Wednesday went ahead after 29 minutes. Don Megson's first kick was blocked by the wall but he made no mistake with his second kick. Three minutes before half-time, Dyson out-jumped Megson to head the ball down to the rotund Smith. Smith pivoted like an overweight ballerina to smash the ball home. Barely had the cheering ended when Blanchflower took a free-kick, Norman headed the ball on to Allen, who scored with a right-foot shot.

Sheffield Wednesday's glorious days are even further back in the mists of time than ours. They have, of course, reached two domestic finals in recent years and won the Football League Cup in 1990-91 but they have not won the League since 1928-29 and 1929-30, when, as every Spurs fan ought to know, they were ably captained by one Jimmy Seed. They have not won the FA Cup since 1935.

The Yorkshire team played their part in our shock relegation season of 1927-28. Before going into Easter, we had 35 points from 35 matches and they were seemingly doomed, six points behind the pack. We had a disasterous Easter at their expense and finished the season early, picking up only three more points. We went off to tour Holland and came home to find that every single result had conspired to dump us in 21st place and relegation.

It will be interesting in the light of last week's defeat at Wimbledon what Herr Gross will decide to do. There ought to be changes to the team. Each of us, whether we were there or not, have our differing views. Personally, I hope Saib is named to start, Anderton switched to the wing and Fox dropped even though he scored our goal last week. I would also like to see Baardsen given another chance whether Walker likes it or not. I think that a considerable portion of the blame has to be placed on Walker's shoulders. I don't think Baardsen let us down so much last season as Walker seems to do. One of the reasons I like Baardsen is that he is not frightened to bawl his defenders out.

Sheffield Wednesday were quiet in the transfer market during the summer. I believe they only made one significant buy although several were allowed to leave. In Danny Wilson they have a personable young manager who is clearly destined for greater things. He was honest when asked about Barnsley's chances of survival last season. The two clubs have something in common. Both can be relatively shot-shy sometimes and weak at the back. Both have personnel associated with both clubs. I believe Peter Shreeve is still at Hillsborough despite Pleat's departure. Shreeve, of course, was coach at Tottenham under Keith Burkinshaw and succeeded Burkinshaw. Shreeve's first spell started well but disappointed in the end. He was not really cut out to be a manager and I was surprised that Venables brought him back in 1991.

It is vital Tottenham get off to a good start at home. It was largely our away form that kept us out of trouble last season but we cannot guarantee a repeat performance of our away form this season.

Cheers, Brian

· All the Spurs Stats you could hope for here! THFC6061 Sports Stats

Follow @spursodyssey