“Having to play their home games at Wembley comes into play for Tottenham – with most teams, when they change stadiums it takes some time for them to adapt. I think it might mean they struggle a bit and miss out on the top four.”
-Danny Murphy (former player), August 2017
“Tottenham are an excellent side but the squad is shallow and I expect Wembley problems.”
-Mark Critchley (football correspondent), August 2017
“Arsenal will be there or there abouts, but will just pip Tottenham Hotspur to fourth as the “Wembley effect” kicks in for Spurs.”
-Lee Dixon (former player), August 2017
Just three of many quotes from football writers and former players giving us no hope of making the top-four this season.
Many pundits focused on the fact we were playing our “home” games at Wembley. A stadium in which admittedly we had struggled in, prior to the start of the season. A stadium where I would watch my beloved Spurs every second weekend as a proud new season ticket holder.
If I am completely honest with myself, because of Wembley, I wasn’t sure we would make top-four at the beginning of the season, but I WANTED us to, and I was determined to make my voice and support heard amongst the thousands of home fans at every game.
After a comfortable victory away at Newcastle we faced Chelsea in our first home game (I’ll resist the urge to put those last two words in inverted commas for now). We were all given Spurs flags and as the players came out, the noise and sight of all the flags made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Unfortunately though there was no victory to match the atmosphere and we came away with a 2-1 defeat, followed by home draws against Burnley and Swansea.
On my way home from the Swansea game I read a text message from my Dad sent at the final whistle, telling me that if we didn’t win all of our away games there would be a real chance of us being relegated because of his perceived Wembley hoodoo.
I knew there was no chance we’d be relegated, I even offered him a £30 wager that we would be in the top-six by Christmas (an offer he declined), but my confidence in Spurs having a good league campaign was waining slightly, not helped by a slender 1-0 victory over Bournemouth..
BUT, then came the Liverpool game. Wow! What a start to the game. What a performance. What a victory. Our league season at Wembley had officially been switched ON.
The destruction of Liverpool was followed by destructions of Stoke, Southampton and Everton. Hoodoo? What hoodoo?
As much as I enjoyed the Liverpool game though and the subsequent Manchester United victory, watching Kane jump majestically to head into the Arsenal net and give us victory will always be my biggest highlight of the season.
As our form dipped in the last month, coinciding really with the aftermath of the home defeat to Manchester City, the great season we have had at Wembley as a whole has meant that victory against Newcastle this week guaranteed us a top-four finish. A game that saw me nervously gnawing almost at bone as my fingernails disappeared.
Thanks to Chelsea’s midweek result, I can go to Wembley tomorrow afternoon in a very relaxed mood. Of course I would like to see us sign off our season at Wembley with a resounding victory against Leicester, but I also want to soak in the atmosphere one last time as a “home” team.
I want to enjoy one more pint of lager (or two) before the game as I reminisce about the highs we have had at Wembley this season, smiling as I think of all those pundits who didn’t give us a hope at the start of the season, and how wrong they were! COYS!
Matt Coulson.
Season Ticket holder 2017/18. Wembley Stadium. Block 111. Row 17. Seat 254.
