Wow! What a day yesterday was. Spurs win, win without our talisman, 10 home victories in a row and our rivals dropped points. We also went nine points clear of that lot down the road.
However watching yesterday’s game was slightly different for two of us at Lilywhite Rose. We were not chanting in the shelf nor watching on from The Two Brewers.
Thanks to ESPN’s Iain Macintosh & Grosvenor Casinos we had the absolute privilege of spending the afternoon in the company of two Spurs and England legends. Clive Allen who both played and coached for the club (scoring 49 goals in the 86/87 season) and our record premier league appearance maker Darren Anderton.
Both men are proper Tottenham and we heard an array of stories from handshakes with Arsene Wenger to Stephen Dalmat’s numerous misdemeanours. Clive gave a real insight into what it was like playing with Hoddle and Waddle and then coaching Berbatov, Van Der Vaart & Bale. He was a member of the first team coaching set up for Martin Jol, Juande Ramos and finally Harry Redknapp.
Darren having played for the club over ten years was well placed to answer our questions about our favourite’s of his era (Teddy, Jurgen & Ledley) and the less popular Sol Campbell and Paulo Tramezzani. Darren, when not looking after his two daughters, does punditry work for several channels in South East Asia on Premier League games and plays legends football game’s in Dubai with Teddy. What a life!
Watching the game actually sitting next to an ex-player is a once in a lifetime opportunity and not one I will forget. As Dele was fouled in the box and the penalty awarded in the lead up to our second goal, Darren smiled and nodded his head in approval saying “clever Dele clever” an appreciation from one player to another.
After the game, the good people at Grosvenor Casino kindly provide all of us with some free chips to try our luck at the Roulette table. If you thought watching a game in the company of two Spurs legends was surreal imagine playing Roulette with them.
This was a truly special day for anybody of a COYS persuasion. Credit to Grosvenor Casino, Clive, Darren and Iain for making it such a brilliant day for us. The ex pro’s arrived two hours before the match and stayed around after to answer our questions and pose for pictures. It was great to also put some faces to names from Tottenham Twitter. All worth a follow – Talking Tottenham Tactics, Spurs Fanatic, Real Football Man & Kat Lucas.
Up the Spurs.
John Wenham
Lilywhite Rose 