1896–97 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season

The 1896–97 season was the first season that Tottenham Hotspur turned professional, and they competed in two leagues during the season. The Southern League and the United League. In the FA Cup, Tottenham played three qualifying games and in the third, they went away to Luton, where they lost 3–0. There were also a total of 26 recorded friendly games played that season.

Tottenham Hotspur
1896–97 season
StadiumNorthumberland Park
Southern League4th
United League8th
FA CupFifth Qualifying Round
Top goalscorerRobert Clements (10)

Tottenham turned professional in order to join the Football League but were rejected after coming bottom of a poll with just two votes. Instead, the club were then elected to the Southern League.[1]

Squad

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK   ENG Charles Ambler
GK   ENG Thomas Hatfield
DF    Jimmy Allen
DF   SCO James Mair
DF   ENG William Almond
DF   ENG Stanley Briggs
DF   ENG Lycurgus Burrows
DF    James Devlin
DF   ENG E Markham
-    James Collins
MF   ENG William Crump
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF   ENG Charles Lanham
FW   ENG Ralph McElhaney
FW    James Milliken
DF   SCO Jack Montgomary
FW   ENG Willie Newbigging
-    Ernie Payne
FW   SCO Robertson
FW    Frank Wilson
FW   SCO Billy Fleming
FW   ENG Robert Clements

Competitions

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United League

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Table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
4 Loughborough 14 6 1 7 29 31 −2 13
5 Rushden Town 14 6 1 7 25 42 −17 13
6 Kettering 14 4 4 6 23 24 −1 12
7 Wellingborough 14 3 3 8 17 39 −22 9
8 Tottenham Hotspur 14 1 4 9 25 34 −9 6
Source: [2]

Results

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19 September 1896 1 Millwall Athletic 6–5 Tottenham Hotspur
2 November 1896 2 Rushden Town 2–0 Tottenham Hotspur
9 November 1896 3 Woolwich Arsenal 2–1 Tottenham Hotspur
20 January 1897 4 Wellingborough 2–2 Tottenham Hotspur
25 February 1897 5 Tottenham Hotspur 2–2 Woolwich Arsenal
27 February 1897 6 Tottenham Hotspur 1–2 Loughborough
4 March 1897 7 Tottenham Hotspur 5–1 Rushden Town
13 March 1897 8 Tottenham Hotspur 1–2 Luton Town
15 March 1897 9 Kettering Town 1–1 Tottenham Hotspur
3 April 1897 10 Tottenham Hotspur 1–3 Millwall Athletic
10 April 1897 11 Luton Town 2–1 Tottenham Hotspur
17 April 1897 12 Tottenham Hotspur 1–1 Kettering Town
19 April 1897 13 Tottenham Hotspur 1–1 Wellingborough
24 April 1897 14 Loughborough 3–2 Tottenham Hotspur

Southern League

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League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts
2 Millwall Athletic 20 13 5 2 63 24 2.625 31
3 Chatham Town 20 13 1 6 54 29 1.862 27
4 Tottenham Hotspur 20 9 4 7 43 29 1.483 22
5 Gravesend United 20 9 4 7 35 34 1.029 22
6 Swindon Town 20 8 3 9 33 37 0.892 19
Source: [3]
Rules for classification: The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used until the 1976-77 season. The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.

Results

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5 September 1896 1 Sheppey United 3–3 Tottenham Hotspur Isle of Sheppey, Kent
Stadium: Botany Road
12 September 1896 2 Wolverton 0–1 Tottenham Hotspur Wolverton
3 October 1896 3 Gravesend United 1–3 Tottenham Hotspur Gravesend, Kent
Stadium: Overcliffe Ground
10 October 1896 4 Tottenham Hotspur 2–3 Chatham Northumberland Park, London
17 October 1896 5 Tottenham Hotspur 4–0 Gravesend United Northumberland Park, London
17 October 1896 6 Tottenham Hotspur 2–1
Game was void after Royal Ordnance resigned from the league.
Royal Ordnance Northumberland Park, London
31 October 1896 7 Chatham 1–2 Tottenham Hotspur Kent
7 November 1896 8 Tottenham Hotspur 3–2 Sheppey United Northumberland Park, London
14 November 1896 9 Tottenham Hotspur 3–1 Swindon Town Northumberland Park, London
28 November 1896 10 Tottenham Hotspur 1–3 Millwall Athletic Northumberland Park, London
5 December 1896 11 Reading 2–1 Tottenham Hotspur Reading, Berkshire
Stadium: Elm Park
25 December 1896 12 Millwall Athletic 4–0 Tottenham Hotspur Isle of Dogs, London
Stadium: The Athletic Grounds
9 January 1897 13 Swindon Town 1–0 Tottenham Hotspur Swindon
Stadium: County Ground
13 February 1897 14 Tottenham Hotspur 5–0 Northfleet United Northumberland Park, London
20 February 1897 15 New Brompton 2–1 Tottenham Hotspur Gillingham, Kent
Stadium: Priestfield Road
6 March 1897 16 Northfleet United 2–0 Tottenham Hotspur Northfleet, Kent
Stadium: Stonebridge Road
20 March 1897 17 Tottenham Hotspur 4–4 Reading Northumberland Park, London
27 March 1897 18 Tottenham Hotspur 6–0 New Brompton Northumberland Park, London
29 March 1897 19 Southampton 1–1 Tottenham Hotspur Southampton
Stadium: County Ground
1 April 1897 20 Tottenham Hotspur 2–0 Wolverton Northumberland Park, London
8 April 1897 21 Tottenham Hotspur 2–2 Southampton Northumberland Park, London

FA Cup

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12 December 1896 3Q Tottenham Hotspur 4–0 Old St. Stephens Northumberland Park, London
Clements    
Payne  
Attendance: 2,000
6 January 1897 4Q Tottenham Hotspur 6–0 Maidenhead Northumberland Park, London
McElhaney  
Newbigging    
Payne  
Crump   
Attendance: 2,000
16 January 1987 5Q Luton Town 3–0 Tottenham Hotspur Luton
Attendance: 5,000

References

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  1. ^ Phil Soar. Tottenham Hotspur The Official Illustrated History 1882-1995. Hamlyn. p. 20.
  2. ^ Soar, Phil (1995). Tottenham Hotspur The Official Illustrated History 1882–1995. Hamlyn. ISBN 0-600-58706-1.
  3. ^ Phil Soar. Tottenham Hotspur The Official Illustrated History 1882-1995. Hamlyn. p. 233. ISBN 0-600-58706-1.