club
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham began in 1882. Its history takes in the 1961 Double, European trophies and the rivalry that gives North London matches their particular importance.
Summary
A boys’ club in North London became the Tottenham of the Double and major European campaigns. The rivalry is part of that story, though it cannot account for all of it.
Quick facts
- Founded
- 1882
- City
- London
- Domestic landmark
- League and FA Cup Double, 1960/61
- Early European landmark
- Cup Winners’ Cup, 1963
Hotspur came before Tottenham Hotspur
In 1882, boys connected with the Hotspur cricket club and local schools formed a football club. They called it Hotspur FC. The Tottenham Hotspur name followed in 1884, long before it came to mean the large professional institution familiar today. The first boys were playing in a much smaller football world.
Spurs had an early national success with the FA Cup win of 1901. They were outside the Football League then, which gives that result a different significance from later trophies won by top-flight teams. The club’s chronology keeps that context beside the win. Cup runs do not all represent the same achievement.
Bill Nicholson’s team set the standard
The league and FA Cup Double of 1960/61 is still a central reference in Tottenham’s history. Bill Nicholson’s team took both major domestic competitions in one season and retained the FA Cup in 1962. It was a sequence of successes, giving that side a reputation for more than one good final.
In 1963 came the Cup Winners’ Cup, won with a 5-1 victory over Atlético Madrid in the final. The honours record continues with UEFA Cups in 1972 and 1984, then the Europa League title of 2025. Those names locate the competition in different eras and the club’s wins in different generations.
The rivalry does not contain the whole club
Our biggest football rivalries ranking includes Tottenham, setting the north London fixture beside major derbies elsewhere in the world.
For Tottenham, a match against Arsenal is a particularly intense local test. The shared geography and the history between the teams are followed in the North London derby guide. Spurs arrive at those meetings with expectations shaped by their own foundation and major achievements.
There are individual careers to follow as well. Harry Kane and Gareth Bale had different attacking roles and routes through modern Tottenham teams, explored in detail in their profiles. Here the longer view joins the early Cup win to Nicholson’s achievements and the later European campaigns. One player’s story cannot stand in for all those chapters.
Sources
Sources checked
FAQ
When was Tottenham Hotspur founded?
Hotspur FC began in 1882. The longer name, Tottenham Hotspur, was adopted in 1884.
What was Tottenham’s 1961 Double?
Tottenham won the Football League championship and the FA Cup in the same season. Those two wins made the Double.