Memory Lane

Since the club confirmed that this season will be the last at White Hart Lane (at least as it is now), there has been an outpouring of articles, videos, stories, memory-sharing and emotion about the old girl. Each of us has his or her memories of this place that we have always known, grown up in.

We all remember players celebrating special goals in front of us, but for me it is those quirky memories which link me to a specific area of the ground which have stayed with me and within my family.

When I was growing up in the early nineties, my parents would take my sister and I and we would sit in the Paxton Upper. A man who regularly sat there would become part of our communal memory, such was his love for our midfielder, Paul Allen. He would loudly shout
‘come on Paul Allen’ every time he came close to the ball; man, he loved him some Paul Allen.

And repeated whenever a man named Ashley comes on the television (rare nowadays, admittedly) is the phrase ‘Ashley’s a bird’s name’ – which we had all thoroughly enjoyed being screamed at Derby County’s Ashley Ward by a guy sitting near to us in the East Lower when Ward came over to collect a loose pas.

Likewise ‘The Colonel’s’ catchphrases pop back into our heads whenever we eat burgers together. That guy was outside the Paxton every home game for decades, yelling ‘look at these’ and ‘haaaaandsome’, and became known as the colonel as that was how he’d address every third man buying burgers. The first time he called my dad ‘colonel’ was one of the happiest days of my childhood.

These ridiculous memories and thoughts are all important to me and have collective importance in my family because they represent moments that we have shared together thanks to Spurs. But there’s so much more to White Hart Lane than my compartmentalised nuggets of weirdness.

White Hart Lane is dripping in history, and I am simply unable to do it justice. From Billy Nicholson to Glenn Hoddle to Ledley King, legends have been

So, instead, you should watch Memory Lane. A group of Spurs fans including my good friend Flav from The Fighting Cock podcast spent a ludicrous amount of time researching, interviewing for and producing this wonderful movie, and all proceeds go to local charity, Exposure.

Watch and enjoy this wonderful piece of work, and if you enjoy learning more about our club’s illustrious history, consider sharing with your friends and family. COYS.