SPURS: A PEOPLE’S HISTORY

SPURS: A PEOPLE’S HISTORY

Out today, A People's History of Tottenham Hotspur is the story of how fans shaped the identity of a world-famous club. Loyal, passionate, indispensable – yet the supporter perspective is rarely acknowledged. This is a story that has never been told before.

 

Drawing on social history, contemporary press reports and first-hand interviews with the fans themselves, authors Martin Cloake and Alan Fisher trace the club's development from being the team of the suburbs and the rising south, through the glory years and the arrival of mass, popular culture, and into the modern era of the game.

 

In A People’s History of Tottenham Hotspur you will discover:

  • The story of one of the world’s most famous clubs told through in-depth research and featuring the voices of the fans themselves, the first full-length history of support and supporters for any British club;
  • Why a sense of place and identity matters more than ever in an era of global football brands;
  • How, whenever that heritage is under threat, Spurs fans have taken to the streets to protest;
  • How and why the club came to symbolise the emerging suburbs and the underdog;
  • Why the club were seen as pioneers in the treatment of working class fans;
  • The emergence of an anarchic, independent fan culture and why it mattered;
  • The duckers and divers who frequented one of the fans’ favourite pubs;
  • The story of the battle for the famous Shelf terrace;
  • The complex reality behind the club’s Jewish identity;
  • How fans across the globe draw on the character of the club’s support to define their own.

 

Click here for more information, or to read a sample from A People's History of Tottenham Hotspur.