By Sean Whetstone
West Ham hatred of Spurs is quite a modern phenomenon with our original deadly rivals being Millwall of course – the initial feud over the dockers that worked either side of the Thames who broke strikes.
West Ham and Millwall were last in the same division in the 2011/2012 season and it is a case of out of sight, out of mind.
Spurs and West Ham’s predecessors, Thames Iron Works first played in 1898 and have met 215 times since.
Being a London team they are rivals like Chelsea, Arsenal and Crystal Palace but it goes much deeper than that.
Geographically Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium is closer to the London Stadium but it is the away visit to White Hart Lane that West Ham fans look forward to from a time when supporters could watch games in person.
Part of the dislike is the delusions of grandeur that Spurs fans suffer from believing that they are a big club when, like West Ham, they haven’t won anything of note for years.
West Ham has got used to spoiling Spurs parties taking particular enjoyment from that one famous Lasagna-Gate game in 2006 when a Hammers victory forced Spurs to miss out on a Champions League place which their North London rivals grabbed instead.
Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy is also disliked by West Ham, partly his arrogance in refusing to do business including personally vetoing a loan for Emmanuel Adebayor in 2015, But on another occasion, private investigators hired by the club illegally obtained Karen Brady’s itemised phone bills.
Spurs at the time wanted to knock down the London 2012 Olympic Stadium and move from White Hart Lane causing the first tender won by the Hammers to be abandoned.
In 2013 the Hammers famously put Spurs firmly n their place by winning a treble in the Premier League and cup in the 2013/2014 season.
In 2019 West Ham made history by becoming the first team to beat Spurs at their new White Hart Lane stadium breaking their home unbroken run thanks to Michail Antonio goal.
In October last year, West Ham were 3-0 down within 30 minutes only to come back to make it 3-3 thanks to a Manuel Lanzini wonder goal, thank one hurt the North London fans too!
Spurs fans would have you believe that the hatred is one way from the West Ham side, I don’t believe them, I think we continue to get under their skin because they really are not that much better than us when it comes to winning things.
The dislike is very much a two-way affair
Growing up near Wanstead flats and Leytonstone back in the swinging 60’s we used to come across the odd Spud, they’d crow about being the first English club to win a European trophy,
we’d come back with winning the FA cup, of course we then went on to become the next European trophy winners the following season, however when the late great Martin Peters defected to N17 and subsequently helped them to become European trophy winners a second time it was too much to bare, full on feud mode ensued, further exacerbated when another home grown superstar in the making Paul Allen was allowed to follow the same path.
By the time Kanoute, Carrick and Defoe were shipped off over there decades after it had already become a toxic existence between fan bases. Spuds don’t rate our club and never have, but always coveted our better players, much to the Irons faithful annoyance.
Well. As a Spurs Fan I get your dislike for Levy. I can`t stand him either. Besides that it is a one-way affair. We do not and have never had any hatred for the Hammers. Quite frankly we have enough on our plate with Arsenal and lately Chelsea too.
I don’t waste any time thinking about Tottenham Hotspur. Playing and beating them twice a season is sufficient, as it is against any other football team. Maybe enjoyed just a little bit more perhaps.
Allan, may I enquire are you referring to the millennial generation of Spurs supporters, or us of a more mature vintage? I can assure you that it is far from being a one way affair, by the way, your supporters distain of CFC has a lot to do with the social unrest and nationalism of the seventies, one fan base with far right influence and the other leftist. Sad, but true.
I know Chelsea have a racist problem mate. Not talking about that though. Chelsea much like Hammers seem to have a special schadenfreude in beating us and after the battle at Stamford bridge it seems tensions have grown. Again, I and most Spurs fans do not hate the Hammers. These days I don`t even hate the Goons. Hate or something similar are reserved for Chelsea and to some extent Liverpool. Hope that clear things up.
On a side note you have always been like us. Positive football and not much to show for it 😉
I didn’t have any problem with Spurs until they got up themselves in recent years, to be honest Gooners in the 90’s were the same, except they won things. Can’t see that happening for the Spuds even if they are in the Mickey Mouse Cup final, City might win that 9 0
A lot of my hatred of Spurs is stadium related, how Tottenham and levy ganged up with the likes of Leyton orient and Charlton to try and stop us from getting the Olympic stadium once it became clear they weren’t going to get it. One of the reasons I really went along with the stadium move was because if we didn’t get it, Tottenham would have had it. In hindsight they git the better deal because they used the leverage on the government and local council to get the regeneration of white hart lane area and new stadium. That’s why I hate levy. I also hate Tottenham because they think they are a top team despite never winning anything. Earlier this season after being top for one week, they were all convinced they were going to win the title. To sum them up in two words. Arrogant, deluded.
In the 60s we had probably the best relationship with Spurs of the London clubs. Our games were usually highscoring entertaining affairs with both clubs playing attractive and exciting football.
A lot of the players were good friends. A particular memory for me was when we were beating Spurs 4nil at home and Jimmy Greaves was getting nowhere with our defence. A Spurs corner was awarded he jumped onto Bobby Moore piggy back fashion as the ball arrived in the penalty area. These days would probably get done for bringing game into disrepute! Great days and another 4 nil would be nice!
Please tell Sean, Millwall Docks are/were north of the Thames. Isle of Dogs actually.