It's Spurs and that brings back some memories

Last updated : 05 November 2002 By Tony Scholes

Brian Miller heads for goal in the 1961 Semi Final
Spurs might not be in the top group of Premiership clubs but a tie against them certainly does bring some memories flooding back and for me they start at the time when our two clubs had probably the best two teams in the country.

They had finished 3rd and just two points behind us in our Championship season of 1959/60 but a year later, and after three titanic tussles with the Clarets, they won the double.

My earliest memory of a Burnley v Spurs match was the one at White Hart Lane in December 1960 and the famous 4-4 draw. This has already been recorded as one of our 100 Greatest Moments and can be found in 7th place.

We met in the FA Cup Semi-Final later in the season and went down in a controversial game 3-0 with some of the refereeing decisions from West Bromwich official Clements certainly open to debate. Burnley goals disallowed, Spurs goals given when the ball didn’t cross the line.

By the time they arrived at Burnley a month later they had already been crowned Champions and were two up within a few minutes. But for the second time in the season we hit them for four and this time with goals from Gordon Harris (2), Jimmy Robson and Jimmy McIlroy we won 4-2.

The cup tie was one of three in consecutive seasons. The following season it was the final at Wembley, again in the 100 Great Moments at 37, but despite an excellent performance by the Clarets in what was described as one of the best ever finals we went down 3-1.

Tommy cummings and Terry Medwin challenge for the ball in the 1962 FA Cup Final
There was to be revenge though the season after and a 3rd round tie at White Hart Lane on a snow and ice covered pitch. This time Spurs completely lost their cool as we finally got one over on them in a cup tie with an easy 3-0 win. This was a fantastic victory for the Clarets and again makes the Top 100, just in 100th place. It just shows that games between the clubs at that time were so memorable.

Both clubs were past their best but the great games still continued and none more so than a brilliant 7-2 win for the Clarets in the last game of the 1963/64 season. It was Sammy Todd’s debut in a game that saw Brian O’Neil, Willie Irvine and Gordon Harris all score twice with Andy Lochhead also on the score sheet.

Two seasons later Willie went one better and hit a hat-trick in yet another FA Cup tie but this time it was to no avail and in the most amazing of games we went down 4-3 with Alan Gilzean hitting three for Spurs. We had been two up in the first five minutes too that day.

In a venture that I would not expect to happen now we travelled down to Tottenham via a special train. It picked up at the Burnley stations before calling in at Blackburn to pick up their supporters who were travelling to West Ham for their cup tie. A joint special train, and last year we had to be shuttled in on pre-war buses for a game at Ewood. How times have changed.

The late sixties were not too memorable and there were some heavy defeats at Tottenham. In fact in our last five seasons before relegation we failed to score a single goal at White Hart Lane and conceded 22 in a run of defeats of 0-2, 0-5, 0-7, 0-4 and 0-4 although there was an exciting 5-1 home win during that period.

Goals and victories at White Hart Lane returned though in the 1970s after our promotion and we picked up maximum points there in successive seasons with 3-2 wins. The first saw Ray Hankin’s full debut and he won us a vital penalty but in the return Spurs turned in an unforgivable performance when they targeted Frank Casper, eventually putting him out of the game for months.

Adam Blacklaw punches clear in the 1966 cup tie at White Hart Lane
There was a 2nd Division win in the 1977/78 season with Billy Ingham and Peter Noble getting the goals in a 2-1 result but this was the last time we played them in a league game.

It wasn’t the end of the great results though and it is hard to believe that it is now 20 years since that fantastic night at White Hart Lane in the Milk Cup and a 4-1 win. This is yet another that has made it into the Greatest Moments at 54.

We were given no chance as Spurs rode high in the First Division and we sat bottom of the Second. We even sacked manager Brian Miller on the morning of the game. But in one of the most magical nights we turned in a stunning second half performance to clinch the win after falling behind.

It could only be against Spurs, there has always been something special about games between the two clubs. Last time out we went out of this competition to them but even then turned it into a brilliant night down at White Hart Lane. I can even recall the then political editor of the Today newspaper, Alastair Campbell, doing a runner from the Tory conference at Blackpool just to be there.

Yes they are always special games against Spurs, especially cup games. We are not expected to win this week against them but whatever the result (and who knows) if it is in the tradition of games between these two clubs then it will certainly be well worth watching.