The WHL Years

Our home ground since 1899, White Hart Lane has come a long way from its humble origins as the site of a garden nursery to become one of the most iconic and atmospheric stadiums in world football. Each matchday, Andy Greeves explores the history of this famous venue and today looks at a period of highs and lows for the club between 1975 and 1979.

1975-79

HODDLE’S DEBUT

We bounced back from the disappointment of an FA Cup third round replay defeat to Nottingham Forest at the beginning of 1975 by winning 5-2 at Newcastle United in our first league game of the year on January 11. Thereafter, our Division One season took a turn for the worse with eight defeats in nine league matches. A 3-0 loss at today’s opponents Middlesbrough on March 15 during that run saw us drop into the relegation zone but five wins in our last seven league fixtures were enough to preserve our top-flight status.

We were in the bottom three going into the final day of the campaign and a home match against Leeds United on April 28, 1975. Relegation rivals Luton Town and Chelsea both failed to win that afternoon while our dramatic 4-2 victory over Leeds, which included two goals for Cyril Knowles, saw us leapfrog the pair into 19th position and maintain our place in Division One.

There was a significant debut early on in the 1975-76 season as 17-year-old Glenn Hoddle replaced Knowles as a substitute to make the first of 490 appearances in our colours as we drew 2-2 with Norwich City at White Hart Lane on August 30, 1975. Hoddle’s next match came at Stoke City on February 21, 1976, as he started and scored the first of his 110 goals for us in our 2-1 win at the old Victoria Ground.

We finished ninth in the Division One table at the end of the 1975-76 season and made it to the semi-final of the League Cup during that campaign, which included a 7-2 thrashing of Doncaster Rovers at the quarter-final stage. John Duncan scored a hat-trick in that triumph over the South Yorkshire side at White Hart Lane, which also included a brace by Martin Chivers and a further strike from John Pratt, while Rovers midfielder Les Chappell put into his own net.