Lovely, such an old-fashioned London rivalry! Forget Chelsea, as Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are each other’s biggest rivals in the English capital.
The Gunners and Spurs are both based in north London and have been battling each other for over a hundred years. This has produced many great matches, goals and moments in this beautiful North London derby.
Arsenal – Tottenham Hotspur | Derby
No fewer than seven Premier League clubs are currently based in London! Apart from Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, these include Chelsea, West Ham United, Fulham, Crystal Palace and Brentford. But so the biggest rivals are Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
Together, they have won 15 league titles, the FA Cup 22 times and five European prizes. But how do they fare against each other?
North London Derby history
Both clubs were founded around the same time, Tottenham Hotspur in 1882 and Arsenal in 1886. They first met in an official match in 1909, after a practice game in 1887, among others. In 1898, they also had a duel which was watched by as many as 15,000 people.
The rivalry began to run high around WWI. In 1913, Arsenal moved to Highbury, six kilometres from Tottenham Hotspur’s White Hart Lane stadium. Fans of the Spurs didn’t like that, seeing Highbury as their turf.
In 1919, things went all wrong between the two clubs. The top division, First Division, was extended by two teams. Chelsea got one of the two spots and a vote was taken for the other.
Tottenham had finished 20th and would actually be relegated, but was the best-ranked club competing in the voting. Arsenal had finished sixth in Division Two, but still got 18 votes against eight for Tottenham. That threw oil on the fire of this derby.
Tottenham Hotspur did enter the First Division quickly via promotion. But from 1928-1933 and 1935-1950, they played in Division Two, resulting in few derbies.
Tottenham won Division Two in 1950 and directly the First Division a season later. After that, Arsenal and Spurs played each other at the highest level every year, with the exception of 1977-1978 due to Spurs’ relegation.
Betting on North London Derby | Betting Markets
Rivalry between two clubs so close to each other, but also because of a striking history. That’s another tasty derby to bet on! What betting markets can you think of when betting on Premier League football with these two clubs?
Bet on winner
Arsenal may be the most successful club, but they still do not win much on visits to Spurs. Both clubs are strong at home, if you look at the statistics.
Betting on goal scorers
If Harry Kane continues to play at Tottenham Hotspur, he will continue to score against Arsenal. The goalscorer of Spurs and the English team loves games against the Gunners. But Arsenal always have a few strong Brazilians on hand who can find the net.
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What makes Arsenal – Tottenham Hotspur unique?
Arsenal’s move and fight for admission to the First Division in 1919 with that mood made this match a heated derby early on. While Tottenham Hotspur played mainly in Division Two in the 1930s, Arsenal picked up five league titles in seven seasons. In 1935, Arsenal won by as much as 6-0 on a visit to Tottenham Hotspur en route to one of those titles.
Relations improved when Arsenal were allowed to use White Hart Lane after World War II. Indeed, their own Highbury was used as an air raid shelter in WWII and also bombed. So since 1950, the clubs have been playing each other almost continuously, which has made for many great matches.
As befits rivals, they also have ways of making each other’s lives miserable. Arsenal fans came up with ‘Saint Totteringham’s Day’ in 2002. That is the day when Arsenal are mathematically certain of a place above Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.
On the other hand, 14 April is St Hotspurs Day. Because on 14 April 1991, they won in the FA Cup semi-final over Arsenal, and on 14 April 2010 in the Premier League.
Mutual standings
After 193 games, the advantage lies with the red-and-white club: Arsenal won 81 times, Tottenham Hotspur 61 times, and 51 times remained tied.
Arsenal also won more national titles: 13 to 2 in the Premier League, and 14 to 8 in the FA Cup. Both won a European Cup Winners’ Cup, but Tottenham also won the UEFA Cup/EuropaLeague twice.
Legendary players
Harry Kane was once turned down by Arsenal as a youngster for being ‘too chubby’! They will regret that, as the slim Kane scored no less than 14 times against Arsenal, making him the top scorer in the North London Derby. Emmanuel Adebayor played four seasons for both clubs and reached 10 goals in the derby.
The most notorious ‘double player’ was Sol Campbell. He played for Spurs from 1992-2001 and then switched to Arsenal to play until 2006 and briefly again in 2010.
Goalkeeper Pat Jennings followed the same path a few decades earlier: 1964-1977 for Spurs, 1977-1985 Arsenal. On 8 May 1985, he got a farewell match against Tottenham.
Derby Top 4
24 November 1996: Arsenal – Tottenham Hotspur 3-1
Of course there has to be a goal from Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp in this list. Arsenal were already leading 2-1 when The Non-Flying Dutchman scored a fantastic goal just before time, on Ian Wright’s cross.
25 April 2004: Tottenham Hotspur – Arsenal 2-2
In the famous ‘Invincibles’ season, Arsenal could become champions on a visit to Spurs. Arsène Wenger’s team had been unbeaten all season and needed just one point for the title. Arsenal led 2-0, but Spurs eventually made it 2-2. No win for the Gunners, but they did win the title on their great rival’s pitch.
13 November 2004: Tottenham Hotspur – Arsenal 4-5
Six months later, the two clubs met again in the Premier League, with Martin Jol coaching Spurs. And this time both clubs made it a bizarre spectacle with no fewer than nine goals!
29 October 2008: Arsenal – Tottenham Hotspur 4-4
In short: a fantastic duel with wonderful goals. Robin van Persie was important with a goal and an assist, but Tottenham made a fantastic comeback.
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