There are many teams in London, the capital of England. The most incendiary match was the North London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
Every time there was a clash between teams in North London, the local police had a headache. So why are the five teams in the City of London the most popular game between these two teams, and where does the feud between them come from?
Whose turf is North London?
Just as every story has a beginning, the feud between Tottenham and Arsenal begins with who is the true owner of North London.
Tottenham Hotspur was founded in 1882, four years before Arsenal. Since its inception, the club has taken root in tottenham in north London, becoming one of the first teams to be founded in North London.
Some fans are curious, how did the name of this team come from? The name comes from the famous British playwright Shakespeare's novel Henry IV. In this script, there is a character named Sir Harry Percy, who is nicknamed Sir Tottenham and who has a property in tottenham, north London. That's where the team name Tottenham Hotspur comes from.
▲ Shakespeare's play "Henry IV", legend has it that the source of Tottenham Hotspur is Sir Harry Percy
Tottenham's logo also comes from this Harry Tottenham Jazz. In Shakespeare's plays, sir Harry Percy loved cockfighting, and as a result, cockfighting became the tottenham Hotspur team logo.
Arsenal were founded four years later than Tottenham. It was first founded not in north London, but in the Royal Arsenal strip of Dale Square in southeast London. Its original name was Real Arsenal.
It was only in 1891 that the team completed its professional reform and became a professional club, and the name of the team was changed to Woolwich Arsenal. Joined the Second Division (england's highest tournament at the time was League One).
The conflict between Arsenal and Tottenham was the relocation in 1913. In 1910, Sir Henry Norris became the largest shareholder of Woolwich Arsenal, and this Sir Norris still had a status at the time - Chairman of Fulham. At the time, Arsenal's south-east London was not suitable for the development of the team, and he once came up with an idea to merge Arsenal and Fulham. But this decision was opposed by people on both sides and went bankrupt.
Sir Henry Norris
In 1913, Norris made another bold decision: to move Arsenal to the Highbury area of North London. To reach this decision, Norris used diplomacy to persuade the FA and the local population in Highbury. He told the local people of Highbury that the arrival of Arsenal could bring more employment opportunities to the locals and reassure the people of Highbury.
Thus, in 1913, woolwich Arsenal travelled from south London to North London, becoming the second team in North London. For the indigenous Spurs of North London, the arrival of Arsenal is undoubtedly an invasion and the seizure of their territory, which is only the beginning of the contradiction.
The expansion of the British First Army intensified the contradictions
Freezing three feet is not a cold day, and the contradiction between Tottenham and Arsenal is not a one-time relocation. What really made the two enemies was closely related to the expansion of the League One (then the highest level of Competition in England) in 1919.
At that time, the FA decided to expand the League One by two teams, at that time, Tottenham Hotspur was ranked first from the bottom of League One and Arsenal were fifth in League Two. At that time, Spurs thought they would definitely stay in the first division, and the expansion would only draw from League Two. It stands to reason that, in any case, it will be difficult to get arsenal's turn.
Unexpectedly, the FA made an unexpected decision. Top two in League Two and fifth-placed Arsenal unexpectedly rose up, while Tottenham were relegated in a vacuum. The fawning reason given by the FA is that Arsenal have an "outstanding contribution".
The decision infuriated Tottenham fans. The tension between Tottenham and Arsenal was thus laid. Tottenham fans believe Spurs should have stayed in the first division and Arsenal would not have qualified for promotion. It was all because of Therades' relegation caused by The mischief behind Arsenal's then-president Norris.
Since then, Tottenham and Arsenal fans have not shared the day since. To this day, arsenal have never been relegated in the top flight, but Tottenham fans are not convinced, and they often contradict each other: your promotion qualification is stolen.
After moving from Arsenal to North London and stealing Tottenham's market, the contradictions between the two sides were buried. In that expansion battle, Tottenham fans always believed that Arsenal had ruined everything with dirty means. Since then, Spurs and Arsenal have not been able to share the same sky.
Like many enemies, if a player defects from one team to another, he is "greeted" by extreme fans. In 2001, then-Tottenham captain Campbell defected to Arsenal. Since then, at Tottenham's home stadium, White Hart Lane, facing Campbell is the booing of fans and the greeting of "Judas".
Because, in the eyes of Tottenham fans, it's okay to defect anywhere, but it's not okay to go to Arsenal.