Shaking off Spursy: Tottenham's 17-year wait

Between COYS and Spursy

Tottenham fans' chant is COYS, short for Come On You Spurs. The crest shows a cockerel standing on a football. And there's another word fans use about themselves: Spursy, for throwing away a game or a title. The club's history has often moved between those two words.

White Hart Lane, the long-time home, said goodbye with a 2–1 win over Manchester United in 2017. In the first competitive game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2019, against Crystal Palace, Son Heung-min scored the new ground's first goal.

The night Bale stunned the world

In the 2008 League Cup final, Jonathan Woodgate's extra-time winner beat Chelsea, the ball going in off his head after Čech pushed it out. That trophy would be the club's last for 17 years.

Gareth Bale, signed from Southampton in 2007, stunned everyone at Inter's San Siro in 2010. With Spurs 4–0 down, he scored a second-half hat-trick. They lost 4–3, but Bale instantly became Europe's hottest young talent. In 2013 he left for Real Madrid for a then world-record fee.

The Kane and Son years

Harry Kane was released by Arsenal's youth team at the age of 8. He joined Tottenham's academy, passed Jimmy Greaves' 266 goals, a record that had stood at the top for more than 50 years, and became the top scorer with 280. He left for Bayern Munich in 2023.

Son Heung-min came through Hamburg and Leverkusen and joined in 2015. His 70-metre solo run against Burnley in December 2019 won the Puskás Award, and the next year Erik Lamela's rabona in the North London derby made it two straight for Tottenham players. In 2021–22, Son's two goals on the final day at Norwich drew him level with Salah on 23 to share the Golden Boot, without a single penalty.

Together, the pair set the Premier League record for goal combinations with 47. The previous record was 36, by Lampard and Drogba.

The dream of 2019 and the trophy of 2025

The 2019 Champions League was one drama after another. In the quarter-final at Man City, Spurs lost 4–3 but led on away goals thanks to Llorente, and Sterling's late goal was ruled out by VAR. In the semi-final at Ajax, they trailed 2–0 before Lucas Moura's second-half hat-trick turned it around, the last goal coming in stoppage time. In their first final, they lost 2–0 to Liverpool.

The wait ended in 2025. Brennan Johnson's goal beat Manchester United 1–0 in the Europa League final for the club's first trophy since 2008. After 173 goals in 454 games, Son played his last competitive game for the club in that final, and left for LAFC after 10 years.