Eagle-eyed viewers of Sky Sports activities’ protection of Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 win in opposition to Manchester United final Sunday can have seen a change.
When head coach Ange Postecoglou was interviewed earlier than kick-off and requested in regards to the carry of getting gamers again from harm, he was described as “Tottenham Hotspur Head Coach”. When the Tottenham beginning XI was displayed down the left-hand aspect of the display, it mentioned “Spurs” on the prime. And when the graphics confirmed the crew of their positions, beginning with a cutout of Postecoglou, arms crossed, the phrase throughout his chest was “Spurs”.
Nothing too stunning about that, you may suppose. Tottenham Hotspur is the identify of the membership. Spurs is their frequent nickname.
However in case you noticed the Sky Sports activities protection of Tottenham’s 3-2 defeat at Everton on January 19, it regarded subtly completely different. Throughout Postecoglou’s pre-match interview, he was described as “Tottenham Head Coach”. The crew graphic simply had the phrase “Tottenham” on the prime. And the cutout picture of arms-crossed Postecoglou once more had “Tottenham” written throughout his chest. When Sky Sports activities confirmed the present Premier League desk, it was “Tottenham”. And the shape desk, wherein they have been 18th out of 20, “Tottenham” once more.
Sky Sports activities’ kind information graphic on January 19 (Sky Sports activities)
So what modified? What occurred to the phrase ‘Tottenham’ over the previous couple of weeks?
The reply lies in an e mail that was circulated to Premier League broadcasters on February 10, that has been seen by The Athletic. Titled “Tottenham Hotspur Naming Replace”, the e-mail makes clear how the membership needs to be referenced.
“Tottenham Hotspur have supplied clarification concerning the membership’s identify. They’ve requested that the membership are primarily often known as Tottenham Hotspur, with Spurs being the popular brief model. The membership have requested that they aren’t known as Tottenham.”
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This steering has gone out to Premier League broadcasters all world wide. The modifications that Sky Sports activities made to their graphics have additionally been made by different networks that present Tottenham matches. The Premier League web site is in line too. It’s all the time “Tottenham Hotspur” or “Spurs” there, by no means “Tottenham”.
The membership’s rationalization for that is easy: Tottenham is the identify of the world, however not the identify of the membership. It’s long-standing membership coverage to not confer with themselves as ‘Tottenham’. There may be nothing new about this, it has been the membership’s place going again to 2011.
Sky Sports activities’ league desk graphic on February 16 (Sky Sports activities)
What particularly modified is that in November final 12 months, the membership unveiled a “remastered model id”, which was “rolled out throughout all of the Membership’s bodily and digital touchpoints”. This got here with a “Model Playbook”, which explains in complete element what the brand new model id means. In the direction of the top of a piece titled “Tone of voice” (“Defiant, Genuine, Rallying, Energetic”), there’s a paragraph that makes very clear how the membership needs to be described.
“In a world filled with Uniteds, Citys and Rovers, there is just one Hotspur, Tottenham Hotspur. When referring to the crew or the model, please use ‘Tottenham Hotspur’, ‘Tottenham Hotspur Soccer Membership’ or ‘THFC’. By no means confer with our Membership as ‘Tottenham’, ‘Tottenham Hotspur FC’ or ‘TH’.”
This month’s contemporary steering to broadcasters is an obvious try to underline this, and to guarantee that ‘Spurs’ moderately than ‘Tottenham’ turns into the frequent shorthand when ‘Tottenham Hotspur’ doesn’t match.
On the one hand, there definitely is an argument to be made that ‘Tottenham’ is simply the identify of the native space, and never the identify of the membership itself. There are many Premier League golf equipment for whom nobody would simply use the primary geographical a part of the identify.
You’ll get some unusual appears to be like turning up at Villa Park saying you have been wanting ahead to watching ‘Aston’ play. Only a few would confer with the aspect who play at Molineux merely as ‘Wolverhampton’, or on the Metropolis Floor as ‘Nottingham’. And that’s earlier than we confront the thorny problem of locations, together with Manchester or Sheffield or Bristol, the place two golf equipment share the identical regional descriptor.
Tottenham followers have lengthy referred to their crew as… Tottenham (Julian Finney/Getty Photos)
However however, there are golf equipment the place the primary a part of the identify does the job. Everybody is aware of who Newcastle or Leeds or Leicester are. And for a lot of Spurs followers, the identify ‘Tottenham’ is completely serviceable in telling the world who they assist. It has all the time been commonplace within the Spurs group in a approach that ‘Aston’ by no means has been at Villa Park.
It does lead you to query why ‘Spurs’ is likely to be preferable to ‘Tottenham’ because the shortened identify of the membership. ‘Spurs’ definitely is distinct “in a world filled with Uniteds, Citys and Rovers”, though perhaps much less so within the world market, given San Antonio Spurs within the NBA. Nonetheless, it’s memorable and punchy and appears good emblazoned on merchandise.
‘Hotspur’ is definitely distinctive and indispensable heritage. The identify comes from when a brand new soccer membership was established within the space in 1882, and two brothers, Hamilton and Lindsay Casey, have been looking for a model id of their very own. They named their membership after Henry Percy, the box-office medieval knight who tried to overthrow Henry IV and was killed on the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403. His nickname was ‘Hotspur’, therefore the identify of the membership, and therefore the membership’s emblem too. That is historical past value clinging to.
However Tottenham is inseparable from Tottenham Hotspur too. It was on Tottenham Marshes the place the Casey brothers began taking part in 143 years in the past, Tottenham the place the previous White Hart Lane floor was opened in 1899, closing in 2017, after which Tottenham the place the futuristic new stadium was opened in 2019. Aside from their transient spell at Wembley whereas the brand new stadium was constructed, Tottenham Hotspur have all the time performed on this very particular nook of north-east London. That is the membership’s house, and their group, for whom they achieve this a lot good work.
For a lot of followers, there isn’t a distinction between the membership and the world itself. They’re synonymous. And they’ll proceed to be ‘Tottenham’ no matter what the steering says.
(High picture: Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Photos)