"It was Twenty Years ago today!"
article published January, 2018, but first written in 1998 by the late Brian Judson

Full League Record of Man Utd v Spurs

Prem          Pl   W   D   L   For-Ag  Pts
Home           6   1   1   4    6- 8    4
Away           5   0   1   4    2- 9    1
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Total (Prem)  11   1   2   8    8-17    5
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Football Lge
Home (Div 1)  51  20  19  12   89 -64  63
Away (Div 1)  51   9   9  33   55 -101 28
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Total(Div 1) 102  29  28  45  144 -165 91
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Football Lge
Home (Div 2)   4   2   1   1   10 - 3   5
Away (Div 2)   4   1   2   1    3 - 3   4
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Total(Div 2)   8   3   3   2   13 - 6   9
=========================================
Total (Prem)  11   1   2   8    8-17    5
Total (Div 1) 102 29  28  45  144-165  91
Total (Div 2)  8   3   3   2   13 - 6   9
=========================================
Grand Total   121 33  33  55  165-188 105
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It is very difficult to write something positive about Tottenham at the moment! I am writing these lines before we have played Fulham as I have a very busy week ahead of me. But if all the results conspire against us on Saturday, Tottenham can expect to find themselves rock bottom of the Premier League.

We have yet to win at Old Trafford in a Premier League fixture. We have to go back to 1989-90 before we can find a League match that ended in a victory for us there. It was played in December 1989 with Lineker scoring the only goal of the game. That was the season where we finished a very distant third behind Liverpool and Aston Villa. And that season, of course, Manchester United ended their long barren run without winning a trophy by beating Crystal Palace at Wembley in the FA Cup Final. It is hard to conceive the possibility now that Alex Ferguson came within 90 minutes of being sacked by Manchester United but had they lost their 3rd Round tie that season that would have been the outcome and recent footballing history would have probably been very different.

Tottenham have a poor record at Old Trafford, almost as bad a record as at Anfield. In fact, most London clubs have a poor record at Old Trafford. At one point in their history, Manchester United once went 19 consecutive seasons without losing to a London club at Old Trafford. That period ran from 1938 until 1957 when Charlton and Tottenham both won at Old Trafford against the Busby Babes who were soon to die at Munich.

Although this is a goal that should not properly be part of the review, I am sure that all readers will want to pay homage to Pat Jennings' only goal for the club. Unlike many goalkeepers who score from penalties, Pat's goal came from open play. Spurs had won a free-kick. Mackay tapped the ball back to Pat. His huge downfield kick was slightly wind-assisted. It bounced once over Gilzean, once over Stepney (the Manchester United 'keeper) and bobbled into the goal. No one was more embarrassed by the goal than the red-faced Pat Jennings!

Over the years, particularly in the 1960s, Spurs and Manchester United had some titanic struggles. Whatever one feels about the present day Manchester United side, I feel the side that had Best, Law and Charlton was a marginally better side than today's because that side improvised its football whereas today's side has to consider tactics.

Best could have been the greatest player in the world but threw it all away on booze and birds. On his day, Best could wreck any side on his own. His feet could play tunes that no other footballer of his period, except, perhaps, the erratic Rodney Marsh could play. His greatest game was probably the 5-1 demolition of Benfica in the Stadium of Light in 1965.

Law was the greatest goalscorer of his era. Greaves may have scored more but Law scored more spectacular goals than most players. He had an arrogance that I've seldom seen in other footballers. The goal I remember him most for was a goal he scored for Manchester City that condemned his beloved Manchester United to relegation. It was the one goal that Law never celebrated scoring with wildly out-thrust arms pumping away to the heavens. But he scored some spectacular goals against Tottenham including a brilliantly executed scissor kick that was disallowed because someone was offside.

Charlton, of course, is well known to most followers of football. His heyday was probably in the mid-1960s though he himself said he thought his best season was 1962-63 when Manchester United escaped from a relegation place to finish 19th and won the FA Cup beating Leicester City. I disagree with that as I have often thought the seasons of 1966-67 and 1967-68 were his personal best seasons. Charlton loved scoring goals and briefly celebrated before getting on with the game, unlike today's extravaganzas.

My biggest regret is that I never saw the pre-Munich Busby Babes. They were a very special team. There is little doubt that Duncan Edwards could have set a record number of England caps had he not been killed in the aircrash. The surprising thing is that Edwards survived for a fortnight after the crash despite severe damage to his body. He would not have played again had he survived but it speaks volumes of his personal will to live that he survived for two weeks after the crash.

I remember the Saturday, two days after the crash, when we stood in the rain at White Hart Lane before playing Manchester City, to pay homage to the memory of those who died at Munich. No one broke the silence and there were no cat calls like some people may have been tempted to make in today's era.

As I am writing these lines before we play Fulham, I have no idea what sort of a team will be playing Manchester United. One hopes that Neale Fenn will feature in the game somewhere. He has a very intelligent air about him, unlike some of the other youngsters I have seen. He could learn a great deal from playing alongside Klinsmann.

Whilst experience counts for a great deal, I don't think we should consider playing Wilson. If he does play, he will be conceding some 15 years to Beckham and will be left standing in a dash down the wing. On the other hand, it will be too much to expect Jamie Clapham to have the nous to outwit Beckham in a game that is vital to Tottenham.

Let us hope that Tottenham rise to the challenge and pull off a shock win but we have to be realistic and accept that is as unlikely as pink pigs flying in perfect formation over the Old Trafford stands. No one will be more thrilled than I will if we pull off a shock win as it will demonstrate our committment to survival.

Cheers, Brian

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