A Sporting Venue
Tottenham Hotspur Publications|Spurs v Manchester United

Aside from the thousands of footbal l matches that have been played at White Hart Lane over the years, Andy Greeves looks at a number of other sport ing events that have been staged here.

Andy Greeves
A Sporting Venue

It was an ex-baseball player that paved the way for us to make the move from our Northumberland Park ground to our current home at White Hart Lane in 1899. Then-chairman Charles D Roberts – reputedly once a pitcher with the Brooklyn Dodgers – along with club captain Bobby Buckle, agreed an initial 21-year lease of the site with land owners Charrington’s. With that contract in place, so our 118-year history here began!

Soon after moving to the Lane, we drew upon the services of John Over, a groundsman at the Edmonton Cricket Club, to turn the site of a former garden nursery into a football pitch! Over was no stranger to creating surfaces for major sporting events, having prepared the wicket for the first cricket test match to be played in England against Australia in 1880.

With chairman Roberts’ background, it came as little surprise to see baseball as well as football being played here in our early years at the Lane. He entered us for the British Baseball League in 1906 with a number of matches staged at the Lane over the following years.

We beat Nondescripts by 16 runs to three to win the national title in our first season in the competition – a success we followed up two years later. Reports at the time suggested as many as 4,500 spectators watched the 1906 final – an early indication of the popularity of American sports in the UK.

On the topic of baseball, Babe Ruth -one of the sport’s biggest names - once visited White Hart Lane for our 2-2 draw with Derby County on February 9, 1935. Ruth, who died in New York in 1948 aged 48, still holds the Major League Baseball (MLB) records for slugging percentage (.6897) and on-base plus slugging (1.164).

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR PUBLICATIONSView all
OBITUARY – JOHNNIE HILLS
Tottenham Hotspur Publications

OBITUARY – JOHNNIE HILLS

We were saddened to hear of the passing of John ‘Johnnie’ Hills, a defender who spent 11 years at the Club as an amateur and professional between 1950-61. He passed away at home in Brussels, Belgium, on Friday, 26 November, aged 87.

time-read
2 mins  |
Spurs v Norwich City
PAPER CHASE
Tottenham Hotspur Publications

PAPER CHASE

Club historian John Fennelly looks back at what supporters were reading on their way, at half-time and heading home afterwards when NORWICH CITY visited in March 1938.

time-read
3 mins  |
Spurs v Norwich City
RIDE FOR UGO
Tottenham Hotspur Publications

RIDE FOR UGO

Laurence Gant, Head of Academy Sports Medicine and Science, is set to take part in a five-day charity cycle in memory of his friend, and our former Under-23s coach Ugo Ehiogu.

time-read
2 mins  |
Spurs v Norwich City
DEVELOPMENT SQUAD
Tottenham Hotspur Publications

DEVELOPMENT SQUAD

BIG WIN OVER EVERTON

time-read
3 mins  |
Spurs v Norwich City
SPURS WOMEN
Tottenham Hotspur Publications

SPURS WOMEN

INTERNATIONAL ROUND

time-read
3 mins  |
Spurs v Norwich City
GAME ZERO ACHIEVES NET ZERO CARBON STATUS
Tottenham Hotspur Publications

GAME ZERO ACHIEVES NET ZERO CARBON STATUS

Sky this week published a case study revealing that Game Zero, our Premier League match against Chelsea here in September, achieved net zero carbon emissions.

time-read
4 mins  |
Spurs v Norwich City
LIVING IN THE MOMENT
Tottenham Hotspur Publications

LIVING IN THE MOMENT

Exclusive interview with our young midfielder OLIVER SKIPP, now an established member of our first team and also a familiar face to today’s opponents, who is enjoying every moment in the Premier League spotlight.

time-read
6 mins  |
Spurs v Norwich City
MEET OUR FIRST-YEAR UNDER-18S PLAYERS
Tottenham Hotspur Publications

MEET OUR FIRST-YEAR UNDER-18S PLAYERS

TOUGH DAY AGAINST COTTAGERS

time-read
3 mins  |
Spurs v Norwich City
TREBLE TOP
Tottenham Hotspur Publications

TREBLE TOP

Looking back at Spurs hat-tricks scored against tonight’s opposition.

time-read
2 mins  |
Spurs v Norwich City
WHERE ARE THEY NOW ?
Tottenham Hotspur Publications

WHERE ARE THEY NOW ?

A creative midfielder who was full of heart and desire, LEWIS HOLTBY made his Spurs debut against this afternoon’s opposition back in January 2013 and went on to make 42 appearances in our colours, scoring three goals. We caught up with the Germany international to discuss his time at the Club and find out what he is up to now…

time-read
5 mins  |
Spurs v Norwich City