A TIME TO REFLECT

As we prepare to take on Leicester City in our final home game of the campaign, Harry Winks looks back at what has been a rather extraordinary season in football.

- Liam Carson

Odd is how Harry Winks frankly described our 2019/20 season.

It is such a simple description, yet it could not be any more apt as this campaign has undoubtedly been different to the usual and to the expected, both on and off the pitch.

As with any year in football, we have of course faced both highs and lows in this quite unpredictable game but this season in particular has been rather extraordinary on plains more far-reaching than just sport.

We began back in August by marking the kick-off of our first full season back in N17 for three years and what an opening it was – a 3-1 triumph over Aston Villa in the magnificent settings of our state-of-the-art new home, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It was a bright start to the new term, but it was not to last.

Three months later, following a run of disappointing results, Mauricio Pochettino’s five-year tenure as our manager came to an end and in came Jose Mourinho as a new era was launched in our Club’s illustrious history. While it was a monumental shift for us in that moment, our campaign was to see far more unprecedented change as, in March, not just football but the world ground to halt following the outbreak of COVID-19.

The deadly effects of the Coronavirus saw a nationwide lockdown introduced and our season suspended for three months as we looked to limit the transmission of the disease and save lives. Thankfully, we are now in the early stages of moving slowly and carefully away from the pains of the pandemic. Football has now returned to our lives but the new normal of social distancing measures has transformed the game with the action moving behind closed doors in order to protect supporters and players alike.