For Toby Alderweireld, his home city of Antwerp is, without question, the ‘best city in the world’. It is the place where the Belgian defender was born and raised, a place he could wax lyrical about with little prompting needed.
Located in the north east of Belgium, Antwerp sits on the mouth of the Scheldt – a river home to Europe’s second largest seaport and one that connects the city to the rest of the globe. It is industrious, tight-knit and friendly. It has history, stunning architecture, incredible cuisine and an ever-growing presence on the world’s fashion scene.
There is no place that makes Toby happier. However, when we travelled to Belgium back in October to take on Royal Antwerp, it was a rather strange homecoming for the 31-year-old.
With the continuing COVID-19 restrictions in England, the encounter across the North Sea was the first opportunity Toby had to return to Belgium for a long time. But it turned into a disappointing night all round.
At the Bosuilstadion, we tasted defeat against the Great Old as Antwerp’s Lior Refaelov scored the only goal of the game to give our hosts all three points. Toby, who has never played a competitive game in his hometown, remained an unused substitute. Meanwhile, despite being back home and not far away from his family and friends, who still reside in the city, the Belgian international was unable to see any of them, due to the ongoing Coronavirus restrictions.
“It was strange. Firstly, because I’m not used to that and secondly, it was strange because of these Coronavirus times,” our number four explained.
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Denne historien er fra Spurs v Royal Antwerp-utgaven av Tottenham Hotspur Publications.
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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.
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.
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.
DEVELOPMENT SQUAD
BIG WIN OVER EVERTON
SPURS WOMEN
INTERNATIONAL ROUND
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.
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.
MEET OUR FIRST-YEAR UNDER-18S PLAYERS
TOUGH DAY AGAINST COTTAGERS
TREBLE TOP
Looking back at Spurs hat-tricks scored against tonight’s opposition.
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…