10-4 NOT HIGHWAY PATROL

Tottenham v Everton tomorrow and one match stands out for me in this fixture, first played in 1908 and that is the 10-4 win for Spurs 50 years later on 11th October 1958. I kept the newspaper headlines and match report for years in a scrapbook. It was Bill Nicholson's first match as the new "manager" having been coach before. He was given the job on the morning of the game at White Hart Lane. The previous manager was Jimmy Anderson who "resigned" leaving Spurs one place off the bottom place of Division 1, then the top division. They ended up 18th with Everton 16th.

Scoring went 1-0, 1-1, 3-1, 6-1 ht: 6-2, 8-2, 8-3, 9-3, 9-4, 10-4 End.
Spurs scorers:-
Bobby Smith 4, Alf Stokes 2, John Ryden, Terry Medwin, Tommy Harmer, George Robb.
Jimmy Harris scored three for the Toffees and Bobby Collins scored Everton's last goal.

England centtre forward Bobby Smith scores his 4th.

On the legacy of the famous "push and run" side of the early 1950s, Tottenham went on to do the Doiuble in 1960-1, the first of the 20th Century. It was a remarkable rise in success following Nicholson's appointment.

The Spurs team was:
Hollowbread, Baker, Hopkins, Blanchflower, Ryden, Iley, Medwin, Harmer, Smith, Stokes and Robb.

George Robb went on to coach football at Ardingly College in Sussex, where I played against one of his sides when I visited with Collyers GS towards the end of the 1960s!