History - The start of the North London Derby rivalry..Arsenal & Tottenham Hotspur

Arsenal & Totenham Hotspur rivalry...
The enmity between the two clubs was born when Woolwich Arsenal crossed the River Thames in 1913 in search of a more promising catchment area, and bought land from a College of Divinity at Highbury which they developed into a football stadium in what Spurs regarded as their back yard. The bitterness plumbed new depths in 1919 when the First Division was expanded by two clubs on the resumption of football after the First World War. Since Chelsea and Spurs had finished in the bottom two places in 1914-15, it was expected they would retain their top-flight status, with the first two clubs from the Second Division joining them. But the ambitious and Machiavellian Arsenal chairman, Sir Henry Norris, engineered a League Management Committee ballot to decide who should go into the First Division, and worked assiduously behind the scenes to deliver the votes Arsenal (who’d finished sixth in the Second Division, later amended to fifth) needed to ensure their elevation. The Gunners went up at Tottenham’s expense and have remained there without interruption ever since. Spurs have neither forgotten nor forgiven the politicking.

But the tremendous rivalry between the fans were much fiercer on the terraces than the respective dressing-rooms - but, to be fair, that is only to be expected. Most supporters live in the same area all their lives, while players come and go. Usually they haven’t grown up in the middle of Arsenal-Spurs arguments - comments from the legendary goalkeeper Pat Jennings, a genuine hero at both White Hart Lane and Highbury.