Tottenham fans are over the moon this year after winning the League Cup which is also widely regarded as the Worthless Cup

Appologies for the lateness of this article, I just came across it now. Late or not it is a good article and it is also for a very good cause. Enjoy. – Mean Lean

In London N5 and environs rests one of football’s fiercest rivalries. The world’s greatest team Arsenal has to suffer the rank displeasure of occupying the same base as Tottenham Hotspur, also affectionately known as the Spuds.

For a long time, there was a deep and lively rivalry between the sides. Tottenham bagged a handful of titles in the 1960s and 1970s and were a veritable force in English football. Their best spell came in the early ’60s when they won three trophies in a row in three successive seasons including a double. The North London Derby which pitted Arsenal against Tottenham was very keenly contested. The players and fans of each club had so much emotional investment in the outcomes.

Since the late 1980s the relationship between Arsenal and Tottenham has become much less of a rivalry but is no more than a bitter dislike of each other. The main reason for this is that Tottenham stopped being any kind of significant competition to Arsenal. Tottenham has beaten Arsenal just twice since 1995 and just 4 times since 1989. In the last few years, Arsenal has become one of the World’s biggest clubs with a global fan base and very deep resources while Tottenham is a poorly managed if ambitious club which is unlikely to match Arsenal in the next decade.

Tottenham fans are over the moon this year after winning the League Cup which is also widely regarded as the Worthless Cup. Making this fact sweeter for them is that they eliminated Arsenal in the semi-final, after a dramatic 5-1 victory. Many Spurs fans, as is their way, erroneously see this as a sign that the balance of power in North London is swinging back to real balance.

Well, not really. St. Totteringham’s day should be this weekend. St. Totteringham’s day is the big Arsenal fan festival that marks the point in the season in which Tottenham can no longer finish higher than Arsenal on the League table. Your faithful correspondent has celebrated this day wildly and uninterrupted every year since 1994 which was the last year Tottenham denied us Arsenal fans this beautiful day.

Arsenal currently have 64 points in the Premier League while the Spuds have 32. After this weekend’s round of matches (1-2 March), there would be 10 Premier League games left to play for. This weekend Arsenal play Aston Villa at home while Tottenham are away to Birmingham City in Birmingham. If Arsenal avoid defeat this weekend, that event would herald St. Totteringham’s day. In the unlikely event that Arsenal lose at home, Tottenham would have to beat Birmingham to deny the Arsenal faithful this holy day. Arsenal’s home record at the Emirates is too strong to imagine an Aston Villa victory and so Arsenal fans should be prepared to go crazy.

The earlier St. Totts day comes, the better it is for Arsenal fans. If it comes tomorrow 1st March, it ill be the earliest St. Totts day ever. It’d frankly be the best day for Arsenal fans since we won the league at S-h-i-t-e Hart Lane in 2004. No make that since we nicked that Champion’s League place from them after they caught the s-h-i–t-s from eating dodgy lasagna!

I have bought St. Totteringham’s Day greeting cards, and Sawdust Cakes for the special spuds in my life. It should be fun.