We are today launching a new ‘On This Day’ feature. Starting today, we will be reviewing a programme from the site for a fixture that took place on this date in seasons past. We start with the Tottenham Hotspur programme from their game against Manchester City on 21st August 1993. See our review of the Spurs issue below and click here to see the other 1993/94 issues.
Tottenham’s programme was one of the most consistent of the early to mid-1990’s and in 1993/94 the club delivered a typically high-quality issue.
The programme opens with a two-page feature headlined ‘Duel Forecast’, which previews the day’s fixture against Manchester City with reference to recent meetings of the two teams. ‘Looking Back’ continues this theme, turning the attention to older clashes between Spurs and City, including a record of league matches between the sides.
There is a page of notes from manager Ossie Ardiles and the same from captain Gary Mabbutt, as well as two pages of news from around the club; a page featuring information on the club’s community liaison work; and a one-page ‘Junior Spurs’ section.
There are also several features on the recent arrival at the club of several former players, now serving in a coaching capacity. These articles cover Steve Perryman – the club’s new Assistant Manager; Pat Jennings’ arrival as a goalkeeping coach; and Chris Hughton, who had taken charge of the club’s under-21s. There is also a two-page spread on new Spurs signing Jason Dozzell, who talks of his hopes of resurrecting his international career, following his move from Ipswich Town.
Coverage of visitors Manchester City is spread across two pages, with photos from recent meetings of the sides accompanying brief biographies of the opposition’s players, as well as manager Peter Reid. There is also a separate page of stats, profiling City’s league form and player records.
An article called ‘Reprint’ selects a programme from the archives that covers a match against the day’s opponents. For this issue, the programme in question is from City’s visit to White Hart Lane in the 1957/58 season, which saw Spurs triumph 5-1. The article includes details of the programme from the day, as well as an image of the front cover.
‘Head to Head’ highlights a key on-pitch clash for the day’s fixture, here focusing on the match up between Spurs defender Gary Mabbutt and City striker Niall Quinn. The article contains words from both players on their opponents and is complemented by a double-page action shot that forms part of the programme’s fold-out centre pages. These pages also include a four-page photographic spread, here featuring images from the club’s pre-season tour of Ireland.
The issue is completed by three pages of season stats, fixtures, and league tables for the club’s various teams.
This is a Tottenham issue full of well-presented, quality features. With 35 and a half pages of content for the £1.50 cover price, this issue is one of the season’s best value for money programmes.
Also with a Tottenham theme, we have updated the Special Issues page with details of Spurs’ issue for their first league game at their new stadium, which took place on 3rd April 2019, against Crystal Palace.
On the same page, we also now have the programme from the Wolverhampton Wanderers fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion, from 20th April 2019. This was a special commemorative issue, recalling the club’s last league title triumph 60 years previously under the captaincy of Billy Wright, whose image features on the programme cover.
We hope to have reviews of these special issues available soon. In the meantime, keep an eye out for more ‘On This Day’ reviews and news of the 2019/20 issues as we receive them.