Tottenham Hotspur v Leeds Utd

Schoolboys with no ground, no changing rooms, and no admission fee; yet here we are.

On 5 September 1882, a group of boys from Hotspur Cricket Club and the local grammar school founded Hotspur Football Club in Tottenham, north London. They played on public parkland, changed in nearby houses, and charged nothing for admission. The name was inspired by Harry Hotspur, the medieval knight Sir Henry Percy, whose family had historical ties to the area.

Leeds United were up and running within days of Leeds City's expulsion; a club born from scandal, with Elland Road already under their feet.

Leeds City FC were expelled from the Football League in October 1919 for making illegal payments to players during the First World War. Within days, on 17 October 1919, Leeds United were formed to take their place, inheriting Elland Road and a point to prove. They were elected to the Second Division for the 1920-21 season, setting the stage for over a century of meetings with Spurs.

Rowe's champions proved you could win the title with brains over brawn; Leeds were still searching for both.

Arthur Rowe's Tottenham claimed the 1950-51 First Division championship with a fluid, short-passing style dubbed 'push and run'. It was the club's first league title and established Spurs as a side built on technical football rather than brute force. Leeds, meanwhile, were stuck in the Second Division, still searching for an identity. The two clubs were heading in very different directions.

Sixty-four years without a Double. Nicholson ended the wait in a single season.

Bill Nicholson's Spurs achieved what no club had managed since Aston Villa in 1897: the League and FA Cup Double. They won the First Division by eight points and beat Leicester City 2-0 in the FA Cup final. That same year, Don Revie took charge at Leeds United in the Second Division. The stage was being set for one of English football's defining rivalries.

Leeds won the semi-final, then lost the final to Sunderland. The 1972 Cup had other ideas.

The early 1970s were the peak of the Spurs-Leeds rivalry. Don Revie's Leeds were the dominant force in English football, winning the First Division in 1969 and 1974, while Spurs remained a cup side of real pedigree. Their 1972 FA Cup semi-final, a physical and tactical battle, captured the intensity between the two clubs. Leeds won the tie but lost the final to Sunderland in one of the great upsets.

Leeds arrived as champions; Spurs arrived as survivors. The Premier League clock started for both in 1992.

Leeds entered the Premier League era as reigning First Division champions, having won the title under Howard Wilkinson in 1991-92. Spurs, with Gary Lineker in his final season, were founder members too. The new league brought television money, global audiences, and a fresh chapter for the fixture. Both clubs would experience wildly different fortunes over the next three decades.

Sixteen years without a top-flight fixture; one bad bet on future glory cost a generation that match entirely.

After reaching the Champions League semi-finals in 2001, Leeds gambled on future success with reckless spending. When results faltered, the debts became unmanageable. Relegation in 2004 began a 16-year exile from the top flight that took Leeds through administration and down to League One. The fixture with Spurs simply vanished from the calendar, and a generation of fans grew up without it.

A retractable pitch that swaps football boots for shoulder pads; this is no ordinary ground.

Spurs moved into their new 62,850-capacity stadium in April 2019, replacing the old White Hart Lane. The ground is widely regarded as one of the best in world football, with a single-tier south stand holding 17,500 supporters. It also features the world's first dividing retractable pitch, allowing the venue to host NFL games. The stadium transformed the matchday experience entirely.

Sixteen years of exile ended; Son made the homecoming his own with both goals.

Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds won the Championship in 2019-20, ending their 16-year absence from the Premier League. The Argentine's high-pressing, relentless style made Leeds the neutral's favourite. Spurs v Leeds was back on the fixture list, and the January 2021 meeting at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, a 2-0 Spurs win, felt like a proper reunion. Son Heung-min scored both goals.

A century of rivalry, briefly interrupted; Farke's champions have seen to that.

Under Daniel Farke, Leeds won the 2024-25 Championship title and secured their return to the Premier League. Tottenham v Leeds is back on the calendar once more, bringing with it over a century of shared history. At the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with its world-class hospitality facilities, this is a fixture that rewards those who experience it properly.