Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham

Shipyard workers laid the foundations; West Ham United followed just five years later.

Arnold Hills, owner of the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, established Thames Ironworks FC on 29 June 1895. The club drew its players from the shipyard workers of east London. Five years later, in 1900, the club was reformed as West Ham United. Tottenham Hotspur, founded in 1882 as Hotspur FC by a group of schoolboys in north London, had already been playing competitive football for over a decade. The stage was set for a rivalry that would span the length of the capital.

North met east for the first time in the First Division during 1909-10, a year after Spurs joined the league, and London's keenest derby was under way.

Tottenham joined the Football League in 1908, and the two London clubs met in league competition for the first time during the 1909-10 season in the First Division. The fixture quickly established itself as one of the capital's most keenly anticipated derbies, with fans from north and east London travelling across the city to support their side. Geography and class identity gave the rivalry an edge that went beyond the pitch.

Nicholson's Spurs claimed the first 20th-century Double in 1961; Greenwood's West Ham answered with two trophies inside twelve months.

Bill Nicholson's Tottenham became the first club in the 20th century to win the League and FA Cup Double in 1961, a feat that cemented Spurs as one of England's elite. Across London, Ron Greenwood took charge at West Ham in 1961 and built a side around Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst, and Martin Peters. The Hammers won the FA Cup in 1964 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965. Meetings between the two clubs during this period carried the intensity of two sides at the peak of their powers.

Three West Ham men won England the World Cup; the Hammers didn't just have a club, they had a nation.

England's 1966 World Cup triumph at Wembley was built on a West Ham spine: Bobby Moore captained the side, Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick in the final, and Martin Peters scored the other goal. It gave the Hammers a claim to national significance that few clubs outside the traditional elite could match. Spurs, meanwhile, had their own international pedigree, with Jimmy Greaves part of the England squad. The rivalry between the two clubs took on an added dimension, with bragging rights extending well beyond London.

Ricky Villa's mazy run in the 1981 replay remains the FA Cup's most cherished goal.

Tottenham won the FA Cup in 1981 and again in 1982, with Ricky Villa's mazy solo goal in the 1981 final replay becoming one of the competition's most iconic moments. West Ham, under John Lyall, won the FA Cup in 1980 with a side that included Trevor Brooking and a young squad largely drawn from the club's academy. The early 1980s saw both clubs competing strongly, and derbies between them were fiercely contested affairs with full houses at White Hart Lane and the Boleyn Ground.

Spurs never dropped out; West Ham went up and down like a lift.

Both Tottenham and West Ham were founding members of the Premier League in 1992. The new era brought increased television coverage and global audiences, turning London derbies into marquee fixtures. West Ham's fluctuating fortunes saw them relegated and promoted several times, while Spurs remained in the top flight throughout. Each meeting carried the tension of a local derby amplified by the stakes of Premier League survival and European qualification.

A single afternoon at Upton Park cost Spurs a place among Europe's elite; the appeal that followed settled nothing except the bitterness.

On the final day of the 2005-06 Premier League season, Spurs needed a result at West Ham to secure fourth place and Champions League qualification. A 2-1 defeat at Upton Park, combined with Arsenal's win, meant Spurs missed out. The match became infamous after several Tottenham players reportedly fell ill before kick-off, with the club later unsuccessfully appealing to have the result overturned. It remains one of the most bitterly remembered fixtures in the rivalry's history.

A 3-2 farewell victory over United; the Boleyn Ground bowed out on its own terms.

West Ham played their final match at the Boleyn Ground in May 2016, a 3-2 win over Manchester United, before moving to the London Stadium in Stratford. The former Olympic venue gave the Hammers a 62,500-seat home, transforming the matchday experience. Spurs, too, were planning their own move, with the demolition of White Hart Lane beginning in 2017. The geography of the rivalry shifted, but the intensity remained.

A retractable pitch that moonlights as an NFL venue; only in N17.

Spurs opened their new 62,850-seat Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in April 2019, replacing the old White Hart Lane. The ground, designed by Populous, features the largest single-tier stand in the UK and a retractable pitch that also hosts NFL games. The first Premier League match at the new stadium was a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace. Hosting West Ham at the new ground added a fresh chapter to the derby, with the modern surroundings providing a striking backdrop to one of London's oldest rivalries.