They were had off by a cheeky Jamie Vardy gesture this week, but a new stadium has been a game-changer for Tottenham Hotspur and in their final visit to that venue before they move to their own future home, Everton must hope their switch can have a similar impact.
After being barracked by the travelling Spurs supporters in Monday night’s game at the King Power Stadium, veteran Leicester City striker Vardy, whose earlier equaliser earned his side a 1-1 draw, pointed to the Premier League logo on his shirt sleeve while being substituted and made a ‘1-0’ sign in reference to the number of times he had won the competition with the Foxes compared to the north London side.
Like Evertonians who know their history, some Tottenham fans indignantly pointed out that their club are in fact 2-1 up on Leicester when it comes to League Championship triumphs. However, while they were the first club in the 20th century to do ‘The Double’ and also the first English team to lift a European trophy, Spurs better hope luminaries such as Wolverhampton Wanderers (three titles, the last in 1959); Huddersfield Town (three titles, the last in 1926); Sheffield Wednesday (four titles, the last in 1930); or Sunderland (six titles, the last in 1936) don’t start to pull rank in this respect.
Like the way Newcastle United were viewed in their swashbuckling but empty-handed days under Kevin Keegan in the 1990s, which many Blues found particularly irksome, Spurs have long enjoyed a reputation that seems rather more inflated than their on-the-pitch accomplishments have tangibly merited.
Much of the phenomenon seems to have stemmed from them being based in the capital and therefore being a darling with the national-based media which in turn has also helped foster something of a special relationship with the England team (they’ve provided 79 players for the Three Lions over the years, more than any other club).
Indeed, when Everton thrashed Tottenham 4-1 in the 1995 FA Cup semi-final at Elland Road, Blues boss Joe Royle told the assembled press pack: “Sorry about your dream final (against Manchester United), lads, but b*****s to it. And that’s with a double ‘l’!” While it’s one of the great intangibles in the game, ‘size’ still matters in football – just look at the reaction to Richard Masters’ remark about Everton and Nottingham Forest back in January.
If you’d have asked this correspondent a few years ago, who was the bigger club, Everton or Tottenham Hotspur, I’d have answered quickly and emphatically in favour of the former with no sense of doubt or concerns that my judgement was being clouded.
As someone old enough to remember when only neighbours Liverpool had won more League Championships than the Blues, I’ve lived through seeing Arsenal, Manchester United and now even nouveau riche Manchester City all eclipse them on that front (unless those 115 charges come back to haunt Sheikh Mansour with the likes of Brendan Rodgers and company potentially being retrospectively handed some medals).
Although Everton are still well ahead of Spurs on title front (9-2 for those who don’t know), that doesn’t win you matches in 2024 as we saw so emphatically last weekend when Brighton & Hove Albion, a club who have never won a single major honour in their 123-year history, romped to a 3-0 win to spoil the party in the opening fixture of Goodison Park’s final season. In pretty much every other parameter that defines club size, the Blues now find themselves lagging far behind the lilywhites.
When the Premier League was formed back in 1992, both Everton and Spurs were considered to be part of the ‘Big Five,’ but that group has now evolved to the so-called ‘Sky Six’ with the Blues dropping out and the aforementioned Manchester City and Chelsea having been added.
Whatever you think of the phrase, it’s an economic reality, even with Newcastle United now being backed by the sovereign wealth fund of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
As Vardy alluded to, Spurs are the only one of that half dozen not to have been Premier League champions, but their financial status has been elevated by the construction of their billion-pound arena. One crown that they surely do possess is the title of having the best sports stadium this side of the Atlantic Ocean.
Today, Everton make what will be their final Premier League trip to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (incredibly, for all Daniel Levy’s fabled business acumen, over five years on from opening it still doesn’t have a sponsors’ name) before they make their own switch to Bramley-Moore Dock.
The Blues’ future home won’t be quite as fancy as Spurs’ and architect Dan Meis declared: “It is a simple building, it’s very functional, a Ferrari not a Bentley,” but that silver curved barrel roof still looks good when it shimmers on the days that the sun shines by the banks of the Mersey and with its riverfront location it is in a far more iconic setting as part of Liverpool’s world famous panoramic maritime cityscape.
Earlier this year it was revealed that Goodison is now in the Premier League’s bottom three venues when it comes to generating matchday revenue but when the Blues relocate to Vauxhall, they’ll not only have the opportunity to play in front of the biggest regular crowds in their entire history, but the number of premium seats will increase from around 1,300, approximately 3% of the overall capacity, to 5,500, over 10% of a ground which in turn is a third bigger to start with at a venue which can potentially be used every day of the year for other money-making ventures. S