Tottenham - Once Upon a time No 9 (Charlton away)

By Dave P
October 1 2005

Did you know that we have yet to beat Charlton Athletic at home in the Premier league? Played six drawn 3 and lost 3. Its just as well that this is an away tie where our record is slightly better – Played 6 won 3 and lost 3. So this is one of the fixtures where, if we can expect to show our European aspirations in their best light we need some improvement.

In the light of all the talk of the Premiership becoming boring perhaps a repeat of our first ever game against the Addicks would be welcome. This was a London Charity Cup Semi Final played at a neutral ground on 26th November 1929. The final result was 5-3 to Spurs with our goals coming from Arthur Crompton, Eugene (Taffy) O’Callaghan, Hartley (of whom I know little) and a brace from Jimmy Armstrong.

One would hope we do not get a repeat of our first league encounter at the Valley which came on December 14 of the same year (1929) when 17,350 witnessed a 1-0 win for the Addicks. The return match on 19 April 1930 at White Hart Lane was won 3-0 by Spurs with Ted Harper scoring twice and James Smy netting the other one. James Smy only scored six goals in our colours in his 17 games for us and another of those came against Charlton in a 5-0 home win on 1st November 1930. The other goals that day coming from Taffy O’Callaghan and a Ted Harper hat-trick.

That Hat-trick by Ted Harper was his second against Charlton in under a month as on 13th October 1930 he scored 3 in a 6-0 win over Charlton in the 1st Round of the London Charity Cup. A home tie played in front of just over 2000 supporters. While with Spurs, Ted Harper scored 83 goals in 78 games and this included 36 in the 30/31 season, including four hat-tricks, a four timer and a five timer against Reading to share the club record.

Incidentally the other Spurs five timers were scored by Alf Stokes against Birmingham in 1957, Les Allen in that cup game against Crewe in 1960, & Bill Joyce in the Thames and Medway League way back in 1899. Jack Jull also scored 5 in the London Senior Cup way back in our distant past against Ioana in 1889 and another five was notched up by Frank Cottrell against the Coldstream Guards in the London Charity Cup in 1891.

One player did score more in one game in our colours but as that was a wartime game it is not normally counted in the records although perhaps it should be. That was Jack Rowley who scored seven against Luton Town on 12th February 1944.

I mentioned Taffy, O’Callaghan earlier and now a bit about him. A Welsh International, born in Ebbw Vale in 1906 he was the son of an Irish Soldier. He represented Wales at schoolboy level as well as playing for Victoria United and Ebbw Vale Corries. After an unsuccessful trial at Newcastle he joined us as an amateur in September 1924. He had spells at our two nursery clubs at the time , Barnet and Northfleet before turning professional in 1926. In 313 first team games for us he returned 121 goals, a good record for an Inside Forward, as well as gaining 11 caps (and 3 goals) for Wales. He left Spurs for Leicester in March 1935 and from there to Fulham in 1937, who he coached after the second world war up until his death in 1956.