A weekly series revealing the club allegiances of English football fans.
Kelly Lindsay
Customer services representative
Tottenham Hotspur
Fan since: About 1979.
Favourite player: Glenn Hoddle.
Greatest moment: 1981 FA Cup Final replay
Been to White Hart Lane?: Yes.
I've been a Tottenham fan for almost 30 years, so you'll understand that I'm a patient man.
I chose to follow Tottenham, not because of its history or any particular player, but because the players wore a white shirt.
Reading Shoot magazine as a youngster, I kept seeing teams in either red or blue, which I thought was a little boring. So for me it was a toss-up between Spurs or Crystal Palace which, ironically was managed at the time by a young future Tottenham manager, Terry Venables. I reckon I made the right choice.
Spurs has always been under-achieving compared with the aspirations of the club and fans alike. There have always been the occasional glittering moments when a cup or three has been lifted, and none better than the 1981 FA Cup replay against Manchester City.
It will always be one of the great moments in the history of the cup when Ricky Villa waltzed around the entire City side several times to score the winning goal in a 3-2 victory.
Yes, football fans, like fishermen, like to embellish a little.
I love the fact that there is the superstitious factor of Spurs winning a trophy in a year ending in one: 1901, 1921, 1951, 1961, 1971, 1981 and 1991.
I love the history of playing attractive, exciting football, albeit at the expense of any consistency or winning the league.
I love the exciting flair players that Tottenham usually attracts, like Hoddle, Gascoigne, and Ginola.
But I especially love any victories over a certain other North London team (although my mate Nige will tell you that they don't happen often).
So, despite the start to this season, I'm excited about the direction Spurs are heading. The chairman has backed Juande Ramos with money to buy quality players. The team spirit is back after culling out those not fit to wear the badge proudly.
The Cockerel is starting to crow once again - well, until the next game at least.
