In a guest post for 'Glory Nights', Tottenham Fan, North London ex-pat residing in New Zealand and Goalkeeper for Metro FC, Paul Ruscoe, writes about his trip to LA to see Spurs in the States.
Living in New Zealand, there is not much point in holding hope that one
day, my beloved Tottenham Hotspur will tour The Land of The Long White Cloud to
take on the Wellington Phoenix in preparation for a gruelling Premier League
campaign. Maybe one day, years into the future when technological developments
make the long flight feasible, we may see European teams visit Australia to
take on A-League opposition. But even in Oz, the standard of football is still
5-10 years behind even the MLS. Depressingly, that gap is widening with the
increasing influx of ‘designated players’ into the North America’s top flight. So
lets face it, it’s not likely we’ll see the Europeans here any time soon, and
that was justification enough for me to part with $2,000 to watch the mighty
Spurs in LA.
So, with no likelihood of seeing Spurs in NZ, when they announced they were to undertake a second US tour in three
years, I leapt at the chance to snap up tickets to see the Lilywhites take on Robbie
Keane’s LA Galaxy. After all, it’s only a 12 hour flight away. (It takes 8 hours
to drive to Wellington to see the Phoenix.) The game not only gave me the rare
opportunity to see Tottenham (probably the only thing I miss
about London, since I emigrated) but also to reconnect with acquaintances and
fans I spent the summer of 2010 with, when embarking on my journey to see
Spurs’ previous west coast encounter in San Jose.
I arrived in San Francisco on the Saturday, to meet up with an old friend,
comic and of course, Spurs fan, Trevor Hill. We were both excited to see the
Spurs, while enjoying a few other perks of being on vacation. (Namely the
ability to consume copious amounts of alcohol on a school night, without having
to feel guilty about it.) After two days well spent in the Haight Street bars,
we dragged ourselves out of bed at 7am on Monday morning, to catch a flight to
Long Beach from where we would ride the train into Hollywood.
The Cat and Fiddle, a fine boozer and home of the Los Angeles Tottenham
supporters club, would be our next stop. Upon arrival, a huge navy and white
banner greeted us, with ‘Pride of North London’ emblazoned upon it. Meanwhile,
sat in the beer garden were some familiar faces from the San Jose escapade of
2010. Staunch ‘Yiddo’, Graeme Rudge, welcomed Trevor and I to the pub. Graeme
is a colourful character. One would describe him distinctly ‘old school’, and
we were soon reminiscing and looking forward to the evening’s events. He had
the previous day, been evicted from Tottenham’s open training session on the
tour. This was not a surprise to any of us, but we knew with Graeme around, we
would definitely have a good laugh.
Graeme had brought with him a number of prostitutes to provide
‘entertainment’, should they be required. In truth, I was more excited at the
prospect of meeting Steffen Freund and Tony Parks, both of whom were expected
to arrive at the Cat and Fiddle at any time.
The LA Spurs had created a stage from which Freund and Parks would take
questions from an anticipant crowd. Indeed, as Freund took the microphone, we
welcomed him as only we would know how, with chants of ‘Yiddo’ interspersed with
shouts of “SHOOOOOOOOOOOT!”
The pair spoke eloquently, and professionally, while also dropping
subtle hints of another imminent signing for Andre Villas-Boas’ new look
Tottenham. However, the undisputed highlight has to have been when Parks’
joined us in our sing song that went late into night, even as we danced to the
“let’s all do the Gomes” tune. I’m not so sure if Parks or Freund were as keen
to let our Brazilian Goalkeeper spend the night with their wives as us Spurs
fans were though.
As the early hours were upon us, we had been joined by a couple of
well-known Hollywood porn stars. Freund and Parks were still enjoying
themselves with a few beers, and Graeme’s prostitutes had disappeared,
obviously having found some company. The LA Spurs group, the San Fran Spurs
group and the New York fans that had travelled were in good voice, as was the sole
Kiwi supporter among the crowd. As the night drew to a conclusion, I smiled.
Sun, Spurs, beer, porn stars, prostitutes and good friends. It doesn’t get much
better than this!
We returned to the scene of the crime on Tuesday afternoon. Match day.
Time for a few beers prior to our departure, with the buses set to leave at 5pm
to escort us to the Home Depot Center. After a merry old sing song on the bus,
Graeme and I marched into a local Galaxy pub with tens of fans following us in
singing “This boozer is ours, this boozer is ours! Tottenham Hotspur are here!
This boozer is ours!” I’m not sure the local Galaxy fans really knew what to
expect!
I’ve been to a number of sporting events in the US over the years,
including a number MLS matches. Indeed, American sports generate a unique
atmosphere, but lack the intensity of European football stadia. The MLS clubs
try, but the support still doesn’t feel organic like it is at the Lane. The
atmosphere in the MLS is a little plastic, a little forced, and still a little
too ‘American’. However, that wasn’t the case last Tuesday night.
The hardcore LA fans behind the goal were in good voice, although
lacking the wit to really challenge the local and travelling Tottenham support
that comprised mainly of expats based around the US (and of course, New
Zealand!). It was these Spurs fans, all craving the camaraderie felt when they
once stood on the terraces at White Hart Lane that shone. Singing for 90
minutes non stop and enjoying one of the few opportunities they would have to
see their idols.
Bale, Walker and Van der Vaart all started for Tottenham. The latter of
whom was withdrawn halfway through the first half. However, it was LA, and
Robbie Keane who created the better of the chances, despite going behind to a
fine Gareth Bale header. Defensively, Tottenham didn’t cover themselves in
glory and there was an air of inevitability about the Galaxy equaliser, coming
just 13 minutes after the opener. The second half saw Tottenham grow into the
game, and new signing Gylffi Sigurdsson had a golden opportunity to give
Tottenham the lead, but he shot wide when it looked easier to score. Chances
continued to flow at either end, as both sides sought to exploit each other’s
defensive frailties, but ultimately the game ended in a tie. A fair result.
The result was not important. After all, this was merely a pre-season
fixture for Spurs. And LA, without Beckham and Donovan (who were both on
All-Star duty), have important league games in the coming weeks.
However ‘meaningless’ this fixture may have been, what is clear that
even 52 years after our last League title, there is mystique about Tottenham
Hotspur that intrigues football fans across the globe. To the Spurs fans with
whom I shared this experience, some relatively new, others who remember the
great successes of the 1960’s through to the 1980s, it is clear that the glory
of the past, and even the glorious failures, the history, the passion, the
fairytales that come with following this great club mean so much to them. There
is something about Tottenham Hotspur that no other club has and yet it is so
difficult to pinpoint. It’s the glamour, the unwavering belief even at our
lowest ebb, the noise of the Park Lane end that some of these fans remember
fondly.
When they reminisce about the great players they have witnessed prior to
moving Stateside, you can see the glint in their eyes, for those eyes have most
certainly seen the glory.
Paul Ruscoe
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| Mel Gomes' e-book on Tottenham Hotspur's return to the European Cup after an absence of 49 seasons is now available to buy for £4.27 (inc VAT) on Amazon and Smashwords. It captures the flavour of travelling overseas to follow football and recalls the Glory Nights at the San Siro, the North London Derby Comeback, Peter Crouch's winner at Manchester City, putting Inter to the sword at White Hart Lane and Diego Maradona's one appearance in a Spurs shirt. It ends with an epilogue at the end of 2012 season, the day after another season of Europa League was confirmed. Further details and photos here. |
