Tottenham vs Arsenal: Why the north London derby means so much to fans

Tottenham vs Arsenal: Why the north London derby means so much to fans
It’s the north London derby LIVE on talkSPORT today and Spurs supporter @TalkingTHFC on Twitter explains what it means to fans.Fans of every club are notorious for spouting the same old cliche: ‘my local rivalry is fierce than all the others’. But there really isn’t anything quite like the north London derby.In years gone by, Arsenal’s dominance over Tottenham made the contest somewhat flat. Nowadays, with the two sides battling for the same prizes and Spurs regularly finishing above the Gooners, it’s become almost impossible for even neutral fans not to become hooked on the derby.

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The last two contests at the Emirates proved the competitiveness between the two is stronger than ever. From Arsenal’s recent 4-2 comeback win, to Dele Alli’s infamous ‘2-0’ celebration, north London derby day is on the calendar of all proper football fans.1

Dele Alli is one of the best wind-up merchants playing at the moment and this was in full flow during Tottenham’s Carabao Cup victory over north London neighbours Arsenal in December. Spurs were 2-0 up and cruising at the Emirates Stadium when an Arsenal fan threw a plastic bottle at Alli’s head. The England international turned round and reminded the home fans of the scoreline with his fingers and given Spurs went on to win the game, Alli had the last laugh.

For me, it means everything. The away fixture is the one you dread more than anything and the home tie the one you look forward to most. It’s nervy, it’s tense and it’s utterly chaotic.We all have our favourite derby memories, and it’s perhaps no surprise to hear the brilliant 5-1 League Cup semi-final win back in 2008 is my favourite. After all, any game that sees Steed Malbranque bury a fifth goal to send you to Wembley is something that doesn’t come around too often. The Lilywhites have in front of them one of their biggest weeks this season. A triple header of Chelsea, Arsenal and Dortmund is a trio of games that no team would wish to face back-to-back. If they can come through this still in third place and into the Champions League quarter-finals, it’ll be a pretty good week to be a Spurs fan.

Players are up for it, too

Ian Wright on the north London derbyI remember when I signed for Arsenal, I stayed up talking to David Rocastle until four or five in the morning talking about the derby and what it means to the fans.As soon as any players joined the first thing you teach them is how big the game is. This is Tottenham, these areour main rivals.[Former chairman] David Dein tells a story about Patrick Vieira when he was learning English. The first we taught him was Tottenham are s**t.As a player youve just got to tap into the rivalry. The first fixture fans look for is the same one we look for as players.

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