Jurgen Klinsmann’s Tottenham Debut – 6th August,1994 Know Your Tottenham History

Signing Jurgen Klinsmann in July, 1994 had a tremendous effect on what was a very despondent Tottenham that summer as they coped with the punishment handed out by the Football Association for financial irregularities. Suddenly, there was a buzz about White Hart Lane and other clubs benefited from the knock-on effect as their supporters wanted to see the German World Cup winner as well. Watford were the first club to see the rewards as the clamour for tickets to watch Ossie Ardiles’ team escalated for what had been previously an ordinary pre-season friendly. Every Spurs fan wanted to be present for Klinsmann’s debut at Vicarage Road and many Watford supporters wanted to be there as well. In fact, 14, 021 attended. It was just like 1978 all over again when Tottenham signed Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa.

The match was played on this day, 6th August, 1994. The match ended in a 1 – 1 draw but Klinsmann didn’t manage to score the goal that everyone was hoping for. The Tottenham goal came from Teddy Sheringham who was to develop a potent striking partnership with Klinsmann during their season together. They scored 52 League and Cup goals that season, Klinsmann getting 29 with Sheringham scoring 23.

In his book, Spurs Day-to-Day Life at White Hart Lane, Graham Betts records that the following morning’s newspaper headlines were stolen by a stoat. Betts writes:

‘The stoat made an appearance on the pitch shortly before kick off and proceeded to run around the pitch in an attempt to evade capture by Watford’s hornet-dressed mascot and Spurs goalkeeper Ian Walker.’

Team: Walker; Austin, Kerslake (Carr), Calderwood (Hill), Nethercott (Mabbutt), Campbell, Barmby, Howells, Anderton (Rosenthal), Sheringham, Klinsmann.