Tottenham Take Revenge on Ipswich in 1962 Charity Shield Know Your Tottenham History

On this day, 11th August, 1962, Tottenham defeated Ipswich Town 5 – 1 at Portman in the FA Charity Shield match. Tottenham were the FA Cup holders having retained the trophy by defeating Burnley 3 – 1 at Wembley.

Ipswich under former Tottenham full-back and future England manager, Alf Ramsey, had won the 1st Division title, denying Spurs a second ‘Double’ by four points. They had won promotion from the Second Division the previous year and took the First Division by surprise. Ramsay adopted a formation to best suit his players which stifled the opposition. He dispensed with a recognised winger on the left and used an additional player in midfield to supply the front men. He had two powerful strikers and a slightly withdrawn winger on the right to make speedy runs and it took opponents some time to find a way to beat the system.

Through the 1961-62 season Spurs could look at many games and say that the result cost them the title but the two matches against Ipswich were especially significant. Ipswich won them both (3 – 1) and so had the advantage over Tottenham. If Spurs had managed to win the home game by 3-1, they would then have been Champions on goal average, for a second year in succession.

Ipswich Town 1  Tottenham Hotspur 5

Scorers: Stephenson    Greaves (2), Smith, White, Medwin

In the previous season’s league encounters, Spurs had refused to change their game plan to counter the Ipswich style but for the Charity Shield game they adapted their tactics to nullify the system. Bill Nicholson and Ramsey were team mates in the 1950s Tottenham ‘Push and Run’ team and it was a fascinating tactical duel between teams managed by two of Spurs’ greatest players. Nicholson detailed Danny Blanchflower and Dave Mackay to move forward to mark the Ipswich ‘wingers’ and brought his full-backs, Peter Baker and Ron Henry in to play alongside centre-half Maurice Norman to blunt the threat of the two strikers. It worked perfectly as Tottenham won the FA Charity Shield with ease. Jimmy Greaves (2), Terry Medwin, John White and Bobby Smith scored the goals.

Greaves and Smith had put Spurs two ahead by the interval. Greaves and White doubled the lead in the second half before Ipswich managed a consolation goal with ten minutes remaining. Even then Spurs were not finished and three minutes later, Medwin added Spurs’ fifth as they retained the FA Charity Shield having defeated an FA XI 3 – 2 at White Hart Lane the previous August.

Alf Ramsey was appointed manager of England the following December and the rest, ‘1966 and all that’, is history.

Team: Brown, Baker, Henry; Blanchflower, Norman, Mackay; Medwin, White, Smith, Greaves, Jones