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A Look at Tottenham’s Positions Over the Years on Christmas

By Alexander Balano

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 03: Tottenham Hotspur players observe a minutes silence for the victims of the plane crash involving the Brazilian club Chapecoense prior to the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Swansea City at White Hart Lane on December 3, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Tony Marshall/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 03: Tottenham Hotspur players observe a minutes silence for the victims of the plane crash involving the Brazilian club Chapecoense prior to the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Swansea City at White Hart Lane on December 3, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Tony Marshall/Getty Images) /
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Tottenham have generally hovered outside of the top four in the Premier League on Christmas. But since the 2008-09 season, Spurs have finished inside the top 10.

Earlier today, the Evening Standard revealed a detailed breakdown on Tottenham’s Christmas history over the years. Specifically, on how the north London club has done at the halfway point of the season and how they have gone on to finish the year off.

Although, after a quick look at the data provided to us in the link above, it doesn’t look exactly pleasing to the eyes at all.

For the past 21 seasons, since the 1995-96 campaign (when the Premier League adopted a 38-match schedule), Tottenham have finished outside the top four on 18 occasions.

They had a stretch of 14 consecutive years where they never once finished in fourth place until Harry Redknapp helped guide Spurs in his first full year as manager during the 2009-10 season.

Following a highly successful campaign (position-wise) that also included Spurs’ first-ever Champions League berth, Tottenham have only managed two other top four finishes — the 2011-12 and 2015-16 seasons.

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To only have three successful seasons out of 18 — in terms of a top four finish only — is pretty dismal, sure, but there’s some good news when scouring through the table from the link up top.

When reading Sam Long’s notes of how Spurs have done over the past two decades, he highlighted some interesting facts on Tottenham’s form which sheds a little light on why there’s some optimism for the second half of this campaign:

  • Tottenham have spent Christmas Day outside of the top four on 17 occasions (Editor’s note: not including this year, apparently).
  • Spurs have only had more than this season’s total of points (33) on Christmas Day on two previous occasions (1995/1996 [34], 2011/2012 [35]). – (Editor’s note: Spurs’ finished the 1995/96 season in eighth place and the 2011/12 season in fourth)
  • Spurs have only climbed into the top four from outside the Champions League places on Christmas Day on one occasion (2009/10 – from fifth up to fourth).
  • Spurs have climbed an average of 0.5882 positions up the table by the end of the season when they have spent Christmas Day outside of top four. Partially skewed by climbing eight places in 2008/09 season.
  • Spurs have improved their points tally after Christmas in 14 out of 21 seasons at an average of 7.35.

Okay, so with these notes above, there is one thing that stands out and that’s how Spurs have generally been on the outside looking in by the time Christmas rolls around. Just like this year.

Looking at every season prior to the 2008-09 season saw Tottenham’s second half of the season fluctuate come May. Sometimes they did better in the second half compared to the first half. Other times it’s reversed.

More from Tottenham History

However, since the conclusion of the ’08-’09 campaign, every single season afterwards has seen Spurs finish inside the top 10. The 2013-14 season saw Tottenham finish in sixth place, their only other low finish was eighth in 2008-09.

From 2009-2013 and 2014-16, Spurs finished inside the top five. Showing consistency in being labelled as a top-six club (sometimes it could be seen as backhanded comment).

In any event, while it’s easy to note that Tottenham have improved position-wise since the 2008-09 campaign, the number one thing that matters is how Spurs do under Mauricio Pochettino.

Unfortunately, the Argentine manager has a very small sample size, even when you include his Premier League managerial debut with Southampton from the 2013-14 season.

The one thing that can be taken at face value when looking at Pochettino’s success in England’s top flight division is that he has improved each year without fail.

When managing the Saints through 17 games, they sat in ninth place on Christmas. At the end of the 2013-14 season they ended the year in eight. An improvement of one spot doesn’t look like much but when looking at this after including his tenure with Spurs, it’s more impressive.

Now as Tottenham manager, Mauricio Pochettino’s debut season in the 2014-15 year took a seventh-place team at Christmas all the way up to fifth.

Last year, a third place finish felt bittersweet because Tottenham missed an opportunity to clinch their first league title in 55 years, but they improved from the previous season. At Christmas last year, Spurs sat in fourth and challenged Leicester City for much of the new year before settling in at third.

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This time around, Spurs are once again sitting outside a top four spot but with 21 games left to play, and based on Mauricio Pochettino’s track record for the past three seasons since his Southampton days, Tottenham are in for a good second half and a higher finish than fifth.

Whether that’s a fourth-place finish, third, second or even first. One thing is for sure, Pochettino has managed to improve each year by guiding his team to a better position than they ended the previous year.