Losses happen even to the best of teams. We all remember the epic 2005 Champions League final, the so-called Miracle of Istanbul, where AC Milan objectively bottled a 3-0 lead at halftime. Moreover, there have been many seasons where teams tragically lost league titles by dropping points on the last few matchdays.
That said, there seems to be one time that has made bottling their trademark sign. Always the bridesmaid and never the bride, Tottenham Hotspur has made their reputation for almost winning but coming up short in the end.
A Premier League Giant That Can’t Back It Up
Let me be clear right off the bat. Nobody is saying that Tottenham is on the level of Man United, City, Liverpool, or its two biggest London rivals, Arsenal and Chelsea. That said, after these five teams, the Spurs are undoubtedly the sixth-biggest team in the Premier League.
They have been in the top tier for almost the entirety of their modern history and have a huge following, both domestically and abroad. In 2023, it was ranked as the ninth richest club in the world. That said, for a club of such size, Tottenham hasn’t really delivered anything, especially in the last half of the century.
Sure, the team has two First Division/Premier League titles, but the younger one is still over 60 years old. Moreover, the team hasn’t even won the FA Cup for more than 30 years. Still, it’s not that Tottenham hasn’t been in contention for many trophies, even some of the most prestigious ones in club football. It’s just that the team miraculously always fumbles up every opportunity in the end.
Stumbling In The Second Part Of The Season
In the past decade, the Spurs have gotten their fans’ hopes up several times, only to finish in their familiar position between third and sixth place. The original meme of Spurs bottling their Premier League season came about in the 2015-16 season. That year, the team went on a hot start and kept up the pace with Leicester City for most of the year.
However, a series of poor results in the final stretch prevented Tottenham from keeping up, and the team ended 11 points behind the unexpected champs. Spurs fans were devastated, unaware that this wasn’t an unfortunate ending but the start of a great bottling dynasty that still goes on.
Three years later, the Spurs again started the season swimmingly but stumbled as the year went on. In 2024, Ange Postecoglou brought on a more exciting style, and the team dominated the league at the start again. However, even Ange and his squad of underdogs couldn’t go against Tottenham’s DNA.
A Bottle Not Many Remember
Although the Tottenham squads of the 21st century provided many amusing bottle jobs, most fans probably don’t remember an old-school bottle job before social media. In 1987, Tottenham faced Coventry City in the FA Cup final. With a 7/7 record in the final before and facing a significantly weaker opponent, Tottenham were the heavy favorites.
However, the match was very tight and even went to extra time. In the 96th minute, Mabbutt scored an own goal that gave Coventry the win. Now, we’re not implying that this might have been the first Tottenham bottle job. But it sure was a result that can serve as a foundation for all Tottenham Hotspur bottling jobs that came after.
Was The 2019 Champions League Final a Bottle Job?
In 2019, the Spurs reached their first Champions League final and were set to play Liverpool. LFC was the favorite, but Tottenham fans could rightfully hope for a positive result. And credit where credit is due, this final certainly wasn’t a bottle job from the Spurs.
If anything, Tottenham delivered in the clutch several times on their way to the final. First, in the quarterfinals, the Spurs beat Manchester City 4-3 at Etihad to advance. In the semifinals, they turned around the game against Ajax in Amsterdam in the 96th minute. This performance is deemed one of the greatest Champions League comebacks. The Spurs were down 2-0 at the half and won 3-2 thanks to Lucas Moura’s hat-trick.
Then, in the final, they simply faced a better team. The Spurs conceded at the very start and the very end of the game and fell to Klopp’s inspired Liverpool team. For a team that has become somewhat of a meme for coming up short, the 2019 Champions League run was a memorable one that just had an unfortunate finale.
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Featured image taken from YouTube.
