Tottenham Hotspur FC commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English professional football club based in Tottenham, North London.  The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane. Tottenham Hotspur was the first club in the 20th century to achieve the League and FA Cup Double, winning both competitions in the 1960–61 season. In 1963, Spurs became the first British club to win a major European trophy - the European Cup Winners' Cup. The club was formed in 1882 as the Hotspur Football Club by grammar school boys from the bible class at All Hallows Church. They were also members of Hotspur Cricket Club and it is thought that the name Hotspur was associated with Sir Henry Percy (Sir Harry Hotspur) who was "Harry Hotspur" of Shakespeare's Henry IV, part 1, and who lived locally during the 14th century. In 1884 the club was renamed Tottenham Hotspur Football and Athletic Club to distinguish itself from another team called London Hotspur.  They turned professional just before Christmas 1895 and were admitted to the Southern League attracted crowds nearing 15,000. Tottenham won the Southern League title and crowned this achievement the next year by winning the FA Cup - becoming the only non-League club to do so since the formation of the Football League. Tottenham won election to the Second Division of the Football League for the 1908–09 season, immediately winning promotion as runners-up to the First Division.  

It was not until 1951 that Tottenham captured the League title. Playing heroes at the time included Alf Ramsey, Ronnie Burgess, Ted Ditchburn, Len Duquemin, Sonny Walters and Bill Nicholson. The years following this period of success saw a relative decline, as age, injuries and other teams adapting to Spurs' revolutionary style of play meant that the club struggled for much of the decade.  A revival under Jimmy Anderson was capitalised upon by Spur’s most successful manager former player Bill Nicholason. In his first game as manager on 11 October 1958, Spurs beat Everton 10–4. He subsequently guided Tottenham to major trophy success three seasons in a row in the early 1960s: the double in 1961, the FA Cup and European Cup Semi-final in 1962, and the Cup Winners' Cup in 1963. Key players included Danny Blanchflower, John White, Dave Mackay, Cliff Jones, Jimmy Greaves and Terry Medwin.  After 1964, the "Double" side began to disintegrate due to age, injuries and transfers. Nicholson rebuilt a second successful team with imports like Alan Gilzean, Mike England, Alan Mullery, Terry Venables, Joe Kinnear and Cyril Knowles. They beat Chelsea to win the 1967 FA Cup Final and finished third in the league.  Nicholson added the League Cup (1971 and 1973) and the UEFA Cup 1971–72 to Tottenham's illustrious history before he resigned at the start of the 1974–75 season due to both a poor start, and his disgust at seeing rioting fans in Rotterdam in a UEFA Cup final, which Spurs lost.  

Spurs opened the 1980s on a high with an FA Cup replay win over Manchester City, 3–2, thanks to Ricky Villa's memorable and remarkable solo goal. They lifted the FA Cup again against QPR the next season, and were in contention for four trophies, including the First Division title  but ended up fourth.  Key players such as Steve Archibald, Garth Crooks, Glenn Hoddle, Osvaldo Ardiles, and long-serving Steve Perryman inspired Tottenham to UEFA Cup glory in 1984.  In recent years Tottenham won the FA Cup in 1991 and the League Cup in 1999 and 2008. They have remained a major force in the Premier League and in 2009-10 a fourth place finish earned them a place in the Champions League. Under manager Mauricio Pochettino, Spurs finished second in the 2016–17 season, their highest placed league finish since the 1962–63 season.  Tottenham played their home games at Wembley during the 2017-18 as White Hart Lane was demolished to allow the construction of the new stadium.  The following season they reached the Champions League final losing 2-0 to Liverpool. A poor run of results led to Pochettino being sacked and the appointment of Jose Mourinho. His defensive style of football and a poor second half to the season led to his dismissal.   This decline was further accelerated by his successor Nuno Espirito Santo and within months Antonio Conte was in charge. He guided them to fourth spot and a return to the Champions League during his first full season but parted company with the club near the end of the following season.