A Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Friday, Sept. 9

Happy Friday, Spurs fans! I don’t have anything particularly profound to say this morning, except to reiterate that I’m positively giddy about the idea of seeing 90,000 Tottenham Hotspur fans (ok, 85k + 5k Monaco fans) filling Wembley Stadium for Spurs’ first Champions League match in six years.

I’ve been reading a pre-release copy of Martin Cloake and Alan Fisher’s new book “A People’s History of Tottenham Hotspur” lately (book review forthcoming!), and I’ve always been struck by not only how fandom has changed since the early part of the 20th century, but also how many people they could cram into those rickety old stadiums back then. Oh sure, it was I’m certain horribly unsafe and a small mishap away from catastrophe in the best of circumstances, but the idea of being a part of over 75,000 fans packed like sardines in White Hart Lane both terrifies and thrills me.

What must it have been like back then to stand in the terraces, butt to butt, singing and cheering? What would the noise have been like? We have nothing like it in American sports fandom. While England is showing the first glimmers of openness to the idea of safe standing after the Hillsborough disaster, I think it’ll be a while before we see stands even like what we see in Germany today. Wednesday night we’ll see 90,000 fans cheering on Tottenham Hotspur, and that may be the closest thing we’ll see to the bygone eras of football fandom for a while.

I wish I could be there, but I’ll be with you from 7500 miles away, in spirit. For those of you who will be there, please come back and post your reactions to the atmosphere in a FanPost.

Here are some links to help start your day.

The Mirror thinks that Harry Kane will be a target of AC Milan after they are taken over by Chinese billionaires. I’m sure they will target him. I’m also sure they’ll fail.

Pochettino thought that they had a chance to win the title last season after the 4-0 win at Stoke last April.

Landon Donovan is about to enter his Fat Michael Jordan with the Wizards phase by coming out of retirement to rejoin the LA Galaxy.

The Arsene Wenger - Jose Mourinho feud has gone peak Mean Girls.

It me when Kane finally signs his contract extension.