David Squires pokes at Spurs stadium issues in Guardian cartoon

Most of you already know who David Squires is. The Guardian’s resident football cartoonist pencils a weekly look at the football issues of the day, and he is known for his hilarious and sometimes cutting satirical wit directed at the biggest names in the sport.

Well, today Squires’ column takes on Tottenham Hotspur, and specifically the yet-unfinished Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. I’m not going to reproduce anything here apart from embedding the tweet, but everyone should click on the link to read it.

It’s not uncommon to see a Tottenham-related panel or two appear in one of Squires’ works, but having an entire cartoon dedicated to Spurs is a rare event. One of the things I love about Squires is how he seems to nail even the smallest bits of fan culture, even as he lampoons them with his acerbic wit. And while this cartoon is incredibly critical of Tottenham’s ongoing stadium saga, I can’t help but think this is fantastic satire.

Squires has been accused in the past of having an “anti-Spurs bias” but I’ve always thought he ticks off all fanbases more or less equally. In just a few panels here, he manages to touch on Spurs’ raising of ticket prices, the controversial relationship between the club and local business vis-à-vis the stadium construction, the connection to the NFL, “Spursiness,” Fernando Llorente’s immobility, and even the ill-fated cheese room. All of it is pointed, but none of it comes across as mean-spirited (apart from maybe the image of Eric Dier picking his nose).

Squires’ humor isn’t for everyone, and this is likely going to anger a not-insignificant percentage of Spurs fans, including some readers on here. That’s fine, and it’s also fine to not find it funny. But as a fan of Squires’ past work and of satire in general, I loved this. There’s something about the way Squires perfectly distills down issues within the sport to something that (almost) everyone can laugh at, even the subjects of his satire, that I find refreshing. That’s the hallmark of a good satirist, and I think it’s important to be able to laugh every once in a while at the things you love and enjoy.