Is Gascoigne Going To Have a Crack? The Spurs Nostalgia Podcast

For me Boxing Day was as exciting as Christmas Day itself....though Spurs would go on to ruin that on several occasions! In this bonus episode I talk you through all our Boxing Day games throughout the 90s and I also touch on some games at Selhurst Park (not always against Palace) too.

Please help to grow this podcast by telling someone about it. Leaving a (positive!) review or rating also really helps.

Got some xmas money from your Aunt that's burning a hole in your pocket? Buy my books about Spurs in the 80s and 90s respectively. You can get them directly from me here - https://90sspursbook.square.site/

Follow me on X @garethdace or Bluesky @80s90sspursbooks and let me know your memories of watching Spurs on Boxing Day!

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To close Season 1 of Is Gascoigne Going To Have a Crack?, Gareth is joined by Dame Julie Welch (author of the official Tottenham Hotspur biography) and Milo from The Game Is About Glory to revisit one of the most seismic moments in Spurs’ modern history: the 1993 breakdown of the Alan Sugar–Terry Venables partnership.

This was more than a managerial change. It was a front‑page national story, a boardroom civil war, and a sliding‑doors moment that shaped Tottenham Hotspur for the rest of the 1990s — and arguably right up to the present day.

Together, we explore:

• Terry Venables’ rise: from Chelsea and Crystal Palace to Barcelona, England, and his glamorous arrival at Spurs
• Alan Sugar’s background: Amstrad, Sky TV, East End roots, and the business mentality he brought into football
• How their partnership — the supposed “Dream Ticket” — unravelled within days
• The club’s dire financial crisis under Irving Scholar
• The attempted consortiums, the Maxwell threat, and Venables’ ambition to own the club
• The Panorama and Dispatches documentaries that captured the fallout
• The personalities, egos, and power struggles that made this the messiest divorce in English football
• The long‑term ramifications for Spurs’ identity, stability, and trajectory through the 1990s

We also ask the big hypothetical:

What if Venables had stayed and Sugar had gone? How different would the 90s — and modern Spurs — look today?

If you’re interested in Spurs’ journey through the 1980s and 1990s, Gareth’s books Hot Shot Tottenham and Is Gascoigne Going To Have a Crack? are available here:

https://90sspursbook.square.site/

(and via Amazon in hardback and e‑book formats).

Please follow the podcast and leave a rating — it really helps.

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What can you remember about home games against Liverpool in the 90s? In this bonus episode I talk you through our 10 encounters at White Hart Lane that begin and end with victories and the usual mixture of magic, mayhem and mediocrity in between!

These bonus episodes act as an appetiser in the build up to a forthcoming match. If I manage to trigger any memories or peculiarities you weren't aware of then do discuss them and tell somebody else about this podcast.

Find me on BlueSky @80s90sspursbooks or X @garethdace. Buy my Spurs books directly from me here - https://90sspursbook.square.site/

Thanks for listening!

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Jonny Blain from An Echo of Glory joins me as we reminisce about the inaugural Premier League season 92/93. It was a season that...eventually....provided some great hope as the Anderton-Barmby-Sheringham trio set White Hart Lane alight in Spring. We discussed scoring 4 goals in 5 minutes against Southampton and Nayim's hat-trick at Man City. However, it was ultimately a season of disappointment as Arsenal got FA Cup SF revenge. And what about the Fiorucci Cup?!

There's some cultural references too - Gladiators, Ghost Watch and WWF.

If you're enjoying the podcast please leave a positive review or rating - they really help. To learn more about the 90s please buy my book also titled Is Gascoigne Going To Have a Crack - you can buy directly from me here - https://90sspursbook.square.site/ also available on Amazon.

Check out Jonny's podcast An Echo of Glory - https://podfollow.com/1686363610 or on YouTube

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What do you remember about away games at The City Ground in the 90s? In total there were 13 games of which 12 were completed!

Join me as I reminisce about all those games, results and goalscorers identifying the magic, mayhem and moments of mediocrity. Did you go to any of these games or have any particular memories? If so, please share them in the comments or on BlueSky @80s90sspurs books or on X @garethdace

Please help spread the word about this podcast by telling someone about it. All reviews and ratings are also really helpful.

Buy my books about Spurs in the 80s and the 90s. You can get them directly from me here - https://90sspursbook.square.site/

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Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker are two of the greatest players to have performed in lilywhite in the club's history. Gazza arrived in Summer 1988 and Lineker a year later and they formed one of the great Spurs attacking partnerships while also starring for England at Italia 90. What were they like to watch and to play alongside? My guests for this episode were Guy Butters, a teammate of both and esteemed South American Football journalist Tim Vickery who was a regular at White Hart Lane during this period.

We discuss the state of Spurs in the late 80s before they arrived, a little about Guy's Spurs career, Gazza and Lineker's individual traits and what made them such a potent partnership for club and country.

Read more of Guy's memories of Spurs and about Gazza and Lineker's arrivals in the 80s in my book Hot Shot Tottenham. If you want to learn or relive the 90s then take a look at my book Is Gascoigne Going To Have a Crack? - both are available to buy directly from me here - https://90sspursbook.square.site/

Follow me/the pod on Bluesky - @80s90sspursbooks.bsky.social and @spursnostalgiapod.bsky.social or Twitter @GarethDace.

Please help me to grow this podcast by giving it a rating and/or review....and please spread the word and tell others about it too!

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I was joined by Last Word on Spurs' Jason McGovern - referred to as 'The Oracle' to dissect the 91/92 season.

Following the dramatic FA Cup success in May 1991 it was all-change at White Hart Lane with a new ownership dream team wiping out the debt but Gazza had played his last game in lilywhite. Back in European football and with the best striker in England (Gary Lineker - not John Hendry!) could Spurs build on their success and make it back-to-back trophy years?

It's the hope that kills you eh! Despite a good start the league season descended into mediocrity though there were enjoyable cup runs.

Jason and I pour over the detail of the main games, characters and events for a largely forgettable campaign that needs to be unpicked. Listen in to learn more about:

• Peter Shreeve back in the hot-seat
• the brilliance of Lineker
• Donald Trump on Saint & Greavsie
• A miserable Burger King experience
• Bomb scares and floodlight failures

Buy my book Is Gascoigne Going To Have a Crack? to learn all about Spurs' 90s journey. You can get it directly from me here - https://90sspursbook.square.site/

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From Teddy shushing the Gallowgate to 7-goal hammerings I'll remind you of visits to Newcastle in the 90s. There were 8 games which include 1 win, 3 draws and 4 defeats. in this bonus episode I reflect on some of the magic, mayhem and mediocrity of those games. If you're on your way to St James' Park and now on your way home and you've seen a ball kicked you've done better than I did!

At the end I'll play you around 5 minutes audio of a new episode I've just recorded with a Newcastle fan in which we looked at both clubs respective 90s journeys told through the prism of 5 fixtures between the two clubs. The full episode will be released in 2026.

As we approach Christmas remember my two books will act as the perfect stocking fillers - buy them directly from me here - https://90sspursbook.square.site/

Please do help share this podcast series - tell somebody, provide a rating or review or mention me on X - @garethdace or Bluesky @spursnostalgiapod

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Irving Scholar - a boyhood Spurs obsessive - took over the club in 1982 with ambitions to make Spurs the best team in the country and to revolutionise English football. However, in 1991, having won the FA Cup the club found itself in a mountain of debt and fighting for its very survival. Scholar was forced to sell and give up his dream but he remains one of the most divisive characters in the club's history. To truly understand the neurotic state of Spurs during this period a proper exploration of Scholar's running of the club is needed. I was joined by the esteemed Sports and Finance writer Mihir Bose who co-wrote Scholar's revealing 1992 memoir Behind Closed Doors.

Mihir expertly discusses:

• Scholar's hopes and dreams for Spurs
• How and why he created a PLC
• His relationship with managers
• The controversial redevelopment of The Shelf
• How the club found itself in £12m debt and why he had to go
• Scholar's legacy for Spurs...and English football

Only Glenn Hoddle is mentioned more times than Scholar in my book about Spurs in the 80s. You can also read about the post-Scholar world in Is Gascoigne Going To Have a Crack? Spurs in the 90s - buy either or both directly from me here - https://90sspursbook.square.site/

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In this bonus episode I look back at our ten away games at Highbury during the 90s. From stodgy draws, heart-breaking late defeats and John Hendry doing something that only Younes Kaboul has done since!

Please subscribe to the pod and positive ratings and reviews really helpful.

If you want to learn more about Spurs in the 90s you can buy my book (also titled) Is Gascoigne Going To Have a Crack? or if you want to know about Spurs in the 80s 'Hot Shot Tottenham' will be of interest. Buy them both directly from me here - https://90sspursbook.square.site/

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