1908–09 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season

The 1908–09 season was Tottenham's thirteenth season as a fully professional club and their 26th year in existence. Having been elected to the Football League they competed in the Second Division and in this first season gained promotion by finishing in second place. In the FA Cup Tottenham were drawn away to Manchester City in the first round and overcame a Tom Holford hat-trick to win the game 4–3. In the second round Tottenham were at home to Fulham and won 1–0 with a goal from Robert Steel. The third round, where they were drawn against Burnley, was a different story as this took two games, the first being at home ended in a draw, while at Turf Moor Tottenham lost 3–1 ending their run. Tottenham also competed in the newly created London Challenge Cup with a combination of first and reserve team players.

In June, after the season finished, Tottenham and Everton went on tour to Argentina and Uruguay in South America. The first game played was a display match between Everton and Tottenham which finished in a 2–2 draw. Tottenham then played against a combination of players formed from clubs in the Uruguayan league. The result was a resounding 8–0 to Tottenham. Three days later Tottenham played against what is recorded as the Argentina squad to a 1–0 win. Then three days after that they played against the Argentinian league's best eleven in a 4–1 win.^[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ENG Fred Boreham — GK  ENG Robert Hewitson — DF  ENG Walter Bull — DF  ENG Oliver Burton — DF  SCO Thomas Leslie — DF  ENG Ernie Coquet — DF  ENG Jabez Darnell — DF  SCO Danny Steel — DF  SCO John Watson — MF  ENG Tom Morris — MF  ENG Bert Middlemiss — MF  ENG Jack Curtis

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  GER Max Seeburg — MF  ENG Charlie Woodruff — FW  ENG Frederick Massey — FW  ENG Doug MacFarlane — FW  ENG Joe Brough — FW  SCO James Morton — FW  ENG William Minter — FW  SCO Robert Steel — FW  ENG Percy Humphreys — FW  ENG Charlie Woodruff — FW  ENG Vivian Woodward

Having already signed Danny Steel the previous season, Spurs snapped up his younger brother Robert who was under contract with Greenock Morton in Scotland.^[2] In 1909 Vivian Woodward shocked Tottenham by announcing his retirement from football so he could play for Chelmsford City.^[3]

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
May 1908	GK		Fredrick Boreham	Leyton	Unknown	[4]
May 1908	DF		Thomas Leslie	Vale of Clyde	Unknown	[5]
May 1908	FW		Robert Steel	Greenock Morton	Unknown	[2]
June 1908	FW		Doug MacFarlane	Burnley	Unknown	[6]
June 1908	FW		James Morton	Stoke	Unknown	[7]
June 1908	GK		Robert Hewitson	Oldham Athletic	Unknown	[8]
July 1908	FW		Joe Brough	Stoke	Unknown	[9]
December 1908	FW		Percy Humphreys	Chelsea	Unknown	[10]
April 1909	MF		Jack Curtis	Gainsborough Trinity	Unknown	[11]

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
1909	FW		Vivian Woodward	Retired	N/A	[3]

Bermingham City v Tottenham Hotspur

20 March 1909 30	Bermingham City	3–3	Tottenham Hotspur	Birmingham, Midlands
	King Mounteney Daykin			Stadium: St Andrew's Attendance: 8,000

Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur

16 January 1909 First round	Manchester City	3–4	Tottenham Hotspur	Gorton, Manchester
	Holford		Minter Robert Steel Morris	Stadium: Hyde Road Attendance: 20,000

Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham

6 February 1909 Second round	Tottenham Hotspur	1–0	Fulham	Tottenham, London
	Robert Steel			Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 33,008

Burnley v Tottenham Hotspur

24 February 1909 Third round - replay	Burnley	3–1	Tottenham Hotspur	Burnley, Lancashire
			Coquet	Stadium: Turf Moor Attendance: 30,000

• Soar, Phil (1995). Tottenham Hotspur The Official Illustrated History 1882–1995. Hamlyn. ISBN 0-600-58706-1.
• Goodwin, Bob (1992). The Spurs Alphabet. ACL & Polar Publishing (UK) Ltd. ISBN 0-9514862-8-4.