Tomorrow David Harris of Grumpy old Spurs and I dive into the season that broke legs, broke spirits and broke any lingering belief that Spurs were still a serious 90s force. 96/97: injuries everywhere, mediocrity everywhere, even the turf joined in. New episode Tuesday: bring your coping mechanisms!

Currently enjoying some non-Spurs 90s nostalgia by binge watching early seasons of Boy Meets World with my kids.

As my guest David Harris of 'Grumpy Old Spurs' remarked '96/97 was a real bread and butter pudding of a season'. Its one where the only way to relive it was to treat it with gallows humour. It was far more fun to discuss now than it was to live through at the time! 🎧 Out Tuesday

People often say 95/96 was the start of Spurs’ 90s decline… but 96/97 is the season that really earns that badge. Mabbsy injured after 18 mins, Armstrong crocked, mid‑table drift, Bolton 1–6… even the WHL turf turned on us! We’re heading into that glorious mess next week — what’s your 96/97 memory?

95/96 exposed some of our great 90s boogeymen' - Ian Woan's 3 thunderbolt goals, Crossley's penalty heroics, Shearer becoming the first away team player since 1981 to score a hat-trick at WHL. Dion Dublin helped KO us from the League Cup 90s or beyond - who are our great nemesis'?

A personal 95/96 memory. Injuring my foot after the Forest shoot‑out. Frustrated, I tried to boot a Wimpy milkshake cup in Enfield Town, narrowly missed, drove my foot into a bollard! Has Spurs ever caused you physical pain? This painful episode - Forest defeat and Wimpygate - discussed this week👇

Summer '95 was quietly one of the most underwhelming Spurs off‑seasons. Klinsmann, Popescu, Barmby all gone. Anderton nearly went, Bergkamp nearly came. Sugar talking 'Carlos Kickaballs'. Intertoto chaos and the Pony kit. All before a ball is kicked! It’s all in the new 95/96 episode (link ⬇️)

The 95/96 season turns on a three‑minute spell against Bolton just before Christmas. Spurs were flying… then suddenly weren’t. Jumbotrons, Nayim...Gudni Bergsson...Spursy! That feeling of “nearly” shapes everything that follows. We talk through it in the new episode out now (link in reply)

For tomorrow’s 95/96 season review I was joined by Spurs podcasting royalty Marcus Buckland, who was then reporting on Spurs for BBC Radio London. His view of that season was initially different to mine — press box vs Paxton — and putting those together finally made 95/96 make sense! Out tomorrow 🎧

95/96 sits perfectly in the venn diagram of Spurs seasons that were largely forgotten but objectively good — a strange mix of ‘nearly’ and solid results but a lingering moody vibe. 95/96 is the focus of next week's pod. Which more recent seasons sit in that same overlap for you?

94/95 felt like Spurs being Spurs: chaotic, romantic. 95/96 felt like Spurs losing their DNA, even though the results and numbers were almost identical. Pony, Sugar’s retreat, Bergkamp to Arsenal…it's a season where we quietly slipped off the path. Curious how others view that shift in identity?

We have 4 players going into last rounds of WC - all 4 could go into last round of games (inc 3/4 play off) which isn't too bad. I'm convinced having 9 go into the last round of WC2018 caused huge knock-on issues (plus not signing any players that summer) not just for 18/19 but way beyond.

I do think the convention around suspensions is worth looking at. Even more so in a condensed schedule like a WC or Euro's a suspension, for some red card offences, feels like a disproportionate punishment. Violent Conduct/Serious Foul play aside I'd get rid of subsequent game suspension.

Tomorrow we take a break from the mid‑90s chronology for a deep dive into Capital Gold Sport — the best way to follow Spurs if you weren’t at WHL in the 90s. Steve Wilson, now of MoTD, was part of that great team… and he was my guest to discuss the changing London dynamic, Jonathan Pearce and Spurs

There was a time when following the game meant the radio, having to dial past Lyca Radio (1458) to find 1548 on the old MW dial...and then the tension of relying on presenters to guide you through Spurs' latest game! Tomorrow’s episode goes deep into that world...

Capital Gold soon became my music station of choice - of course with the old dial up frequency radios it was a real risk to move them knowing I'd need it in a hurry again for the next Spurs match!

Before social media, before Sky Sports News, before streams and podcasts… listening to football on the radio was how so many of us followed Spurs in the 90s. Capital Gold Sport was the soundtrack for those of us in London/South East. What are your memories of listening to Spurs on the radio?

The perennial debate about whether trophies = happiness didn’t start with Poch or Ange; it was emotionally ignited by 94/95. A season with no silverware, but more joy, chaos and connection than many trophy‑winning years. It still shapes how we feel about the club and feels quite unique to Spurs?

We're all loving the arrivals right now but we've also dealt with the opposite too. Has any exit hurt you more than Klinsmann in 95? His 'will he stay or go?' narrative was the emotional crescendo to the rollercoaster 94/95 season. Part 2 with @chrisslegg.bsky.social now available!

The second half of 94/95 is where the emotion sits — the FA Cup run that felt written in the stars, the Everton semi that felt like the birth of “Spursy”, and the slow realisation Klinsmann was probably leaving. Like a relationship where the signals were all there 🫤 Give Part 2 a listen!

Seeing some of the faux outrage from Villa fans re our spending and then subsequent defending from ours makes me consider how rivalries develop. Villa is an interesting one. The Klinsmann incident from '95 only really sparked a outrage at Bosnich. I bet Social media would have amplified it though?

Gerry Francis made one of the great Spurs new‑manager bounces in 94/95: 6 straight clean sheets from a team that couldn’t defend, and still scoring freely. Pretty impressive! Not quite De Zerbi‑level shock therapy, but you could feel the instant shift. Which manager bounces do you recall?

When Ossie left in 94, Spurs moved from a free‑flowing, high‑risk style to Gerry Francis: a coach who’d built something impressive at a smaller West London club and was seen as a steadying influence. It’s hard not to notice echoes of that shift in the 2020's🤔- why does this pattern keep repeating?

It's impossible to discuss Ossie's approach to the 94/95 without comparing him to Ange 30 years later...which is why we briefly discuss more contemporary matters in Part 1! When it comes to 'demonstrating a clear understanding of Tottenham Hotspur's DNA' who scores as highly as the pair?

Part 1 of the 94/95 Spurs deep‑dive is out. @chrisslegg.bsky.social helps me revisit Ossie’s radical setup — five forwards, two attacking wing‑backs, Calderwood alone in midfield — and ask whether that kind of fantasy football could ever have been sustainable in that era?! Link in thread.

Every young player wanting to break through and establish themselves as a 1st team regular needs three things. ABILITY- OPPORTUNITY - LUCK. If even one of those is lacking they won't 'make it'. Its the same at every club and any era. We dive into this subject on @thegameisaboutglory.co.uk 🎧

Part 1, out tomorrow, will focus on the euphoria of Klinsmania, the blistering start to the season with the famous five and then the sad, and perhaps inevitable period where other teams found out us. It was still incredibly fun. Which particular games live in the memory for you?

There are certain seasons that live on in the memory. They shape you as a Spurs fan and end up tied to whatever was happening in your life at the time. I’m too young for 86/87, but 94/95 is my most vivid visceral anchor. Which seasons do that for you? 90/91? 16/17? Another? 🎧Part 1 out tomorrow

It’s been brilliant seeing how much 94/95 still means to people. It’s the season etched into every Spurs fan who lived it — Darren Anderton told me it was the most ‘fun’ of his career. Talking it through with @chrisslegg.bsky.social has reminded me just how mad it really was. Part 1 drops Tuesday!

Some great responses clearly 94/95 occupies a special emotional space? My guest for this 2-part season review is @chrisslegg.bsky.social who literally wrote the book on that season and spoke to so many of the players involved. If anyone knows 94/95 inside out, it’s him! 🎧Part 1 out Tuesday