April 8, 2001: The End of Tottenham's "The Year Ends In One" Myth

Left to right: Ray Parlour, Robert Pires, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry

April 8, 2001: North London soccer rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur face each other in an FA Cup Semifinal. As always, FA Cup Semifinals are held on neutral ground. This time, though, it was not in London, as the old Wembley Stadium was being torn down so it could be replaced by the new one, but at the largest stadium in England's Premier League: Old Trafford, the 75,000-seat home of Manchester United.

"Spurs" fans were excited, because "The year ends in one":

* 1901: Tottenham won the FA Cup, as members of the Southern League. They remain the only team from outside the Football League to ever win it. (Since the Football League then had only 2 Divisions, this was like a team from the Third Division winning it. No other team lower than the 2nd division has won it.)

* 1911: They won nothing, finishing 15th in the League.

* 1921: They won the FA Cup, and finished a respectable 6th in the League.

* 1931: They won nothing. They did finish 3rd in the League, but were 10 points behind winners Everton.

* 1941: England's Football Association suspended most competitions for the duration of World War II.

* 1951: They won the Football League.

* 1961: They won the Football League and the FA Cup, the 1st time "The Double" had been won since Birmingham team Aston Villa did it in 1897.

* 1971: They won the Football League Cup, which they consider to be a major trophy, and finished a decent 3rd in the League, albeit 13 points behind Arsenal, who clinched the title at Spurs' White Hart Lane, a game which had to be postponed beyond the final weekend due to both teams' cup runs.

* 1981: They won the FA Cup, although they only finished 10th in the League.

* 1991: They won the FA Cup, beating Arsenal in the Semifinal, although they only finished 10th in the League.

So Spurs fans figured it was their year.

 
It wasn't: Despite taking a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute, Spurs bottled it, and the "Gunners" won on goals by Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires, who went on to develop a specialty of scoring against Spurs. Turned out, though, it was Liverpool's year, as they beat upset-minded neighbors Tranmere Rovers in the Quarterfinal and Wycombe Wanderers in the Semifinal, before beating Arsenal in the Final. They also won the League Cup and the UEFA Cup. Or, maybe it was Manchester United's year, as they won the League title, for the 3rd season in a row, and the 7th time in the last 9 seasons.

Oh yeah: Spurs finished only 12th in the rebranded Premier League. Things got worse for them: In the off-season, due to their poor treatment of him, their Captain, centreback Sol Campbell, left them -- and signed with Arsenal. In his 1st year with them, Arsenal won The Double. In the 2nd, they won another Cup. In the 3rd, they won the League, going unbeaten, and clinching at White Hart Lane again. In the 4th, they won another Cup. In the 5th, they reached the Final of the UEFA Champions League.

Since winning the Cup in 1991, Spurs have reached the Cup Semifinal 8 times, and lost all 8: In 1993 (losing to Arsenal), 1995, 1999, 2001 (losing to Arsenal), 2010 (losing to an already-relegated Portsmouth team), 2012, 2017 and 2018.
 
Spurs had a strong team in 2011, a year that ended in one, and their fans brought the slogan back. But the team won nothing, finishing only 5th, and missing out on qualification for the Champions League, though they did qualify for the Europa League.

In 2021, they got to the Final of the League Cup, but lost to the team that ran away with the League title, Manchester City. They finished 7th in the League.

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April 8, 2001 was a Saturday. These games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 16-5 at Yankee Stadium. Roger Clemens was shaky, but got the win, while Steve Parris didn't get out of the 2nd inning for the Jays. Jorge Posada hit a home run. Derek Jeter, Tino Martinez and Chuck Knoblauch each had 3 hits; while Posada and Martinez each had 4 RBIs.

* The New York Mets lost Montreal Expos, 5-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Chris Peters outpitched Al Leiter.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 3-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Pedro Martinez pitched 8 innings, allowing 3 hits and 3 walks, striking out 16. Derek Lowe completed the 4-hit shutout.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-1 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-3 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland. This was the major league debut of CC Sabathia, and he went 5 innings, going 5 2/3rds innings, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits, walking 2 and striking out 3. Ellis Burks and Russell Branyan hit home runs. Starting his last season, Cal Ripken went 0-for-2 with a walk.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-3 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago. Jeff Weaver outpitched David Wells, so I don't like this result. Let's move on:

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-4 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee. Ken Griffey Jr. appeared as a pinch-hitter, and struck out.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins, 15-4 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-4 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Ichiro Suzuki went 1-for-5.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Astros, 9-3 at Enron Field (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies, 11-3 at Coors Field in Denver. Tony Gwynn, in his final season, did not play.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 9-4 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Barry Bonds went 0-for-5.

* And the Anaheim Angels beat the Oakland Athletics, 6-4 at the Network Associates Coliseum (as the Oakland Coliseum was then known).

Football was out of season. There were 7 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Miami Heat, 81-76 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Indiana Pacers, 108-83 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Chicago Bulls, 100-88 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto. Vince Carter scored 33 points.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 104-99 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Shaquille O'Neal scored 34 points.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Golden State Warriors, 84-76 at The Arena in Oakland (as the Oakland Coliseum Arena was then known).

* The Sacramento Kings beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 98-89 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 101-88 at the KeyArena in Seattle.

It was the last day of the NHL's regular season, and 6 games were played:

* The Washington Capitals beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 6-4 at the Raleigh Sports & Entertainment Arena (now the Lenovo Center).

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 2-1 at the HSBC Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-3 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus. Tyler Wright scored the winning goal with 2:19 left in overtime.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Minnesota Wild, 4-2 at the Xcel Energy Center (now the Grand Casino Arena) in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 4-1 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).