The 2009–10 season was the 128th season in the history of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, their 32nd consecutive season in the top flight of English football and their 18th consecutive season in the FA Premier League. The club also participated in the FA Cup and the Football League Cup.
Tottenham began the season under manager Harry Redknapp, in his first full season at the club, he signed 7 new players during the two transfer windows with 16 players leaving White Hart Lane throughout the season.
Tottenham accumulated 70 points to take fourth place, at the time the club's highest ranked Premier League finish (before finishing second under Pochettino in the 2016–17 season), and competed in the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history. The last time they competed in the top level of European Club Footballs was 1961–62.
Tottenham Hotspur had an average home attendance of 35,794, which was the ninth-highest in the Premier League for the second season running.
Season 2009–2010 Transfers
Tottenham's transfer involvement began on the first day of the newly opened transfer window, with the release of several reserve and youth players, the most notable being former Portuguese international Ricardo Rocha, who in late August joined Belgian outfit Standard Liège. Tottenham's outgoing transfers continued into July, as defensive midfielder Didier Zokora joined Sevilla for around £8.6 million, swiftly followed by Welsh international right-back Chris Gunter making a £1.75 million move to Nottingham Forest, following his loan spell with them at the end of the 2008–09 season. Also, Brazilian left-back Gilberto ended his spell at Spurs, moving back to Cruzeiro in the Brasileirão.
The first acquisitions made in the summer transfer window were the signings of youngsters Kyle Naughton and Kyle Walker, both from Sheffield United. Naughton moved straight into the first team, receiving the number 16 shirt, whereas Walker received a loan move back to Sheffield United for a year to continue his development at the Championship club.
Tottenham's largest transfer fee of the summer was spent signing Peter Crouch back to the club from Portsmouth. Crouch began his career at White Hart Lane before a move to Queens Park Rangers ended his time at Spurs, but with a move of around £9 million, he became the fourth player to make a return to Spurs after leaving in the past six months. The money spent on Crouch was recouped by the sale of striker Darren Bent; Bent entered into a protracted transfer deal with Sunderland which was threatened not only by the large bid lodged from Stoke City during negotiations but also by comments made by Bent on his Twitter page criticising chairman Daniel Levy, to which he made a public apology. Bent joined Sunderland for £10 million.
Tottenham's summer continued with the arrival of Sébastien Bassong from Newcastle United for £8 million. During their pre-season, Spurs were hit with the double blow of losing both Jonathan Woodgate and Michael Dawson to serious injury and Ledley King struggling on and off with some injuries. The transfer priorities were on the defence, which followed from the arrival of Bassong.
Pre-Season
Tottenham began their pre-season schedule on 15 July 2009 with an away trip to St. James Park to face Exeter City. Tottenham won the encounter 3–0 against their League One opponents. A first-half goal from Jamie O'Hara set Spurs on their way before two goals in ten minutes from Aaron Lennon and Darren Bent ensured Tottenham's pre-season began with a winning start. Two days later, Tottenham took a southwest trip by facing both Harry Redknapp and Kevin Bond's former club, AFC Bournemouth. Tottenham replicated their result by running out 3–0 winners. Robbie Keane got his first goal of the pre-season campaign halfway through the first half, followed by a goal from Jermain Defoe, returning to his former club with whom he had a successful loan period in the 2000–01 season. The game was rounded off by a goal from Wilson Palacios, scoring his first-ever goal in English football.
Tottenham continued their pre-season by facing newly promoted Championship side Peterborough United at the London Road. Spurs ended the match having won 4–0 with goals scored by Darren Bent, Jermain Defoe, Luka Modrić and Roman Pavlyuchenko, taking their tally to ten goals scored in three games and zero conceded.
Beginning in late July, Spurs participated in the Wembley Cup. They began the tournament by facing off against Barcelona who were being managed by Pep Guardiola. Barcelona fielded a changed team, featuring several young players, Barcelona had the better of the first half, taking the lead through forward Bojan. Tottenham improved in the second half and earned a draw with a late header through youngster Jake Livermore. The game against Barcelona ending in a 1–1 draw. In the final game of the tournament, Spurs faced Scottish club Celtic. Tottenham suffered their first friendly loss in five years by losing 2–0. An early header from Chris Killen put Celtic 1–0 up before Celtic got their second through Georgios Samaras, a solo run earned the two-goal cushion and eventually the win to claim the Wembley Cup. Egyptian champions Al Ahly were also a part of the tournament but were not an opponent of Spurs and finished bottom of the final group standings.
Following the Wembley Cup, Tottenham competed in the 2009 Asia Trophy Tournament alongside fellow Premier League outfits West Ham United, Hull City and Chinese Super League team Beijing Guoan. Tottenham started the tournament against West Ham, winning 1–0. Goalkeeper Robert Green made several saves before ex-West Ham player Jermain Defoe returned to haunt his former club with a finish from close range to send Spurs to the final. Tottenham then claimed the Trophy with a 3–0 win over Hull City. Robbie Keane claimed two goals, one from open play and one from the penalty spot, and Aaron Lennon wrapped up the game with a tap-in, supplied by new signing Kyle Naughton.
The Far-East section of the 2009–10 pre-season was then rounded off with a trip to Hong Kong to play the Hong Kong First Division champions South China. Tottenham lost the match 2–0, South China took the lead through Chan Siu Ki with a 30-yard volley before Li Haiqiang sealed the game from the penalty spot, with South China goalkeeper Zhang Chunhui producing several saves to deny Tottenham any sort of comeback.
Tottenham completed their 2009–10 pre-season by beating Greek opposition Olympiacos 3–0. Spurs gave debuts to Peter Crouch and Sébastien Bassong and took the lead in the second half thanks to Roman Pavlyuchenko's left-footed strike. Vedran Ćorluka's first goal for Spurs put daylight between the two teams and then a solo run from Jermain Defoe made the game safe at 3–0 and ended their only home fixture of the pre-season with a win.
August
Tottenham began the 2009–10 season with their first home start in five years against Liverpool. Spurs took the lead before half-time with a thunderbolt effort from unlikely goal scorer Benoît Assou-Ekotto. Liverpool equalised in the second half thanks to a penalty from Steven Gerrard but Tottenham won all three points with a header from Sébastien Bassong on his debut. Tottenham followed up on the Liverpool win with a 5–1 thrashing of Hull City at the KC Stadium. Spurs moved in front in just ten minutes with a strike from Jermain Defoe, followed soon after by Wilson Palacios, who scored his first league goal in English football to give Spurs a two-goal cushion. Further goals from Robbie Keane and another two Defoe goals – to earn his first hat-trick since 2004 – completed the scoring.
Spurs then faced London rivals West Ham in a scrappy affair. West Ham took the lead through a Carlton Cole volley, however only minutes later, Cole misplaced a pass directly into the path of Jermain Defoe to give Tottenham a way back into the game. Spurs then took all three points when Aaron Lennon cut in from the right to slam the ball past Robert Green late in the game. Three wins out of the first three games produced Tottenham's most successful start to a season since the double-winning team of 1961 and left them topping the table after the first three games of the season.
The League Cup then took center stage as Tottenham took on Doncaster Rovers in the second round. Spurs eased their way to a 5–1 victory over their lower league opponents, with the additional bonus of five different goal scorers: strikes from Tom Huddlestone, Jamie O'Hara, Peter Crouch, David Bentley and Roman Pavlyuchenko sealed the win and passage to the next round. In the ensuing draw, it was announced that Tottenham would face Preston North End in the third round of the cup.
Tottenham's final game of August was against newly promoted Birmingham City. Spurs battled their way to a 2–1 win, with Crouch scoring his first league goal for the Spurs before a Lee Bowyer tap-in made the game 1–1. The match looked to be heading for a draw before Aaron Lennon scored the winner in the fifth minute of injury time. The game was marred for Spurs, however, as it was confirmed that influential midfielder Luka Modrić had suffered a fracture to his fibula, forcing him to miss many weeks in the season.
Nearing the end of August, two players left Spurs for new teams in the Premier League: French defender Pascal Chimbonda left to join Blackburn Rovers in a £2 million deal, while German Kevin-Prince Boateng made a £4 million move to Portsmouth.
Following Tottenham's 2–1 win over Birmingham in which Modrić had suffered a broken leg, Spurs entered transfer window deadline day in pursuit of a midfielder. In the final hours, confirmation was made of the signing of fellow Croatian Niko Kranjčar from Portsmouth for £2.5 million. This transfer was thought to signal the end of Tottenham's transfer movement until on 3 September, it was announced that Spurs had signed veteran goalkeeper Jimmy Walker. Walker was a free agent following his release from West Ham.
Throughout the transfer window, some loans were negotiated. Early in the transfer window, youngsters Ryan Mason and Steven Caulker joined Yeovil Town on loan for six months, followed soon by Adel Taarabt returning to Queens Park Rangers for a season-long loan. The transfers continued, as Troy Archibald-Henville re-joined Exeter City until January 2010, and on the same day, it was revealed that goalkeeper Ben Alnwick would join newly relegated Norwich City for three months. After this, youngster Adam Smith joined Wycombe Wanderers for an initial one-month deal, subsequently followed by the development of the deal to send Andros Townsend to long-term affiliate Leyton Orient for six months. After a good pre-season with Spurs, midfielder Jake Livermore signed for Derby County for a month, later extended it to six months thanks to a series of good performances. Jon Obika joined his fellow Spurs loanees at Yeovil in mid-August, putting pen to paper for an initial one-month loan. The loans continued, with Jamie O'Hara joining Portsmouth until January 2010, followed later by the loan of midfielder Sam Cox to Cheltenham for one month. The last loans of the summer transfer window involved three youth goalkeepers, with David Button, Oscar Jansson and Lee Butcher joining Crewe Alexandra, Exeter City and Grays Athletic respectively.
After Spurs' good start to the season, Harry Redknapp and Jermain Defoe were awarded the Manager of the Month award and the Player of the Month award, respectively, for August.
Month summary
August league table
August game stats MonthGamesWonDrewLostScoredConcededPointsOtherAugust550016512Advanced to League Cup third round
September