The 2010–11 season was Tottenham Hotspur Football Club's 19th season in the Premier League. It was their 33rd successive season in the top division of the English football league system.
The campaign featured Tottenham's first ever involvement in the UEFA Champions League, with the club entering via the play-off round after finishing fourth in the 2009–10 season. The club reached the quarter-finals of the competition where they were defeated by Real Madrid.
First-team squad
Transfers
In Date Player Previous club Cost 1 June 2010 SandroInternacional 22 August 2010 William GallasArsenalFree 31 August 2010 Rafael van der VaartReal Madrid£8M 7 January 2011 Bongani KhumaloSupersport United £1.5M 18 January 2011 Steven PienaarEverton £3M Total £18.5 million +
Out Date Player New Club Cost 25 May 2010 Lee ButcherLeyton OrientFree 22 June 2010 Sam CoxBarnetFree 30 June 2010 Jimmy WalkerWalsallFree 5 August 2010 Adel TaarabtQPR£1M 18 August 2010 Dorian DerviteVillarrealUndisclosed Total £1 million +
Loaned in Date Player Club Return Date30 August 2010 Stipe PletikosaSpartak MoscowEnd of 2010–11 Season
Completed loans Date Player Club Return Date5 August 2010 Oscar JanssonNorthampton Town5 September 201013 August 2010 Ryan MasonDoncaster Rovers10 September 201012 August 2010 Dean ParrettPlymouth Argyle9 November 201016 October 2010 Ben AlnwickLeeds United15 November 201012 August 2010 Andros TownsendIpswich Town20 December 20106 August 2010 John BostockHull City30 December 201013 September 2010 Kyle WalkerQPR3 January 201120 August 2010 Jon ObikaCrystal Palace7 January 201126 September 2010 Steven CaulkerBristol City10 January 20113 August 2010 David ButtonPlymouth ArgyleEnd of 2010–11 Season9 September 2010 Danny RoseBristol CityEnd of 2010–11 Season23 September 2010 Jake LivermoreIpswich Town1 January 201123 September 2010 Adam SmithAFC BournemouthEnd of 2010–11 Season24 September 2010 Paul-José M'PokuLeyton OrientEnd of 2010–11 Season14 October 2010 Kyle NaughtonLeicester CityEnd of 2010–11 Season6 January 2011 Kyle WalkerAston VillaEnd of 2010–11 Season7 January 2011 Jon ObikaPeterborough UnitedEnd of 2010–11 Season7 January 2011 Harry KaneLeyton OrientEnd of 2010–11 Season12 January 2011 David BentleyBirmingham CityEnd of 2010–11 Season20 January 2011 Andros TownsendWatfordEnd of 2010–11 Season30 January 2011 Jamie O'HaraWolvesEnd of 2010–11 Season30 January 2011 Robbie KeaneWest Ham UnitedEnd of 2010–11 Season31 January 2011 Giovani dos SantosRacing SantanderEnd of 2010–11 Season15 March 2011 Simon DawkinsSan Jose Earthquakes
Season 2010–11
Transfers Tottenham began their transfer movement for the 2010–11 season in mid-March, when Spurs completed the deal for young Brazilian midfielder Sandro, joining the club from Internacional, a club whom Tottenham have a key affiliation, with Sandro linking up with squad following the 2010 Copa Libertadores. Early in the transfer window, Tottenham retained the services of a number of key players, with club captain Ledley King signing a new two-year contract extension with the club, closely followed by former Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini, who signed a new one-year contract following his recovery from a serious road accident sustained in November 2009.
Luka Modrić was the next player to commit his future with the club, signing an extended six-year deal to ensure his services until 2016. After two months of little transfer activity, Tottenham secured the controversial signing of William Gallas on a free transfer following his release from rivals Arsenal. As a result of the move, Gallas became the first Premier League player to play for Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, all London clubs and fierce rivals. On transfer deadline day, early in the day, Spurs confirmed the loan signing of Croatian international goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa from Spartak Moscow. This looked to be Spurs' only move of the day, but in the final few moments before the deadline, news broke that Tottenham were in negotiations with Real Madrid midfielder Rafael van der Vaart. Following the closure of the transfer window, the club had to wait for the deal to be ratified by the Premier League, due to complications on Spurs' computer. The transfer was completed the next day, with fee believed to be around £8 million.
During the transfer window, a number of players left Spurs, beginning with young goalkeeper Lee Butcher, leaving to join Leyton Orient on a free transfer after his contract expired at Tottenham, followed a month later by defender Sam Cox signing a contract with Barnet, again, following the expiration of his Spurs contract. Soon after, a number of fringe and academy players, including veteran goalkeeper Jimmy Walker, left the club on free transfers. In early August, Queens Park Rangers completed the permanent signing of Adel Taarabt for a fee believed to be around £1 million; Taarabt had spent to 2009–10 season on loan at QPR before sealing a permanent deal. Tottenham's final permanent outgoing transfer of the summer transfer window saw French defender Dorian Dervite move to Spanish club Villarreal for an undisclosed fee.
The transfer window also saw younger player acquires loan move to gain regular football. The first loan move saw young goalkeeper David Button, fresh off of signing a new three-year contract, join Plymouth Argyle on a season-long loan, followed by another young goalkeeper, Oscar Jansson, joining Northampton Town until September 2010, and completing three loan moves in a week, England under-19 international John Bostock left to join Hull City for the duration of the 2010–11 season. Six days later, winger Andros Townsend signed a season-long loan for Ipswich Town after featuring for Tottenham in their pre-season tour of the United States. On the same day, Dean Parrett joined David Button at Plymouth on a one-month deal. The following day, Ryan Mason, who also featured in Spurs' pre-season, joined Doncaster Rovers on a one-month deal, trailed a week later with young striker Jon Obika clinching a move to Crystal Palace for the season.
Spurs then signed young South African defender Bongani Khumalo for £1.5 million from South Africa's reigning champions Supersport United as their first signing of the January window. Khumalo joined on a four-and-a-half-year deal. The first senior exit of the window was David Bentley, who moved out on loan to Birmingham City on 12 January; the loan expires at the end of the season. Spurs then captured another South African in Steven Pienaar from Everton, beating Chelsea to the midfielder's signature in a deal that cost Spurs £3 million. A fairly quiet window ended with senior players Robbie Keane, Giovani dos Santos and Jamie O'Hara joining West Ham United, Racing de Santander and Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan deals, respectively. All three players will return at the end of the season.
Pre-season friendlies Tottenham began their pre-season by facing Harry Redknapp and Kevin Bond's former team, AFC Bournemouth, beginning the pre-season with a comfortable 4–0 win. A goal midway through the first half from Jon Obika established a Spurs lead, before a Roman Pavlyuchenko goal doubled the tally. Danny Rose made it three a minute later before another Pavlyuchenko goal wrapped up the game and the winning start.
Spurs then began a tour of the United States, beginning in San Jose, facing Major League Soccer (MLS) outfit San Jose Earthquakes, with the game ending 0–0. Tottenham made the trip to New York to compete in the New York Football Challenge, a tournament featuring Spurs, the New York Red Bulls, Sporting CP and Premier League rivals Manchester City. Spurs' first game saw them pitted against the home side Red Bulls with their new signing, Theirry Henry, making his debut. Henry opened the scoring against his old rivals, before goals from Robbie Keane and Gareth Bale in the second half gave Spurs the 2–1 win. In Tottenham's final game of the tournament, Spurs faced Portuguese side Sporting, resulting in a 2–2 draw, which resulted in Sporting lifting the trophy of the New York Challenge. Tottenham took an early lead through Robbie Keane, finishing a one-on-one with the 'keeper. Sporting hit back with goals from Chileans Matías Fernández and Jaime Valdés. Spurs equalised though, 20 minutes from time after Jon Obika ran on to a Keane through ball to earn the draw for Tottenham.
Spurs' first friendly at White Hart Lane in the pre-season saw them face Villarreal. Midway through the first half, Villarreal took the lead with former Manchester United striker Giuseppe Rossi finishing a Santi Cazorla through-ball. Villarreal doubled their lead ten minutes later with Rossi scoring his second with clinical finishing following a slip from Michael Dawson. Early in the second half, an early goal from Giovani dos Santos set up a possible comeback, but this was extinguished later in the second half, with Rossi securing his hat-trick with a heavily deflected effort on goal. Villarreal wrapped up the game late on with Marco Ruben scoring a tap-in to give the away team a 4–1 win. Tottenham then travelled to Lisbon to play Benfica in the Eusébio Cup. Spurs ended up lifting the trophy after securing a 1–0 win, with Gareth Bale scoring the only goal of the game early into the second half. Tottenham ended the pre-season with a home fixture against Italian side Fiorentina early August. In this game, a defensive error gifted Fiorentina the lead inside ten minutes through Alberto Gilardino. Ten minutes later, Spurs hit back though with an equalising goal from Roman Pavlyuchenko, scoring his fourth goal in pre-season. Fiorentina re-gained the lead though, with a shot from Adem Ljajić beating Heurelho Gomes. Spurs, however, equalised early in the second half with Robbie Keane goal before earning the 3–2 win with a last minute Keane goal to end the pre-season with four wins, two draws, and one loss.
League table
2010–11 season long-term injuries
Date injured Player Injury Return date25 November 2009 Jonathan WoodgateGroin InjuryJanuary 20111 June 2010 Jamie O'HaraBack InjuryJanuary 20114 September 2010 Michael DawsonAnkle Injury12 December 20107 September 2010 Jermain DefoeAnkle Injury20 November 201015 November 2010 Tom HuddlestoneAnkle InjuryApril 201110 July 2010 David BentleyAnkle Injury21 September 201016 October 2010 Ledley KingGroin InjuryMay 2011
Competitions Pre-season and friendlies Date Opponents H / A Result (H/A) Scorers Attendance10 July 2010AFC BournemouthA0–4Obika 36', Pavlyuchenko 61',74' Rose 62'4,67517 July 2010San Jose EarthquakesA0–010,72122 July 2010New York Red BullsA1–2Keane 61', Bale 71'20,31225 July 2010Sporting CPA2–2Keane 23', Obika 69'23,22829 July 2010VillarrealH1–4Dos Santos 56'17,9173 August 2010BenficaA0–1Bale 55'30,2157 August 2010FiorentinaH3–2Pavlyuchenko 27', Keane 56', 89'13,561
Premier League
Matches