Credit: Reuters
Tottenham Hotspur finally ended their 17-year trophy drought in the Europa League final against Manchester United. Spurs were very much the underdogs, with many expecting the Red Devils to come out on top. Instead of Bruno Fernandes, however, it was Heung-min Son who lifted the trophy above his head.
Brennan Johnson has been a shining light for Spurs this season, and thanks to his 42nd-minute strike, his name will forever be etched into the hearts of Spurs fans everywhere. There were still a few minutes of the first half and the entirety of the second half left for those in Bilbao and back home to endure before they could finally say they had seen their club lift a trophy after a near-20-year wait. Manchester United were unable to level the score, and the Europa League trophy headed to North London.
As quoted by NBC Sports, then-Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou said: “I can’t put it into words to be honest. I know I’m at an amazing football club with amazing supporters. It’s no secret it’s been a tough year, but I’ve just had this things inside me the back half of the year — one focus, one target. I just felt this was it. To achieve it today… I know what it means to the club, it’s had the tag of a nearly team for a long time. The only way you break that is by winning things, and we did that today.”
When this season is brought up, Spurs fans can breathe a sigh of relief, as they can forever point to this exact moment rather than having to dwell on their disappointing domestic campaign, from which their European success ultimately bailed them out.
An unfortunate reality
After what was undoubtedly the club’s greatest night in a long while, Spurs crashed back down to earth and were beaten 4-1 by Brighton on the final day of the Premier League season. The campaign as a whole showed that this result was no one-off, and fans have to accept that, domestically, it was a season that fell well below expectations.
They splashed the cash in the transfer window, spending £175 million, with £105 million going towards the additions of Dominic Solanke and Archie Gray. Given the money spent, the pressure was already high.
They began their season with a disappointing 1-1 draw against newly promoted Leicester but bounced back with a 4-0 thrashing of Everton. The start of September was a disaster, with Spurs suffering consecutive defeats against Newcastle and their noisy neighbours Arsenal. The recovery, however, was impressive, as they secured back-to-back wins against Brentford and Manchester United, scoring three goals in both games.
Only one league win came their way in October: a 4-1 victory over London rivals West Ham. That result was overshadowed by defeats to Brighton and Crystal Palace. November saw Spurs record one of their most impressive wins of the season, a 4-0 victory away at Manchester City, which was a welcome change from the previous week’s defeat at home to newly promoted Ipswich Town.
December severely damaged their season. Of their seven league games that month, Spurs won just once — a 5-0 away victory over Southampton at St Mary’s Stadium. In hindsight, however, even that result was not particularly impressive. They suffered five defeats that month, alongside a 1-1 draw with Fulham.
Things got even worse at the start of 2025. They suffered another defeat in the North London Derby before losing to Everton and Leicester.
February provided a brief recovery. Spurs completed the league double over Manchester United and exacted revenge on Ipswich but fell to defeat against the blue side of Manchester. After that, it took Spurs until 6 April to record another victory. Beating Southampton for a second time was no particular feat, but it did condemn the Saints to the Championship for the 2025/26 season.
That would prove to be Spurs’ final league win of the campaign as they slumped to a 17th-place finish.
Their success on 21 May went some way towards masking the nightmare that was Tottenham Hotspur’s 2024/25 Premier League campaign. Maybe, just maybe, their league position can now be locked away, the key thrown away with it and, as the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium faithful will hope, never brought up again.
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