Tottenham can’t get enough of Australia.
Ange Postecoglou is now three coaches removed from being Spurs boss, yet the north London club find themselves back in Australia on tour for the fifth time in 11 years, having visited Sydney, Melbourne and Perth before returning for this Sydney Super Cup.
“It is important for us to reach our fans all over the world and make sure we’re visible to them,” club ambassador and legend Ledley King said.
“I can definitely feel there’s a growth since Ange took over, and it is great to see so many players turn out today.”
With Australia a route to an Asian market but with elite sporting facilities and a little less hysteria, it seems Spurs keep coming back for more.
Midfielder Connor Callagher admitted he’d been caught by surprise by the amount of fandom on the other side of the planet.
“It is amazing,” he said.
“I didn’t quite realise how popular Spurs was in Australia. The fans are incredible, showed a lot of support, even today was great to have them watch training.”
On Thursday, the club rewarded its most loyal supporters by opening a pop-up in Paddington, Sydney, called Spurs House, where some of the squad’s current stars even dropped in to pay the fans a surprise.
OzSpurs, formed 25 years ago, is one of the club’s biggest fan groups outside of England, and their President Sean Bielski explained: “I think that they they probably realise it’s such a growth market.
“There are a lot of expats from the UK and all over the world that really support Spurs living in one big expansive country and I think as they’ve seen today, the fans love it when the team tour.
“Obviously then when we did get Ange there was that little bit more of the club becomes a little bit more Australian than it did previously. But there’s always been that strong massive support here for some bizarre reason. You can walk down the street and all of a sudden you see a Spurs shirt. So it’s a nice little feeling of home now and again.”
Bielski’s Spurs origin story is a classic one, simply a five-year kid with his grandfather, who supported Fulham, but told him he had to support another team. They were playing Tottenham that day. And so, a future OzSpurs President was on his journey, with all the highs, lows and trials and tribulations that come with it.
“We got to the (Europa League) final and we packed out venues all around Australia, crowds spilling on the street, people in pubs and clubs at 5am.
“Finally winning some silverware. What an amazing feeling and great to experience it with friends and family.
“But then the hope of kicking on from that in the following season and Ange losing his job and maybe there was potentially that disconnect there with the players and the new coach.
Tottenham v Sydney FC. Photo: Charlotte Neal.
“And we just didn’t seem to keep that momentum running into the following season. Last season was very disappointing I think for the fans. We struggled to try and get people to come and watch two thirty games at the best of times. But when you’re playing poorly, it’s even more difficult.
“I think the tour came at a really good time where we had a bad, bad run, we survived. But with the new signings and the new manager there’s now this new belief.
“And this (Spurs House) reinforces what Spurs is all about this week. Bringing everybody back together, reinvigorated, ready to go again and hopefully next season we’re gonna do some special things.”
Excited by Roberto De Zerbi’s arrival, which he says could have happened a little earlier, Bielski is optimistic for the campaign ahead – even if he has fresh memories of witnessing a north London derby defeat in person, with access to tickets thanks to his OzSpurs membership.
“I’m extremely privileged (to be president of OzSpurs),” he beamed.
“I always joke that it took a Welshman to take over an English football club and tell them how to do it properly. But no, I’m very, very privileged, very humble about it. I love the fact I’ve been involved now for a number of years.”
When it was put to him recently that, technically, he is Australia’s No.1 Spurs fan, he reflected: “It kinda hit me for a moment because you don’t think about it – you are kind of the face of Australia Spurs. So there’s big responsibility but also an amazing honour and I’m very privileged. And I’ve made some lifelong friends through this. So whilst it’s about football there’s more to it than that, and I’m very lucky.”