Tottenham endured a disastrous afternoon in the North East on Sunday, suffering a 6-1 defeat at the hands of Newcastle United in the Premier League. This loss has left their Champions League aspirations hanging by a thread, but where exactly does this defeat rank alongside some of the other darkest days in the club’s history?
Tottenham’s biggest ever defeat in their history was the 8-0 drubbing they received at the hands of Koln in the UEFA Intertoto Cup in July 1995. With the competition held outside of the regular season dates, Spurs initially refused to field a starting XI for the match but they reversed their decision after being threatened with a ban by UEFA.
Liverpool inflicted Tottenham’s biggest league defeat, with a 7-0 victory in Division 1 in September 1978. The reigning European champions raced into a 3-0 lead at half-time and added four more goals after the break. The only time Spurs have conceded eight goals in a league game was in the 8-2 defeat by Derby in October 1976, although the loss was by a margin of six goals instead of seven.
Tottenham’s biggest Premier League defeat came at the hands of Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle side, with a 7-1 loss in December 1996. Spurs shipped five second half goals before bagging a consolation through Allan Nielsen in the 89th minute. Their other defeats by a six goal margin in the Premier League were against Sheffield United (6-0) in March 1993 and against Manchester City (6-0) in November 2013.
The biggest Champions League defeat Tottenham have suffered was against Bayern Munich in October 2019. Spurs took the lead in the group stage game but fell behind on the stroke of half-time when Robert Lewandowski produced a sensational turn and finish past Hugo Lloris. The floodgates opened after the interval with former Arsenal player Serge Gnabry netting four goals alongside a further strike from Lewandowski. Harry Kane scored from the penalty spot in the second half but the defeat, which came four months after Spurs reached the Champions League final, was one of the final games taken by Mauricio Pochettino who was sacked the following month.