Over the last week or two we have been conducting interviews with overseas Spurs fans from around the world. We want to understand the level of support outside of England , and what it’s like to be a Tottenham fan living abroad.
Today we meet with Tolu, A Tottenam supporter from Lagos
Ok to start off tell us your name, and where you are from?
My name is Tolu Junaid. I am 46. From Lagos Nigeria, where I still live now.
Are you part of any supporters club, and if so, tell us a bit about it?
Yes I am part of the Nigeria Spurs Supporters Club. an official supporters club in Nigeria. We have been in existence informally since 2007, but became official in 2015.
How many members do you have? And do you meet often?
We have just over 150 members. We meet when we can to watch games as a group, or as individual members. Many of the members are in others states in Nigeria so as a larger group we meet 1-3 times a year. However we all constantly in touch on social media as we have a WhatsApp group which is extremely active every day!!
Where do you watch games? And how many people meet to watch?
We tend to meet in Lagos and decide location which is a bar or club. Typically between 2-40 members at a time. Like I mentioned, it depends on how many people can make the meetings. Supporters sometimes meet in smaller groups on match days
Why Tottenham? How and why did you end up following spurs?
In Nigeria in the 80s we kids followed football reading Roy of the Rovers, Tiger & Speed, and Tiger & Scorcher comics. In these comics you always had interviews and profiles of football players and in 1984 there was a profile of a Nigerian footballer called John Chidozie who joining Spurs and that was how I followed the team and became a supporter.
Would you say that spurs were a big club (in terms of support/fan base) in your part of the world?
No. not at all. In fact many other football fans always tell me (or others) that I am the first ever Spurs fan they have met. It’s understandable because most of the football fans in Nigeria are recent football followers due to the advent of satellite TV and younger guys that started following football in the 2000s.
Is Tottenham’s profile growing in Nigeria? And if so, can you elaborate?
Yes it’s growing as we now have quite a few younger Spurs followers in our supporters club and other football fans recognise our players and praise our team because of the improvements we have made on the pitch.
Do you get to attend many live games? And if so, how often?
Most of our members do when they happen to be in the UK. I attended a Spurs vs West Ham game live at White Hart Lane when i was last in London in 2013
Do you get many English spurs fans visit your area? And if so, what is their response/reaction on seeing the local support?
That has happened once when a UK based journalist who is a Spurs supporter was in Nigeria. We had a few of our members take him out and watch a game together.
How would you describe Tottenham’s season so far? Are you happy with performances?
Well we expected it to be difficult but it has actually been a good season. However there is a noticeable feeling of slight disgruntlement. Why this is happening amongst our supporters is due to the relative success we have been having in the last couple of seasons under Pochettino. We are competing with the bigger teams despite all the financial odds against us however many of our fans feel we need a trophy pretty soon and we always just fail to achieve this at the crucial moment. For me as a fan, I know it’s tougher now with the mega bucks of other teams and I hope with the move to the new stadium, at some point we will be able to compete favourably.
Which players have stood out for you the most this year?
Player of the season for me – Jan Vertonghen. Eriksen, Alli, Son, and Kane typically always show their brilliance but Vertonghen has been our rock this season.
Are there any specific Tottenham players that are admired or particularly popular in Nigeria?
Yes Dele Alli (due to his Nigerian roots), Harry Kane, Heung min Son, Christian Eriksen, and Mousa Dembele
How do you feel about the management of Tottenham since Mauricio Pochettino took over?
It’s been an upward trajectory ever since he came in and also because he has a good rapport with Daniel Levy we have significant stability which has obviously translated to good showing on the football field.
How do you think that the new stadium will affect the club?
The positive will be more revenue which can be translated to improving the team.
But the negative will be that we may have to pay back loans so Enic may not be able to invest in the team for a few years
What would you like to see from Tottenham going forward, for the rest of this season and beyond?
Business wise I think everything is fine for now. New stadium, more revenue streams in terms of ticket sales, stadium naming rights, kit sales, NFL 10 year contract, other sponsorship deals etc. In terms of the team, I feel Pochettino should use majority of his squad more. For example Kane was out for a while and during that time we played well. I sometimes feel the other lads like Eriksen, Son and Alli step up whenever Kane is out. Kane was rushed back in my opinion and since then we have suffered a major dip in form. He’s not fully fit to me and he needs a breather from time to time. Kane also does not have to play always. Being the golden boy of Spurs and England I feel there is particular pressure on him to play always. So in future we also need to invest in another striker of good calibre to be part of the team. We also have no choice but to improve our pay structure in order to attract better players. We actually have no choice here if we intend to compete and win trophies.
And finally, anything you would like to add?
Well I know we are disappointed with our FA cup and Champions League exits, however this season we felt was going to be tough has actually been very good at Wembley. We hope when we eventually move into the new stadium we will now have the strength to be able to compete with the bigger teams. COYS!!!
Disclaimer – Content first appeared on another website of which I am the original content creator/author, and can be found here http://coyslife.com/2018/04/26/overseas-spurs-fans-nigeria/