White Hart Lane, January 2000

With the end of the decade nigh, The Spoiler thought it worth looking back at some of the great teams that saw us into the Millenium. Starting with Tottenham - at home to Man City tonight - here are a few names that you might remember.

So, close your eyes, cast your mind back. Then probably open your eyes again, because below is the team that went down 1-0 to Liverpool at White Hart Lane on 3rd January, 2000…

Goalkeeper, Ian Walker

Ian Walker enjoyed over ten years at White Hart Lane, and was married to a former Page Three girl. At the time, that was somewhat revolutionary, making Walker quite the forward thinker. He went on to enjoy a stint at Leicester, before pretty much vanishing without so much as a “cheerio then”. Thanks a lot Ian.

Right Back, Stephen Carr

Signed by Ossie Ardiles in 1993, Carr gave Spurs some of the best years of his life. He then gave Newcastle some of the less good years of his life. Then he retired. Then he unretired himself, and can now be found - almost completely bald - lolloping up the right hand side for Birmingham City.

Centre Back, Sol Campbell

Back in 2000, Sol was already a Tottenham legend, and for the right reasons. But fast forward a year-and-a-bit to when he moved to Arsenal, and some fans couldn’t even utter his name without weeping and slamming their fists into the nearest face. Now basically loathed, which is a shame. He was great for them.

The players who didn’t earn their loyalty bonuses

As anyone who has ever divorced will testify, sometimes it is necessary to call time on a big commitment. Footballers who sign big money contracts are no strangers to this maxim, but some jump ship a little earlier than expected. With this in mind, Spoiler correspondent Ben Baker has compiled a top ten list of the shortest spells in football club history. And guess who tops the list…

Sol Campbell
After a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance at Meadow Lane and a quick team photo, the man whom Spurs fans lovingly refer to as ‘Judas’ picked up his boots and walked out on his £40,000-a-week contract. If he manages to stay fit and win his war with his own metabolism, perhaps a fleeting appearance in the MLS lies ahead for football’s least decisive man..

Ali Dia
A favourite story among football fans who are less than supportive of Graeme Souness (and let’s be honest, there are a fair few): after allegedly receiving a call from former World Footballer of the Year George Weah ‘bigging up’ his ‘cousin’, Souness signed him up without reservation. He even had the audacity to replace Sir Tiss with him. Dia was so dreadful that he was hauled off, lasting about 20 minutes. Oh well, Southampton’s loss was Gateshead’s gain…kind of.

Dietmar Hamann
After it appeared that Hamann was surplus to