Ahead of the North London Derby, we take a look at four players who turned out for both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur: the groundbreaker, the straight swap, the goalkeeping legend, and one of the most controversial transfers of the Premier League era…
Jimmy Brain
You can count the number of players to have crossed the North London divide on two hands – but who was the first to do so? It is thought to be Arsenal forward Jimmy Brain, a club legend whose status did not appear to be diminished by the move to their city rivals.
Playing in the league for the first time in October 1924, Brain made an immediate impact, scoring the only goal of the game against – you guessed it – Tottenham Hotspur. A winner in the derby on your debut: does it get much better than that?
The centre-forward was a key man at Highbury during the first years of the Herbert Chapman era, topping the club’s scoring charts for four consecutive seasons between 1924-25 and 1928-29. However, despite his impressive tallies, Arsenal only occasionally challenged for silverware: they finished runners-up to Chapman’s old side Huddersfield Town in 1926, and were beaten by Cardiff City in the FA Cup Final the following year.
A loss of form towards the end of the decade saw Brain dropped in favour of players like Jack Lambert and David Jack, duly missing out on Arsenal’s first major silverware: the 1930 FA Cup Final. However, he did feature (in a somewhat diminished role) during the Gunners’ league triumph the following year, belatedly claiming a winner’s medal for himself.
By that point, Brain had become the first player to net 100 times for the club, but was the wrong side of 30 and had fallen down the pecking order. Within months of that title win, Jimmy would make the short-distance move to White Hart Lane for a sum of £2,500. Approaching his twilight years, Brain was understandably less prolific in the white shirt, scoring ten times in 47 appearances before moving on.
Jimmy Robertson and David Jenkins
When it comes to straight swaps, it is remarkably rare that both clubs come away with a good deal. Sometimes, it doesn’t work out for either side, as Arsenal fans know all too well.
This was the case in 2018, when Alexis Sanchez and Henrikh Mkhitaryan traded clubs – and was arguably the case five decades prior. Jimmy Robertson was a firm fixture in the Spurs side of the mid-sixties, and was a key factor in their 1967 FA Cup Final victory over Chelsea, scoring the first and playing a part in the winning goal.
Having racked up over 175 appearances for Tottenham, he was traded to their red and white rivals in exchange for David Jenkins, a forward two years his junior. Jenkins had started for the Gunners in the 1968 League Cup Final but was very much a fringe player under Bertie Mee.
Neither move was particularly successful for either player or club. Robertson spent two years at Highbury, scoring eight times during that period: one of those a goal in the North London Derby (albeit a 3-2 defeat). Jenkins did not feature in that game, or many games for that matter: the wideman could not break into the Spurs first team, making only a smattering of appearances before leaving for pastures new at Brentford.
Pat Jennings
“Big Pat” was undoubtedly one of the greatest Tottenham Hotspur stoppers of all time. The Northern Irish goalkeeper was number one at White Hart Lane for much of the sixties and seventies, making 590 club appearances between the sticks. During that time, Spurs lifted the FA Cup, the League Cup (twice) and the UEFA Cup.
Remarkably, despite his legendary status at the club and his assured performances over a 13-year stint, Jennings was ushered out of the club at the relatively young age of 32 by manager Keith Burkinshaw. A number of top clubs were interested, including Ipswich Town, Aston Villa or Manchester United, but Jennings opted to move closer to home, joining Arsenal for £40,000.
It became apparent rather quickly that the decision to dispense with Jennings’ services was a premature one. He held onto the number one jersey for eight years at Highbury, featuring in four cup finals and winning one, the 1979 FA Cup. Jennings racked up a further 327 appearances for the Gunners: only David Seaman and Jack Kelsey made more appearances between the sticks.
When he left Arsenal in 1985, a 40-year-old Pat returned to Tottenham, training with the reserves to maintain his fitness for the upcoming World Cup. When he took to the field for a final time – against Brazil, no less – he became the oldest player to appear at a World Cup finals (this has since been bettered by three players).
A testimonial was played in his honour between the two
Sol Campbell
One of the greatest centre-halves in Premier League history, opinions of Sol Campbell are often shaped by what side of North London you hail from.
To Tottenham Hotspur fans, Sol was one of the club’s greatest homegrown talents (albeit one who started his career at West Ham); the resolute club captain who led the team to their first trophy in eight years. Towards the end of the decade, the centre-half had grown increasingly disillusioned for a number of reasons at White Hart Lane and, with his contract running down, was considering his options.
Unbeknownst to Spurs fans – and indeed, most of the football world – one of those options was Arsenal. The 26-year-old, at the peak of his game and one of the country’s most sought-after defenders, took advantage of the Bosman ruling to join Tottenham’s fiercest rivals without so much as a penny changing hands.
Campbell was branded ‘Judas’ by apoplectic supporters: those bitter feelings still runs deep in some sections today. From Sol’s perspective, it proved to be an astute career move: he added two Premier League and two FA Cup winners’ medals to his collection during his six years at the club, and was an integral part of Arsene Wenger’s backline during the famous Invincibles season of 2003-04.
Corinthian PLC launched their Microstars range in 2001, and a second series soon followed later that year. Owing to production times, Sol was still featured in his Tottenham Hotspur kit: he was also the only Spurs player included in that release, rubbing further salt into the wound of supporters! The same mould (sans hair) would be used for an Arsenal variant in series 6.
