Tottenham Hotspur’s 2024/25 campaign was a dramatic clash of despair and triumph—scraping through Premier League survival while clinching Europa League glory against all odds. Shashwata Ray Chaudhuri writes…

Tottenham Hotspur’s 2024/25 season was a dramatic roller-coaster that saw the North London club flirt with relegation in the Premier League but rise to claim UEFA Europa League glory. Despite a string of humiliating losses, including defeats to Liverpool, Arsenal, and Ipswich Town, and their worst domestic campaign in years, manager Ange Postecoglou's side defied the odds in Europe. The final in Bilbao against Manchester United marked a historic turnaround, ending a 17-year wait for silverware and securing Champions League qualification. Tottenham’s season proves that with resilience, belief, and unity, even the bleakest journey can culminate in triumph.

Tottenham Hotspur’s 2024/25 campaign was a season of stark contrasts, a turbulent Premier League run offset by an unforgettable European triumph. A Tottenham Hotspur fan in India looks at the club’s chequered performance in the 2024/25 season that saw the club barely manage to evade relegation in the Premier League and end up winners at the UEFA Europa League.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Charles Dickens’s famous opening line in A Tale of Two Cities might have been written in an entirely different context, far removed from the hurly-burly of an international football season. But it best describes Tottenham Hotspur’s 2024/25 season—a campaign marked by both Pacific depths and Himalayan highs, the likes of which I haven’t experienced since becoming a fan around 2018/19, when Lucas Moura’s unbelievable hat-trick against Ajax sent us to the Champions League final.

The Pain of Being a Spurs Fan

It’s never been easy being a Spurs fan. Mentioning Tottenham often brings predictable reactions: “Really? Spurs? Why not Liverpool? Not Man City?” Even Arsenal, our fiercest rivals, often seem a more “acceptable” choice to neutrals. It’s a team that consistently flatters to deceive. Despite boasting elite international players—Harry Kane, Gareth Bale, Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli, and now Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Richarlison—and world-class managers like José Mourinho and Antonio Conte, Tottenham has often failed to deliver. These coaches promised to shatter the glass ceiling, only to be undone by the club’s repeated inability to maintain consistency.

And then there’s the constant jibe: the absence of silverware. By 2025, it had been 17 years without a trophy, and 40 years since Tottenham had lifted a European title.

Collapse at Home: A Season of Losses

Even with all these frustrations, nothing prepared us for the catastrophe of the 2024/25 domestic season. It started badly and only got worse. Tottenham lost 21 league matches—more than any club outside the relegated bottom three—finishing just above the drop zone. For a club regarded as part of the Premier League’s "Elite 6," it was a humiliating run.

The team routinely failed to control midfield, suffered lapses in defence, and lacked a reliable goal-scorer. Injuries exacerbated the problem, but the fundamental issue was squad depth and mental resilience. Matches that were there for the taking slipped through our fingers—too often, too easily.

I began skipping matches after December 2024, something I never imagined doing. That’s how disheartening it had become. 

Manager Ange Postecoglou, who had arrived to much fanfare, saw his reputation falter. The season’s tone was set early with a 2-1 home loss to newly promoted Ipswich Town, who were winless until then. Losses to Liverpool (5-1), Arsenal (twice), and even a struggling Crystal Palace side revealed glaring weaknesses. The team scored 63 goals in the league but conceded 61—an indicator of just how fragile the defensive setup was.

Cup competitions offered little consolation. Liverpool knocked us out of the Carabao Cup in the semi-finals, and Aston Villa ousted us in the FA Cup fourth round. With every defeat, the pressure on Postecoglou mounted.

Redemption in Europe: A Night to Remember

But amid the domestic carnage, Spurs found redemption in Europe.

The UEFA Europa League run offered fans hope, then delivered euphoria. In a hard-fought final in Bilbao, Tottenham defeated Manchester United 1-0. Brennan Johnson scored the only goal in the first half, breaking the club’s 17-year trophy drought and securing its first European title since 1984.

Though the final lacked fluidity or flair, the team displayed a defensive spirit they had not shown all season. As United launched wave after wave of attacks, Tottenham defended with everything they had—none more so than Micky Van de Ven and goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.

The defining moments? Van de Ven’s incredible 68th-minute leap to make a goal-line clearance, and Vicario’s 97th-minute save that preserved the win. While Johnson got the winning goal, these moments of sheer determination and heart will be etched in every fan’s memory.

What made the night more miraculous was the absence of stars like Maddison and Kulusevski due to injuries. Yet the team, led by the ever-reliable Son Heung-min, found new depth. For Son and many others, this win was a reward long overdue.

Postecoglou had said he “always wins a trophy in his second year”—and he delivered, despite calls for his resignation just weeks earlier. 

This wasn’t just a feel-good ending. Winning the Europa League brought practical benefits: qualification for the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League and a place in the UEFA Super Cup. It also provided a renewed belief in Postecoglou’s vision, likely securing his role for another season.

It reminded fans, players, and critics alike that in football, as in life, redemption can be just around the corner. One night of heroics can alter narratives, erase doubts, and bring long-suffering fans the joy they’ve desperately craved.

  

A Season to Remember, A Future to Shape

For Tottenham Hotspur, the 2024/25 season was a stark reminder of football’s volatility—how quickly things can spiral downward, and how unexpectedly redemption can arrive. It was a story of despair transformed by resilience and grit. From a club that many had written off to lifting a major European trophy, the arc was nothing short of cinematic.

And for fans like me, it was a season that tested our loyalty, only to reward it with glory. It truly was the best of times. And, yes, the worst of times.