Tottenham Women: A Season of Transformation and Triumph
For much of last season, Tottenham Hotspur felt like two different clubs sharing the same badge. On one side, a men’s team that didn’t just flirt with relegation but practically started picking out curtains with it. On the other, a women’s side playing with such verve and joy that it became a weekly antidote to the gloom.
The men eventually pulled away from danger, Premier League status preserved with something closer to relief than celebration. The women did more than survive. They produced their highest-ever points tally in the Women’s Super League and a string of performances that made you want to rearrange your weekend around them.
A 7-2 demolition of Aston Villa. An FA Cup epic against London City Lionesses that descended into a penalty shootout of surreal quality – 17 consecutive spot-kicks converted before someone finally blinked. A 40-yard rocket from Cathinka Tandberg that seemed to defy both distance and logic. Spurs Women didn’t just win games; they created memories.
While the men’s season-ticket WhatsApp chats descended into crisis management – “Why the endless passing around the box?” “Where are the signings to cover the injuries?” – a different ritual was taking shape elsewhere. Three years ago, inspired by England’s Lionesses reaching the 2023 World Cup final, one family chose a new path: season tickets for Tottenham Women.
The decision crystallised in Brisbane. England had just edged Colombia 2-1 in the quarter-finals. In a fan zone dominated by Colombia colours – perhaps 2,000 of them to around 20 England supporters – opposition fans still broke away to shake hands, share smiles, acknowledge the contest. That was the kind of football environment you’d want a child to grow up in. Inclusive. Generous. Bigger than the result.
That same spirit has followed Tottenham Women home.
Ho’s Spurs find their identity
The turning point on the pitch came with the arrival of Martin Ho as head coach last year. His CV was solid – assistant at Manchester United, head coach at Brann in Norway – but it’s what he has done in north London that really matters.
Ho has built a side that knows exactly what it is. Spurs play on the front foot, but they’re not reckless. The structure is clear, the roles defined, the patterns recognisable. Players look like they understand not only what they’re supposed to do, but how to help the teammate next to them do it better.
He hasn’t locked himself away in an office either. On matchdays at Leyton Orient, where Spurs Women play most of their home fixtures, Ho can sometimes be found wandering through the “Legends Lounge”, chatting to supporters before kick-off. It’s a small thing, but it speaks to a connection between touchline and terrace that many clubs claim and far fewer genuinely live.
Recruitment has backed up the philosophy. Olivia Holdt emerged as the club’s top scorer from midfield, knitting play and finishing chances. Toko Koga anchored central defence with a calm authority. In January, Signe Gaupset arrived and promptly started tearing through midfields with the ball at her feet, turning transitions into sudden, surging attacks.
Just as important has been Ho’s work with the players he inherited. In 2024-25, Tottenham finished only one place above the drop zone, a disappointing campaign that cost Robert Vilahamn his job. Fast forward a season and they opened by winning five of their first six league games. No one outside the dressing room knows exactly what Ho said or did to reset the group, but the transformation was obvious. This was not an Igor Tudor-style demolition of confidence; nobody was told they couldn’t attack, couldn’t defend, couldn’t run.
Because Tottenham did all three. Relentlessly.
Eveliina Summanen set the tempo. Amanda Nildén offered composure and drive. Lize Kop brought assurance in goal. Drew Spence and Clare Hunt added steel and intelligence. Across the campaign, this looked like a team that believed in itself and in the plan.
There were humbling days, of course. Manchester City handed out a couple of heavy defeats, powered by Khadija “Bunny” Shaw, whose goals-per-game numbers stand up to comparison with Erling Haaland. But City finished champions, ahead of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United – the established WSL superpowers.
Spurs ended up fifth, top of the rest. Given the trajectory, the idea of cracking that top four no longer feels fanciful. It feels like a target.
Building for the next step
Tottenham did not waste time once the season ended. Within days, they had moved to strengthen again. Caitlin Dijkstra, a highly rated Netherlands international, arrived from Wolfsburg to reinforce the back line. Shekiera Martinez joined from West Ham, where she had stood out as a ruthless finisher in a struggling side. More proven quality followed: Kirsty Hanson from Aston Villa, Alice Sombath from OL Lyonnes.
These are not speculative punts. They are signings that speak of a club intent on narrowing the gap to the elite, not just making up the numbers behind them.
Progress has its cost. Saying goodbye to Bethany England and Ashleigh Neville has hurt. Neville’s move to Leicester, driven by a desire to be closer to home, makes sense on a human level. England’s departure is harder to process. As the club’s record goalscorer, she had surely earned at least the chance of a one-year extension. Instead, Spurs move on without a player who helped define this chapter of their story.
The squad that walks out at the start of the new season will look very different to the one that first drew a small band of supporters to the women’s side three years ago. What hasn’t changed is the core around them: a community of season-ticket holders whose relationship with the club runs deep.
These are supporters who write blogs, host podcasts, travel to away grounds like West Ham in the teeth of winter rain and swirling wind. Many followed the team back when they were Broxbourne Ladies, grafting their way up through the divisions in front of a smattering of fans. They have seen the journey, not just the destination.
A different kind of matchday
The matchday experience in the women’s game offers something distinct. Tension still crackles. Referees still get questioned – often with a pointed suggestion about a recent visit to a well-known high street optician. But the fury and toxicity that can swamp the men’s fixtures rarely take hold.
Instead, colour and inclusivity dominate. Before kick-off, banners go up in the stands, Spurs players framed by the Progress Pride flag. It’s not decoration for its own sake. It’s a clear signal: everyone is welcome here. For some, that message only truly lands when they start going regularly. Once it does, it’s hard to unsee. Football, so often a mirror for society’s divisions, can also be a force for change.
On the pitch, the rhythm is different but no less compelling. Women’s football may be a fraction slower than the men’s game, but it flows. No VAR stoppages. No five-minute waits while players and fans stare at a screen and guess at lines being drawn in a distant bunker. Occasionally, a refereeing mistake stings. The trade-off is a game that breathes, surges, and lives in the moment.
Tottenham Women now stand at an intriguing point in their evolution. The football is exciting. The squad is stronger. The league table shows tangible progress. The fanbase is growing, game by game.
If more people choose to spend their weekends at women’s matches this season, they won’t just be watching a team on the rise. They’ll be stepping into a version of football that, at its best, remembers why people fell in love with the sport in the first place.
