Spurs Crest
The Spurs motto: "Audere est Facere", "To Dare is to Do".
Tottenham Hotspur football club, which is located on the High Road, was formed by a group of cricketers in 1882. The original name was Hotspur FC but was changed three years later to avoid confusion with a team called London Hotspur. The ground was originally a neglected nursery across the road from Northumberland Park complete with greenhouses and sheds. Charringtons, who owned the land behind the White Hart Inn on Tottenham High Road, intended to build houses there. However, the pub's landlord wanted a football club on his doorstep, because his previous establishment was close to Millwall's ground and he knew the profits large crowds could bring. The Spurs directors heard of his preference and approached Charringtons, who rented them the ground that was then named after the pub.
The name has two components the first being the original name of Tottenham, which was the village of Totta. The name Hotspur was chosen because of the fiery reputation of Shakespeare's Harry Hotspur, a character in his play "Henry IV Part 1". Harry was based on a 14th century ancestor called Sir Henry Percy of the aristocratic Northumberland family who owned large tracts of land in the Tottenham area in the 1880s and after whom the nearby Northumberland Avenue is named. The family were believed to have lived close to the ground in Percy House. Henry was reported to have been killed in battle in Shrewsbury in 1403.
He acquired his surname because of his frequent use of spurs when riding.
The ‘Spurs Crest’ also has interesting components, which relate to the local surroundings of the club -
Centre: The Tottenham's ball and cockerel crest is related to Harry Hotspur's riding spurs since fighting cocks were once fitted out with miniature spurs.
Top right: The seven trees on the club crest are the Seven Sisters, which were trees that stood in Tottenham at Page Green.
Top left: The castle that appears is Bruce Castle, which is off Bruce Grove, a couple of miles from the ground, which now houses the local Council's museum.
Bottom left and Right: The two lions holding the THFC shield are from the Northumberland family crest.