‘They’re not a big club’ – Joe Cole explains why West Ham fans hate Spurs so much

Joe Cole has suggested that the reason West Ham United fans despise Tottenham is because the North Londoners act like a big club despite not winning silverware for a decade and a half.

West Ham have considered Tottenham to be their biggest rivals over recent decades, especially since they have not played in the same division as Millwall for quite a while.

There is certainly no love lost between the two sets of fans but Spurs fans would argue that the rivalry is being drummed up more by Hammers supporters and that they have bigger fish to fry.

The overwhelming majority of Tottenham supporters would certainly name Arsenal as their fiercest rivals, while many would also consider the rivalry with Chelsea to be more fierce than the one with West Ham.

Why do West Ham hate Tottenham so much?

However, there is no doubt that the East London club raise their game when they play Spurs, and that was the topic of discussion on TNT Sports between Cole and Glenn Hoddle.

Hoddle said: “West Ham always do so well against Tottenham Hotspur. They raise their game. Joe, you’ve been in that dressing room. I don’t know what it is. Over the years, when I played, in your era, and now, I think it’s the fanbase.”

With a smirk on his face, Cole retorted: “I think West Ham may have also felt like also-rans when Tottenham, even though they haven’t won much silverware. [Spurs] They act and behave like a team that does. Sorry about this Glenn, by the way.

“West Ham probably think, ‘Why do you consider yourself a big club?’ So you have that sort of David and Goliath, and you think to yourself ‘Let’s go and stuff them’. Because they’re not a big club, they’re not a Manchester United or Liverpool. They’re a big club [Tottenham], but they’re not of that stature.”

Spurs Web Opinion

The topic of whether a club is ‘big’ or not is a subjective one and those debates often sound quite childish. While it is true that Tottenham have not won silverware since 2008, our trophy cabinet is considerably fuller than that of West Ham.