After spending 12 years at Wimbledon during the ‘Crazy Gang’ era, Neil Sullivan had experienced plenty during his career when he made the move to Tottenham in 2000.
However, nothing was able to prepare him for just how different the two London clubs were when he travelled north of the River Thames.
At Wimbledon, Sullivan had trained on Wimbledon Common and enjoyed the club’s uniquely down-to-earth culture, poles apart from the relative luxury he would find at Spurs.
Sullivan on swapping Wimbledon for Tottenham
“My contract was up in Wimbledon and my agent got me a move to Spurs through his connections,” Sullivan tells FourFourTwo as he reflects on the move.
“It was just a different world. I was used to training on Wimbledon Common, clearing up all the dog s**t before we could start. Suddenly, I’m walking into Spurs Lodge, which was completely different.
“I remember my first home game. I arrived at White Hart Lane and someone stopped me in my car, opened my door and offered to park my car. I thought it was a wind up. It would have been at Wimbledon!”
Towards the end of Sullivan’s time at Wimbledon, the club began the talks that would lead to their relocation to Milton Keynes, which caused huge amounts of fan unrest.
“Initially, we were going to Dublin,” Sullivan recalls. “We had new owners and Wimbledon weren't a massive club, and didn't have a lot of money. The Premier League was changing, so things had to change and modernise.
“But to move out of Wimbledon just didn't seem right. It just didn't seem right to take Wimbledon away from Wimbledon. People behind the scenes ultimately thought the MK Dons move would be more productive, earn more money.
“After that was decided, we got relegated, so they didn't get Premier League football in Milton Keynes and I think that was a big pull for doing it. The whole thing was just shocking.”
At Spurs, Sullivan was part of the side that reached the 2002 League Cup Final, only to suffer a shock defeat to Blackburn Rovers, a game which still rankles with the former Scotland stopper.
“Yeah, it was disappointing,” he says. “Don't forget, we just had a new manager come in. George Graham had got us to the final but then Glenn Hoddle took over. Daniel Levy had just taken over the club, so there were a lot of changes going on at the time.
“We’d go on to finish in the bottom half of the table so, while we had a talented side, it wasn’t a strong period. We were favourites for that game but, remember, Blackburn had won the Premier League within the last decade. They had a very good side.”
