For the past few weeks, a Brazilian forward called Sávio has been playing for Tottenham. Many of you will remember him from his time at Manchester City, where he went by Savinho. Before that, though, he wanted to be known as Sávio. It may sound unlikely, but it’s true. There is an ironic twist, too: while Sávio wanted to be known by a different name, his new club had been insisting on being called by its full name. At the end of 2024, Tottenham asked everyone, supporters included, to refer to the team as Tottenham Hotspur. Now, though, the club is once again happy to be known simply as “Tottenham”.
To understand how that change came about, it is worth going back to November 2024, when Tottenham unveiled a new brand identity. The club’s communications team made it clear that the team should be referred to by its full name or one of a small number of approved names and abbreviations. A brand manual was circulated, stating that “when referring to the team or the brand, please use the names ‘Tottenham Hotspur’, ‘Tottenham Hotspur Football Club’ or ‘THFC’”. It also specified that the club should never be called “Tottenham”, “Tottenham Hotspur FC” or “TH”.
The request was aimed primarily at journalists and commentators, but it extended to supporters, too. They had, after all, always called the team simply “Tottenham”. The new rules left many baffled, and some unhappy, not least because they seemed to suggest that the club wanted to distance itself from the community it had always represented. Tottenham is a neighbourhood in the London borough of Haringey, around ten kilometres north-east of central London.
The club’s new management, however, has proved more willing to listen to supporters. In recent months, “Tottenham” has returned to the club’s official communications and social media channels. The Athletic has noted that “rediscovering the club’s historic identity has been one of the central themes of this summer”. The club has relaunched its Hall of Fame and, last month, introduced commemorative shirt numbers for the women’s team. Before matches, the graphics displayed on the stadium’s exterior walls now read “This is Tottenham”. Supporters have welcomed the change, and at the latest meeting of the club’s Supporters’ Advisory Board, held during the international break, the board backed the return to the club’s former naming policy. De Zerbi’s results have been disappointing at the start of the season, giving fans little to cheer about. At least they can now grumble about Tottenham without having to call it Tottenham Hotspur.