Item 2020.80 - Graffiti Covered Tottenham Hotspur FC Overalls

White cotton overalls with a turn-down collar, fastening at the centre front with three removable white 'bullseye' buttons. The overalls feature a button fly and two patch pockets with buttoned flaps, also fastened with removable white 'bullseye' buttons. A Tottenham Hotspur patch is stitched below the left pocket.

The overalls have been graffitied by hand in black, blue, and yellow ink across the front, back, legs, and shoulders. The right leg is marked with the Tottenham team and their positions, while the left leg features the text "Tottenham Hotspur Football Club" and "Paxton Road End." The right arm has "THFC," and the left arm lists Spurs' trophies and final appearances from 1901 to 1974. On the back, there is a large drawing in yellow and blue of the Spurs club symbol, depicting a cockerel standing on a football.

From Inside the Westminster Menswear Archive:

GRAFFITI COVERED OVERALLS
Primalta
1974
Young men started wearing butcher’s coats and white overalls to football games in the UK in the early 1970s. These garments were often graffitied with the players’ names, club crests, and insults directed at opposing teams. These overalls are decorated with felt-tip pen graffiti commemorating the 1974 UEFA Cup Final between Tottenham and Feyenoord held on 21 and 29 May 1974. The final was split into two legs, with Spurs supporters rioting in Rotterdam after Feyenoord scored in the first half. In footage from this incident, numerous Spurs supporters can be seen wearing butcher’s coats, many of which have been heavily defaced. The inscriptions include a list of Spurs’ trophies and final appearances from 1901 to 1974; a list of Spurs players and their positions; and a large drawing of the Spurs' cockerel crest.
Cotton
Archive no. 2020.80
82