The pro-Yiddish British
My wife Sandy, sons Simon and Daniel, and I emigrated from the United Kingdom to the United States in 1965. Trevor, the son of Simon, always had the yearning to return. He selected the Harringey area of London to live, a few miles from the Tottenham Hotspur stadium. He knew that our family, except for my son Daniel, a supporter of Arsenal, were avid Tottenham fans (Kolbo, “The fighting Jewish,” Nov. 15). In fact my cousin’s daughter is married to Alan Sugar, now Lord Sugar of Clapton, a previous owner of the club.
Trevor is 20 years old, passionate about his Tottenham Hotspurs, goes to as many home games as he can afford, and has developed an encyclopedic knowledge of the team and its history. The Tottenham area has changed, over the years, from a large Jewish area to one with few Jews. As the Jewish population became more affluent they moved from the East End to Hackney, then to other parts of North London.
As the Jews moved away from the vicinity of the Tottenham stadium they kept their allegiance to the team and formed a large contingent of the crowd at the home games. They fully supported the non-Jews who decided to form the “Yid Army” to combat the anti-Semitic chants that were sung at away games. If you watch the Tottenham Hotspur games on American television, you will see these supporters waving the Israeli flag. They are proud of the Jewish connection and the Jewish supporters are proud of the way they supported the club and its Jewish supporters.
Tony Taylor
West Orange
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