The return of our annual holiday season feature where we speak to players who’ve joined us over the last 12 months to hear about their festive traditions and memories...
Mathys Tel
Born: Sarcelles, France
Joined Spurs: February, 2025, from Bayern Munich
What are your Christmas traditions at home?
“On 24 December we have dinner all together and wait for 12am, then we open our gifts and celebrate. Every family has their own way to celebrate but this is our tradition, to wait up until midnight and then open our gifts at that time.”
What’s a traditional Christmas dinner for you?
“In my family it’s food from Guadeloupe, so we have rice, beef, chicken and Colombo, which is like a mix of stew and curry. It’s very popular! My mother usually cooks and so does my grandmother.”
What was your most memorable Christmas gift as a child?
“It was actually a trip. My family organised for us to travel to Guadeloupe for the first time to see my grandmother. I was about six years old and that was the best gift I had, ever! I was very happy to see all my family – it was top.”
Antonin Kinsky
Born: Prague, Czech Republic
Joined Spurs: January, 2025, from Slavia Prague
What are your Christmas traditions at home?
“We celebrate in the evening of 24 December. During the day, we usually spend time with the family, go for a walk, have a good lunch together and then watch something old on the TV. There’s a film called ‘Pelíšky’ (Cosy Dens for English-speakers) that’s related to Czech history. It’s kind of a tradition – they always put it on in the evenings and we always watch it! On 25 December, everything is closed so you just spend a chilled day at home.”
What’s a traditional Christmas dinner for you?
“We have potato salad with vegetables and some chicken breast. People also combine it with fish and a kind of soup.”
What was your most memorable Christmas gift as a child?
“Our Christmases were always so nice so it’s not easy to choose, but if I had to pick one thing, it was a signed Manuel Neuer kit from Bayern Munich. I was young and it was a big thing for me. I remember I even played games in it – maybe in the Under-11s or something. I wore it everywhere!”
Olivia Holdt
Born: Ikast, Denmark
Joined Spurs: January, 2025, from FC Rosengård
What are your Christmas traditions at home?
“It’s normally in the evening of 24 December. Each family has their own specific way of celebrating but in my family, we like to go out for winter baths in the morning where you jump in the cold water, we then go home, get ready and then we go to the church. We meet with family to celebrate in the evening with good food, dancing and singing around the tree. That’s when we exchange our gifts.”
What’s a traditional Christmas dinner for you?
“We have Flæskesteg, which is like roast pork. We’ll often have it with potatoes, sometimes a bit of brown sauce and some crispy food on the side.”
What was your most memorable Christmas gift as a child?
“Some years ago I got a nice handbag but I also remember receiving a pair of football boots when I was younger, maybe 13. They were the best!”
Kota Takai
Born: Yokohama, Japan
Joined Spurs: July, 2025, from Kawasaki Frontale
What are your Christmas traditions at home?
“When you compare it to the UK, in this country it’s more like a family celebration but I would say in Japan it’s more of a couples’ thing. We exchange gifts on 25 December and sometimes go out to the town to walk under the Christmas illuminations.”
What’s a traditional Christmas dinner for you?
“Kentucky Fried Chicken! You might not believe it here, but it’s been a tradition in Japan since maybe the 1970s. Things from America began to come to Japan and people enjoyed having buckets of fried chicken to party. The mascot (Colonel Sanders) is also dressed in red clothes to look like Santa Claus!”
What was your most memorable Christmas gift as a child?
“When I was about 12 years old, I got my favourite comic book, Slam Dunk. It’s about basketball and it was a massive thing at the time.”
João Palhinha
Born: Lisbon, Portugal
Joined Spurs: August, 2025, from Bayern Munich
What are your Christmas traditions at home?
“It’s pretty normal, like here in the UK – we spend our time with the family. At midnight on 24 December we open our gifts, but the most important thing is to celebrate at dinner with all the family, including some people that we don’t see as often as we’d wish during the year.”
What’s a traditional Christmas dinner for you?
“Usually we have bacalhao, which is like dried cod. It’s very popular with everyone and it’s probably my favourite meal at Christmas.”
What was your most memorable Christmas gift as a child?
“I remember a football that I received – probably my favourite of all time. It was a brown one from the 2002 World Cup. I was seven years old at the time – I loved it! The best gift for me now, to be fair, is to have the family together. It doesn’t matter about material things in this moment because Christmas is all about family and love.”
Cathinka Tandberg
Born: Oslo, Norway
Joined Spurs: September, 2025, from Hammarby IF
What are your Christmas traditions at home?
“The main difference compared to here is that we open our gifts after dinner on Christmas Eve. We have dinner together at about 6pm but we have to wait the whole day until late at night to open our presents, then 25 December is just a chilled day. When I was younger there was a lot of snow around, but we don’t have it so much now.”
What’s a traditional Christmas dinner for you?
“Ribbe – it’s like a roasted pork belly. It’s very popular at Christmas in Norway.”
What was your most memorable Christmas gift as a child?
“I received tickets for a Tottenham game from my dad, which was nice. It was a European game against Besiktas at the old White Hart Lane. Harry Kane scored and it was 1-1. I travelled over with my dad and my brother – we came to London just for the game, but we went shopping as well!”
Xavi Simons
Born: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Joined Spurs: August, 2025, from RB Leipzig
What are your Christmas traditions at home?
“The most important thing is to be together, to eat together and just enjoy the day. We normally gather on 24 December and then the next morning it’s all about the presents for the kids!”
What’s a traditional Christmas dinner for you?
“It’s a mix really because I have family roots in Suriname, so we eat a lot of Surinamese food for the main meal and then have more typical Dutch dessert. It’s a little bit of everything really, a lot of chicken, various meats, rice and spicy rice.”
What was your most memorable Christmas gift as a child?
“I would say the best gift I received was when I was very young – maybe only four or five years old – when my mum got me some football boots. They were amazing to receive!”