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Speaking to supporters and soaking up the scene around the Tottenham High Road told you everything about what it means to end a trophy drought.

What it means to a club, a community and a fan base starved of silverware.

More than 100,00 fans turned out on a Friday afternoon to welcome back a team with the Europa League trophy.

For some clubs, 17 years might not seem a long time without a title.

But Tottenham have endured so much frustration and ridicule - competing for much of the last decade in the upper reaches of the Premier League without any prize to show for it.

And their last four cup finals have been lost.

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A punch line to savour

No wonder pundits doubted whether head coach Ange Postecoglou could continue his record of always winning a trophy by the second season at his clubs.

Now was the moment, at the end of the parade in front of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, to savour the success he promised to deliver.

"I told them, and they laughed," he told the crowd. "I told them, and they didn't believe."

Then came the punch line.

"I'll leave you with this," the Australian-Greek former Celtic manager said. "All the best television series, season three is better than season two."

Domestic woes forgotten - for now

Whether he will be back for season three has been the subplot throughout the second half of the season.

What was more surprising about beating Manchester United in the all-English final - a fourth win over the once-mighty fallen giants of the season - was reaching the final at all.

Because the Europa League has been won during Tottenham's worst domestic campaign in almost five decades. It's a Premier League season that will end on Sunday, just above the relegation zone.

But when there's a trophy to parade, on buses through the streets around the stadium, all the turbulence vanishes.

At least for now.

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'Champions again'

For so many fans, there was disbelief mixed with delirium that the trophy cabinet would have a new addition, rather than questioning who would be in the team coaching them next season.

There had been no European success since 1984, no domestic cup since 2008, until Brennan Johnson's scrappy goal sealed silverware in the final in Bilbao.

"Champions again," they chanted on a day when blue confetti filled the air and a trophy had its homecoming to north London.

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Spurs celebrate Europa League final win over Man Utd with London parade

Tottenham Hotspur are celebrating their Europa League victory with an open-top bus parade in north London.

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Tottenham Hotspur have won the Europa League after beating Premier League rivals Manchester United 1-0 in the final.

Brennan Johnson's scrappy 42-minute goal gave Ange Postecoglou's team the win and a spot in next season's Champions League, which is set to bring the north London club a £100m windfall.

Spurs were thankful for Micky van de Ven's second-half goal-line clearance and keeper Guglielmo Vicario's stoppage-time save.

The club have endured a disappointing top-flight campaign, currently sitting in 17th place in the domestic league, but the victory in Bibao, Spain, means they have secured a place in Europe's premier club competition and salvaged their season.

It is the first time Tottenham have won a trophy since the Carling Cup in 2008, and it is their first European title since the UEFA Cup in 1984.

Beaming boss Postecoglou silenced the critics - at least temporarily - as he stuck to his word by winning a trophy in his second season.

Meanwhile, United, who currently lie 16th in the Premier League, will now have a season without European football for the first time since 2014-15.

The Reds had remained unbeaten in the Europa League ahead of Wednesday's final at the San Mames stadium.

But manager Ruben Amorim's already tough job of rebuilding the team now becomes that much harder without Champions League qualification.

This season has been United's worst top-flight campaign since suffering relegation 51 years ago.

With both teams underperforming in the Premier League, the winners could be the lowest league finishers ever to win a major European trophy.

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Tottenham will face Manchester United in the Europa League final later this month – giving Ange Postecoglou's side the chance to break their 17-year trophy drought.

Spurs booked their place in the final by pulling off a 2-0 away win against Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt on Thursday, completing a 5-1 victory on aggregate.

Tottenham had been warned to expect a stern examination on Bodo's notoriously difficult artificial pitch inside the Arctic Circle. which was saturated by sprinklers and light drizzle before kick-off.

After a difficult first hour, Dominic Solanke broke the deadlock in the 63rd minute, before Pedro Porro scored their second goal just six minutes later.

Bodo won a stoppage-time penalty after Porro was deemed to have caught Isak Dybvik Maatta, but it was ruled out after a VAR check.

It will be only the second European final Spurs have contested in the last 40 years.

Meanwhile, Manchester United beat Athletic Bilbao 4-1 at Old Trafford - securing a convincing 7-1 win on aggregate.

Mikel Jaureguizar's first-half goal had given Athletic hope but Mason Mount came off the bench to settle United's nerves.

Goals from Casemiro and Rasmus Hojlund followed, before a second from over 40 yards out by Mount earned a handsome win.

The results set up an all-English final in Bilbao on Wednesday 21 May - and means a difficult season for both clubs will end with one of them securing a Champions League spot.

With three Premier League games to go, United and Spurs are currently sitting in 15th and 16th, respectively, and certain to finish in the bottom half.

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Chelsea also booked a place in a European final after beating Swedish side Djurgarden in the second leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final.

A 38th-minute goal from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall gave them a 1-0 win, bringing their score on aggregate to 5-1.

They will face Spain's Real Betis in the final at Stadium Wroclaw, Poland, on Wednesday 28 May.

An investment vehicle founded by a former Tottenham Hotspur Football Club executive is sailing to the rescue of one of Britain's biggest luxury boat-builders with a pledge to keep its manufacturing operations in the UK.

Sky News has learnt that a consortium led by Bronzewood Capital, the private equity arm of advisory firm Buchler Phillips, has secured the status of preferred bidder for Fairline Yachts.

Northamptonshire-based Fairline collapsed into administration in January, with insolvency practitioners Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) having conducted a rigorous sale process encompassing numerous parties with the objective of saving the company.

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Sources close to Bronzewood, whose boss, David Buchler, was a vice-chairman of Spurs for years, said it planned to retain the bulk of Fairline's workforce as part of the deal.

It was said to have had 250 employees at the time of A&M's appointment.

The price being paid by Bronzewood was unclear on Monday, with a deal potentially being completed within the next week.

If concluded, the transaction will be Bronzewood's first since it was established last month.

The yacht manufacturer's staff were briefed by the administrators that a preferred bidder had been chosen on Monday morning, according to a source close to the buyer.

Fairline's collapse into administration came less than two months after it was sold to new investors, after DF Capital, the company's main lender, triggered the appointment of A&M.

The business was sold in December by Hanover Investors to Arrowbolt Propulsion Systems, which was described in an announcement about the deal as a "clean propulsion technology company".

Further details of that deal were unclear, although the statement in December said that Arrowbolt was appointing Peter Hamlyn, an experienced industry executive, as Fairline Yachts' new chief executive.

Fairline Yachts' collapse came nearly two years after rival Princess Yachts was sold to investor KPS Capital Partners.

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Last autumn, Sunseeker, another big player in the sector, was sold to international investors Lionheart Capital and Orienta Capital Partners.

A spokesperson for Bronzewood declined to comment, while A&M could not be reached for comment.

The football club is working with the NFL to support local businesses and good causes.

A Tamworth FC footballer has said he is "shocked... but not surprised" to receive racist abuse after his team lost to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Chris Wreh, 28, said in a post on X: "After an amazing day today, this is the last thing I expected to see when I opened Instagram. Never the less, thank you for all the support today. Fans were unreal."

He included a screenshot of an Instagram message he received with several racist insults after Tamworth lost 3-0 to Tottenham in the third round FA Cup tie at the Lamb Ground.

Mr Wreh told Sky News that he was "shocked and disappointed more than anything".

"But I wasn't overly surprised by it as it [is] something that we see regularly when black players do something 'wrong'.

"I'm a strong character and try not to let things bother me because there are so many things that are wrong in the world and so many people suffering but it's still not right or nice.

"But it's good to call people out so that it can obviously stop it happening again and also, it shows their character and people can now make a real judgement of them."

Mr Wreh added that he believed racism in football "never seems to go away if you do bad [or] don't win".

He said: "For example on my issue, if we had won or if I scored and he [the sender of the message] didn't lose his bet, I would not have been racially abused like that, but is that right? Absolutely not.

"But it's sad because it's the world we live in. Or like on a bigger scale the likes of Saka, Sancho, who were loved one minute and hated the next - simply because of the colour of our skin," he said.

The Instagram account that the message is purported to come from appears to have been deleted.

Mr Wreh said the Metropolitan Police contacted him after he posted on X, while Staffordshire Police says it is liaising with Tamworth FC.

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In a statement to Sky News, the Staffordshire force said: "We're aware of a social media message involving racist abuse that was sent online to a player following the FA Cup match between Tamworth and Tottenham Hotspur yesterday.

"Officers are continuing to liaise with Tamworth Football Club and national policing partners as part of their initial enquiries and plans to support the victim moving forward.

"Racist abuse will never be tolerated and officers will thoroughly investigate any reports as robustly as possible to ensure those responsible are dealt with accordingly."

Sky News has contacted Meta, which owns Instagram, and Tamworth FC for comment.

Mr Wreh, 28, joined National League side Tamworth in 2023. The striker has also played for Hartlepool United, Southend United and Banbury United.

Mr Wreh's father Christopher, 49, was part of the Arsenal side that won the Premier League and FA Cup double during the 1997-98 season. The ex-striker also won 36 caps for Liberia.

Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur has been given a seven-match ban for an alleged racist remark made about South Korean teammate Son Heung-min in a TV interview.

The Uruguayan midfielder, 27, was charged by the Football Association on 12 September after an interview on the Uruguayan TV channel Canal 10 in June that showed Bentancur being asked by the host to show the shirt of a Spurs player.

The former Juventus player replied: "Sonny's? It could be Sonny's cousin too as they all look the same."

He swiftly apologised to Son on Instagram, saying it was a "very bad joke" and he would "never disrespect you or hurt you".

Son accepted his apology, saying that his teammate had made a mistake and "would not mean to ever intentionally say something offensive".

"We are brothers and nothing has changed at all," Son said in June. "We're past this, we're united, and we will be back together in preseason to fight for our club as one."

But due to this being an "aggravated breach", an independent regulatory commission panel were required to either uphold the FA charge or dismiss the case.

Bentancur was fined £100,0000 and will sit out Tottenham's next seven domestic fixtures, but will be able to feature for the club in upcoming Europa League matches with Roma and Rangers.

The FA also ordered Bentancur to attend a "face-to-face education program", details of which will be provided later. The course should be completed by 11 March next year.

"If the player fails to complete the program satisfactorily in that period, he will be immediately suspended from all domestic club football until such time as the mandatory programme is completed," the FA said.

An FA spokesperson said: "It was alleged that the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder breached FA Rule E3.1 as he acted in an improper manner and/or used abusive and/or insulting words and/or brought the game into disrepute.

"It was further alleged that this constitutes an 'aggravated breach', which is defined in FA Rule E3.2, as it included a reference - whether express or implied - to nationality and/or race and/or ethnic origin.

"Rodrigo Bentancur denied this charge, but the independent regulatory commission found it to be proven and imposed his sanctions following a hearing."

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