Tottenham Hotspur

Ashley Phillips is on the shortlist for the EFL Championship's Young Player of the Season award.

On loan at Stoke City for the campaign, the defender has enjoyed a fine season in England's second tier, making 36 appearances for the Potters in the competition - the most he has made in a single league campaign so far in his professional career.

Just 20 years old, it was a slow start to his spell in Staffordshire as it wasn't until late September that he started his first league game in the red and white stripes of Stoke but, after making that first start - a 0-0 draw at high-flying Middlesbrough - he has started all bar two games, including the last 21 on the spin.

During that run, Stoke boss Mark Robins handed Ash the captain's armband for the first time as his side came from behind the earn a 3-3 draw with promotion-chasing Ipswich Town.

Reliable, passionate and determined in his performances, it is perhaps no surprise that no player under the age of 20 has played more minutes in the Championship this term than the former Blackburn Rovers man.

Having also spent last season on loan at the Bet365 Stadium, he has now made 79 appearances for Stoke in all competitions - a record for a loan player for the club.

Meanwhile, he is also close to hitting a landmark appearance in the Championship. Currently on 97 career appearances in the competition, he could still yet become a centurion in the second tier before the end of the campaign.

The winner of the award will be announced on Sunday 19 April at a ceremony in London.

Our Women’s Under-19s suffered their first defeat in six games as Sheffield United claimed a 3-1 victory in the Professional Game Academy League on Wednesday afternoon.

Grace Breen got us off to the perfect start as she fired home a free-kick from distance – her second in as many games – but, as we reached the half-hour mark at Hotspur Way, the visitors had turned the game in their favour - Emelia King getting the Blades back on terms before Isobel Stewart forced them ahead.

We pushed for an equaliser in the second period but, in truth, we created very few clear-cut opportunities and, in the fifth minute of stoppage time, the away side wrapped up the victory through Alexandra Rigg. That was our first loss in all competitions since 25 February, 2026.

More details to follow…

Ten years, 454 appearances, 173 goals, captaining the team to UEFA Europa League glory, first goal at the new stadium, the FIFA Puskas award, the Golden Boot... and it all started at Sunderland's Stadium of Light on 13 September, 2015.

That was the first time Heung-Min Son stepped out in Lilywhite - or purple/lilac as it turned out - for his debut against the Black Cats after signing from Bayer Leverkusen.

Sonny played 62 minutes of a typically tough test in the Premier League on Wearside as Ryan Mason's goal, finishing a great team move, secured a 1-0 victory. That was our first Premier League win of 2015/16, although part of a 14-match unbeaten run - we didn't lose again until December.

Sonny was typically humble talking to us afterwards, a trait that never changed as his legend grew in N17. "It was an amazing Premier League debut – it’s a dream for me. I am not happy because I can play better but this is a dream for me. This is only my first game – I haven’t done a pre-match with the team before. Now I want more, I’m not sure how we press, I just need a bit of time to settle in with the team. The players were very good. We can play much better which we’ll see over the next few weeks."

Within a week, Sonny was up and running - his first goals against Qarabag in the UEFA Europa League at the Lane and a few days later, his first Premier League strike to beat Palace. The team would go on to finish third, runners-up, third and then fourth in his first four seasons, reaching the Champions League final in 2019.

Approaching a year since announcing his departure and his final competitive appearance - aptly, going out in a blaze of glory by lifting the UEL trophy in Bilbao - Sonny is established as one of our all-time greats. His 173 goals is the fifth highest tally in the club's history and he's one of only seven players to surpass 450 appearances.

Sonny is now lighting up the MLS at LAFC and South Korea's captain, record cap and goalscorer is counting down to his fourth World Cup finals this summer.

Live Coverage: Spurs on international duty this April  Tottenham Hotspur

Following the recent arrival of Roberto De Zerbi as our new Men’s Head Coach, we can now confirm the full structure of the Men’s First Team coaching staff.

Marcattilio Marcattilii and Marcello Quinto join as First Team Fitness Coach and Senior Professional Development Phase Coach, respectively.

Marcattilio, also known as Marco, brings a wealth of experience to the role. He began working with Roberto in 2015 at Italian side Foggia and has been a part of his backroom staff since.

Marcello has worked closely with Roberto over the past three years during his time at both Brighton & Hove Albion and Marseille.

Marcattilio and Marcello join Bruno Saltor (Assistant Coach), Andreas Georgson (Assistant Coach), Cameron Campbell (Individual Development Coach) and Fabian Otte (Goalkeeping Coach) on the coaching staff. They will continue to be supported by Stuart Lewis and Dean Brill.

International football is on the agenda once again over the next fortnight, with a number of our players representing their countries.

Qualifying for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup remains on the agenda for our European players, with Amanda Nilden and Matilda Vinberg are set to go head-to-head with Olivia Holdt when Sweden host Denmark.

Cathinka Tandberg, meanwhile, has earned a recall to the Norway senior squad, joining Julie Blakstad and Signe Gaupset, for their double-header qualifier against Slovenia.

There’s another potential opportunity for our players to, which comes in the Under-23 picture, as Sweden’s Matilda Nilden and Hanna Wijk could find themselves against Lenna Gunning-Williams. The two nations, alongside the Netherlands and Norway, are competing in the European Competition semi-finals, with the final set to be played in this international window.

Academy players Sophie Jackson and Jhanaie Pierre, who has earned her first call-up to the England Under-19s squad, will be featuring for the Young Lionesses in their three qualifiers for the UEFA Women’s U19 Euro Finals.

Here’s a run-down of when and where our players will be playing over the course of the international break (all kick-off time are UK)…

Thursday 9 April

Sophie Jackson and Jhanaie Pierre – England Under-19 UEFA Women’s U19 Euro Finals qualifier against Lativa in Switzerland – 4.30pm

Saturday 11 April

Drew Spence – Jamaica CONCACAF Championship qualifier against Antigua and Barbuda – 1am

Toko Koga and Maika Hamano – Japan international friendly against USA – 10.30pm

Sunday 12 April

Sophie Jackson and Jhanaie Pierre – England Under-19 UEFA Women’s U19 Euro Finals qualifier against Wales in Switzerland – 4.30pm

Monday 13 April

Lenna Gunning-Williams – England Under-23 European Competition Semi-Final against the Netherlands in Spain – 3pm

Hanna Wijk and Matilda Nilden – Sweden Under-23 European Competition Semi-Final against Norway – 6pm

Tuesday 14 April

Eveliina Summanen and Olga Ahtinen – Finland FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier at home against Slovakia – 4.30pm

Cathinka Tandberg, Julie Blakstad and Signe Gaupset – Norway FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier at home against Slovenia – 5pm

Olivia Holdt – Denmark FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier away against Sweden – 6pm

Matilda Vinberg and Amanda Nilden – Sweden FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier home against Denmark – 6pm

Lize Kop – Netherlands FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier home against France – 7.45pm

Wednesday 15 April

Toko Koga and Maika Hamano – Japan international friendly against USA – 3am

Sophie Jackson and Jhanaie Pierre – England Under-19 UEFA Women’s U19 Euro Finals qualifier against Switzerland – 12noon

Friday 17 April

Lenna Gunning-Williams – England Under-23 European Competition Potential Final/Third-Place game – 12pm

Hanna Wijk and Matilda Nilden – Sweden Under-23 European Competition Potential Final/Third-Place game – 12pm

Saturday 18 April

Toko Koga and Maika Hamano – Japan international friendly against USA – 2am

Olivia Holdt – Denmark FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier at home against Italy – 2pm

Matilda Vinberg and Amanda Nilden – Sweden FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier home against Serbia – 3pm

Cathinka Tandberg, Julie Blakstad and Signe Gaupset – Norway FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier away against Slovenia – 4pm

Eveliina Summanen and Olga Ahtinen – Finland FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier at home against Slovakia – 6pm

Lize Kop – Netherlands FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifier away against Republic of Ireland – 8.10pm

Sunday 19 April

Drew Spence – Jamaica CONCACAF Championship qualifier against Guyana – 1am

Roberto De Zerbi has explained how ‘football gave me everything’ as the countdown continues to his first game as our Head Coach at Sunderland on Sunday (2pm UK).

It’s the first of seven crucial games remaining in the Premier League as we look to climb the table between now and the end of the season.

Roberto, who signed a long-term deal last week, gave us his thoughts on how he believes in the squad here and how we have to take the run-in game by game in his first interview last week.

He also laid out just what football means to him. “Many times, I said that football is my life and my life is football, but it's true, because football is my work,” he said.

“I respect football because football gave me everything. For me, it's not a real work, it's a passion. If I stay at home, I watch football. If I work, I watch football and nothing changes - stay at home or be a coach.

“For me, Tottenham, especially in this moment, is maybe the most important challenge in my career. I'm ready to start this challenge and I want to work with my characteristics, with my passion, with my vision of football and with my technologies as well.”

First interview | Roberto De Zerbi

A blistering start with three goals in the opening 10 minutes proved enough for our Under-18s to claim a vital win at West Browmich Albion on Tuesday afternoon.

Sitting top of the table by a solitary point ahead of kick-off and with title rivals Chelsea also in action, we knew maximum points in the West Midlands would be needed to stay in the hunt – and Jamie Carr’s side delivered once again thanks to an early salvo from Ronny Moncur, Tye Hall and Miracle Adewole, although it was a closer end to the game than what we’d have liked after beginning so well.

Indeed, the Baggies pulled it back to 3-2 via Harry French with six minutes of normal time still to play after Justin Seven-Seven had got them off the mark mere moments after we’d gone 3-0 up, but we weathered their late pressure to ensure we escaped with the required victory, Chelsea’s 4-0 home win over Arsenal ensuring it’s as you were at the top, although the Blues now have a superior goal difference.

West Brom were left shellshocked by our rampant start at their training ground, Moncur planting inside the near post from Oliver Boast’s right-sided delivery after only three minutes before Adewole teed up skipper Hall to fire home his trademark goal from the edge of the box in the wake of a short corner just three minutes later, goalkeeper William Rutter getting his hands to the ball but unable to keep it out. Reiss Elliott-Parris fizzed a shot just off-target before Adewole notched up number three with only 10 minutes on the watch, planting a precise shot low inside the near post after a long ball out from the back.

Unfortunately, West Brom responded almost straight away, Seven-Seven converting from a tight angle on the left on 12 minutes after we lost possession at the back and that derailed our momentum somewhat, although we still produced some good passages of play at times without really troubling Rutter.

Frazer Billings and Elliott-Parris were off-target at either end during the remainder of the first half but while Moncur, George Feeney and Harry Byrne all went close after the restart, we struggled to recapture our dominance of the opening spell and West Brom’s Cole Dexter squandered a big chance when he skipped over a couple of challenges to get through into the box, only to fire wide with just Dylan Thompson to beat.

If that was a let-off, we had no such luck when French planted a low shot into the far corner on 84 minutes, making it 3-2 and giving the Baggies a real chance of completing what had earlier seemed an unlikely comeback. Adewole scampered through one-on-one with Rutter but was thwarted by the advancing stopper as we sought to put the game to bed, but West Brom continued to threaten, Reece Bastafield unable to keep his footing at the back post when well placed to score and Dexter’s rising shot sharply held by Thompson, who later conceded a cheap corner after being adjudged to have held onto the ball for too long. Thankfully, we escaped and the final whistle confirmed three more welcome points as our unbeaten league run at this level extended into a 12th game.

‘Overall feeling is a bit of relief’

Under-18s Coach Jamie was delighted to see his players get over the line, having started the game so well: “The overall feeling when you’re coming off of a game where you concede late and you’re having to defend your goal in the last 10 minutes under pressure is a bit of relief, so I’d say that’s the overriding emotion at the moment, but when you think about the bigger picture there were lots of pleasing bits during the game, particularly in the first half,” he reflected.

“We started really well, scored some good goals and played some good football. There was then a bit of a period in the second half where we just started to lose a bit of control, we made some changes but didn’t quite ever gain control back and that’s where we managed to give away a second goal, which made a game of it.”

On the players’ character and desire to see out the win after West Brom’s second goal, Jamie added: “I guess it’s a bit of a byproduct of being in a good position in the league where we’ve got a moment in a game towards the back end of the season where there’s a bit of pressure on it, and I think you could see that the lads placed the right importance on the game. You could sense that was evident in the final minutes and people like Dylan Thompson rose to the challenge and claimed some important balls from set-plays towards the back end of the game, which was really pleasing.”

Chelsea, who still have a match in hand, play twice before our next game, which is at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday 18 March (11.30am UK, live on SPURSPLAY).

When Ella Morris stepped onto the pitch at Kingsmeadow, it signalled her return from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury – a moment she described as 'a long time coming'.

Just under a year ago, in May, 2025, the young defender received a maiden call-up to the England senior squad after her impressive performances at the backend of the 2024/25 campaign but suffered the serious injury in training on day one of the camp that would keep her out for a long spell.

Sustaining a second ACL injury of her career, the 23-year-old knew the mental and physical battle in her rehabilitation but, with the support of staff and the team-mates around her throughout the journey, she progressed through every step.

Then, 331 days after her injury with the Lionesses, Ella was back on the pitch in Lilywhite as she came on for the final 20 minutes of our Women’s FA Cup quarter-final clash with Chelsea on Monday.

“Really exciting for me,” Ella replied, as she reflected on the special moment. “It's been something that's felt like a long time coming, so I’m just delighted to get back out there with the girls.

“I wasn't necessarily expecting to get any minutes, so to hear my name being called was good, especially with the state of the game, so I was excited to get on to try and push for a win for us. Unfortunately, it fell short but delighted for me. But now it's about pushing on with the girls and getting more results and pushing on, developing as we are.”

Talking about her support in her journey, she told us: “I have to give huge credit to Ben [Sheath], Ellie [Jewiss], Jodie [Southby] and then A’Ameer [Kstantin] as well, who left us. All four of them have been fantastic throughout my rehab and I wouldn't have got through it without those four, especially. I've got an amazing staff group here and honestly, they've been incredible, so thanks to them."

Being involved in her very first matchday squad this season, every time her name was called out on the tannoy at Kingsmeadow, it was met by a loud cheer from our away end – something that the full-back recognised from the very first minute.

“It was really nice, even in the warm-up when I came over or at half-time when I walked past and just hearing that, it was really nice,” she added.

“I appreciate all their support and some of the people have given me some really nice messages of support as well. So, big shout out to them and thanks for supporting the team, but also me today.”

Alfie Whiteman – our former Academy graduate who spent 16 years at the club – will, aptly, launch his debut art exhibition and accompanying photo book at the stadium’s OOF Gallery from 1 May.

Alfie’s is an incredible story – born and raised in Tottenham, the goalkeeper was a mascot at the Lane aged just six, joined the Academy at 10 and eventually made his senior debut at 22 in the Europa League in 2020.

Capped at England youth level, Alfie recovered from a broken ankle to be part of our Europa League squad in 2024/25. On the bench in the latter stages of the league phase and knockout rounds, Alfie was part of the matchday squad for our final triumph in Bilbao last May. He announced his retirement in October.

Now to the next phase of his life and a new direction...

Always interested in the arts, Alfie's first exhibition of photographs and accompanying book - Alfie Whiteman: ‘A Loan’ – will be housed at the OOF Gallery, part of the Tottenham Experience at the stadium, from 1 May-27 September.

'A Loan’ is a project which captures life on loan during Alfie’s time in Sweden at Degerfors, where he made 34 appearances across his 18-month spell in the Allsvenskan from August, 2021. It features a wide selection of photographs from the project, as well as a full-size replica of the lakeside sauna where he spent so much of his time.

The exhibition, supported by Salomon, is accompanied by a beautifully illustrated photobook, filled with images and diary entries from his time in Sweden. The book is published by OOF and Somesuch Editions.

Information | Alfie Whiteman: ‘A Loan’

Exhibition runs 1 May to 27 September at OOF Gallery, N17. The gallery will be closed from 21 June to 14 August inclusive. The accompanying book, Alfie Whiteman: ‘A Loan’, is published by OOF and Somesuch Editions, available to pre-order now at www.oofgallery.com.

Admission is free. Use entrance for the Tottenham Experience at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Open Monday, Thursday, Friday, 10am-5pm; Saturday 11am-5pm, Sunday 12-4pm. Closed Tuesday, Wednesday. Opening hours are subject to change on stadium event days.

OOF Gallery, Warmington House, 744 High Road, London N17 0AP.