Tottenham Hotspur

It hasn’t just been a 40-yard winner against Arsenal that has caught Thomas Frank’s eye - Pape Matar Sarr has impressed our new Head Coach during their first month together.

Pape’s fantastic strike stole the show as we toppled the Gunners 1-0 in front of 50,000 fans at the Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong on Thursday. David Raya was out of his area to link up play for Arsenal, but Richarlison pounced on Myles Lewis-Skelly and as the loose ball ran to Pape, he quickly assessed his options before planting the ball back over the goalkeeper’s head from 40 yards.

The Senegal midfielder was named Player of the Match, following up a two-goal performance in the friendly against Wycombe last weekend.

The goal was the obvious starting point post-match for Thomas when he spoke to SPURSPLAY. “It’s so far the goal of the season!” he told us. “It was great. I know he won Player of the Match and, for me, he was Player of the Match. He took it (the goal) so well and so quickly, saw David Raya was too far out of his goal and put it away.

“By the way, I think Pape has been amazing. I really like how he has played and performed in the last four weeks, training and in games. He’s building, and his all-round game today... top.”

Watch Pape's winner!

Thomas Frank was particularly impressed with the defensive side of our game as we kept a clean sheet to beat Arsenal 1-0 in Hong Kong on Thursday.

The winning goal was worthy of any north London derby. Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya strayed a long way out of his area to play a pass into Myles Lewis-Skelly, Richarlison pressed and won possession and the ball ran to Pape Matar Sarr, who took one look and from 40 yards, pinged a beauty over backtracking Raya and home. That was no less than we deserved in a first half where we struck the woodwork three times.

“A 1-0 score against Arsenal is an absolutely beautiful score!” Thomas told SPURSPLAY afterwards. “Yes, it is a friendly, but it’s also a very competitive match. I said before the game that games against Arsenal are never ‘friendly’. It means everything.

“I have to give respect to both teams for their competitiveness in the game. It was very competitive. I was extremely happy with our first half, that first half was completely even. In many ways I loved the way the team performed, and throughout the game the defensive structure was top.

“In the second half, I thought we defended a little too much, but there were some tired bodies on the pitch and sometimes the nature of the game when you are 1-0 up, the other team is pushing a bit more.

“Some of the defensive principles, and high pressure, especially in the first half, were really good, the mid-block, where everyone defends together and the lower, and the emergency defending, especially at the end, was top class.

“The desire was good. We talk about that clean sheet mentality. It’s a big thing we need to add to the team. Of course, we need to play forward, play brave, aggressive, offensive, but we need the other bit if we want to win enough football matches.”

Pape Matar Sarr scored a magical goal to give us victory in the first-ever north London derby to be played on international soil as we kicked off our Asia Tour in style on Thursday.

The midfielder struck from close to the half-way line with a superb drilled shot just before half-time at the Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong, which proved to be the only goal of the game as Thomas Frank’s first game against Arsenal as our Head Coach ended in a fine win and continued our unbeaten pre-season campaign.

While the Gunners had more of the possession, they were unable to break down our solid defensive unit with Guglielmo Vicario barely having a save to make, while we hit the woodwork twice in the first half from dangerous corners. The win gave us another piece of silverware as we lifted the Herbalgy Trophy, while the match set an attendance record for the new stadium with 49,975 fans present, beating the total for Liverpool’s clash with Milan last week.

The first real chance of note came in the 10th minute as Pedro Porro's in-swinging corner evaded everyone in a congested six-yard box and hit the inside of the post. Richarlison reacted to the rebound to head at goal, only to see his effort cleared off the line by William Saliba.

Arsenal were having good spells of possession in the final third but our defending was very good and Vicario wasn’t really tested. Instead, the chances were falling our way and on 28 minutes, the impressive Mohammed Kudus’ shot was blocked by Saliba, the ball rebounded out to Wilson Odobert whose right-foot shot just flicked off Ben White before clipping the outside of David Raya’s far post. From the corner, Kudus whipped in a lovely delivery which again beat everyone but Richarlison was unable to turn it in at the back post.

The opening goal came just before half-time and it was a marvellous strike. Raya played a pass into midfield to Myles Lewis-Skelly, he lost possession claiming to be clipped by Richarlison but the referee waved play on as the ball went straight to Sarr. The Senegalese midfielder knew exactly what he was going to do and produced a magnificent, controlled shot from just outside the centre circle, some 45 yards out, which drifted over Raya and landed in the back of the net.

Arsenal went close to levelling in first-half stoppage time with a succession of corners but we held out to lead at the interval. Neither side made any changes at the break and it was the Gunners with the first sight of goal in the second period, Martin Odegaard’s shot deflected over the bar by Cristian Romero after the skipper had initially lost possession inside the area. Moments later, Lewis-Skelly and Kai Havertz combined to set up Gabriel Martinelli however he fired over from 15 yards out.

It was so nearly 2-0 in the 66th minute when Mathys Tel, one of three substitutes to come on a few minutes earlier, sent over a wonderful cross to the back post, only for Micky van de Ven to head just wide. At the other end, Martin Zubimendi’s half volley flicked off Brennan Johnson on its way just over the crossbar before Vicario comfortably gathered a Havertz shot.

A raft of changes were made approaching the final 10 minutes and one of them, Arsenal’s 15-year-old Max Dowman, went close in the 79th minute with a drive that was blocked by Djed Spence. One significant substitution saw James Maddison enter the game with a few minutes remaining, his first action since coming off injured against Bodo/Glimt on 1 May – adding to the feelgood factor on the evening. Now we head to South Korea, where we take on Newcastle United on Sunday before heading home.

Thomas Frank has named his side to face Arsenal today in Hong Kong.

Facing the Gunners in the first north London derby outside of the UK, Thomas has made seven changes from our last pre-season outing - our 0-0 draw at Luton Town last weekend.

Starting defence, Kevin Danso and Destiny Udogie are replaced by Cristian Romero and Pedro Porro respectively while, in midfield there are wholesale changes with Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Matar Sarr and Lucas Bergvall all coming into the team.

Up front, Mohammed Kudus moves into the forward line where he joins Richarlison and Wilson Odobert.

Tottenham Hotspur players will take to the field against Arsenal today with bespoke shirt numbers designed by local artists.

Our Men’s First Team play the first north London derby to take place outside the United Kingdom at the Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong today as part of our summer pre-season tour of Asia.

‘ParentsParents’, a collective of artists from diverse backgrounds in graffiti, illustration and geometry style character, designed the numbers that will be worn on the back of our shirts, using themes, colours and symbols meaningful to Hong Kong.

The design is inspired by the Club’s own typography and aims to capture the unique urban charm of Hong Kong. The colours used in the numbers act as a tribute to Hong Kong's vibrant culture, blending the nightscape and rhythm to showcase a fusion of Eastern and Western aesthetics.

The special edition shirts are now available to purchase online on the Official Spurs Shop.

Celebrating local culture is an important part of Club tradition on pre-season tours. Our players and staff have been engaging with our fans and supporting good causes throughout our time in Asia, with special edition shirts donated to the local charitable organisations that we have supported whilst on pre-season tour, Animals Asia and Bring Me a Book.

Our Women’s Under-19s put in a hard-fought performance in their pre-season opener, but Fulham ran out as 3-1 winners at Motspur Park on Wednesday evening.

Competing in the FA Women’s National League and deep into their pre-season programme, the Whites took control of proceedings in the first hour of the game, Meg Mendez converting from the penalty spot in the first half before former Spur Kayleigh Stead and Katie Dungate extended their advantage early in the second period.

Sabiha Jamal’s side grew in the final half an hour as Cruz Fuller-Fagan headed home our first goal of pre-season to cut the deficit before Nife Aramide and Cairo Evea-Antoine, who have stepped up from Under-16s to Under-19s for this summer, forced the hosts' goalkeepeer into action in the closing stages of the game.

All in all, it was a positive outing for our youngsters as all players got valuable minutes while going toe-to-toe with senior opposition.

Jade Bradley thought she had opened the scoring after just three minutes when she headed home from point-blank range, but the midfielder was adjudged to be in an offside position in the build-up. However, that set the early tempo for the hosts and after a creating a number of opportunities - Dungate firing wide in quick succession at the midway point of the first half – they broke the deadlock seven minutes before the break when Mendez slotted home from the penalty spot after Sophie Jackson was penalised for a collision inside the box.

Fulham then doubled their lead five minutes after the restart as Stead, who made her senior debut for us in December, 2022, against Southampton and spent a number of years in our Academy, picked out the bottom corner with a low strike from inside the box. Ruby Gaitely carved out our first opportunity in the contest as her effort from the edge of the box went over the bar, but Fulham added a third in the 56th-minute when Dungate converted from a low cut-back from the left.

Following wholesale changes on the hour mark, including a number of first years earning their first minutes with the Under-19s, our youngsters began to grow into the game and managed to cut the deficit in the 65th-minute as Lucy Barraclough’s cross from the right was headed home by Fuller-Fagan. Heidi Hills saw an effort cleared off the line minutes later before Antoine had the ball in the back of the net but a swift offside flag denied her as we continued to push forward in the final quarter of an hour of the contest.

The hosts’ goalkeeper was called into action in the closing stages, getting down low to her left to deny a header from Antoine before tipping over Aramide’s free-kick from 30 yards out over the bar as we couldn’t find a response in the first game, but there were plenty of positives for our youngsters to take away from the encounter.

The north London derby will break new ground when we face rivals Arsenal outside of the UK for the very first time on Thursday lunchtime, live via SPURSPLAY (kick-off 12.30pm UK).

It's destination Hong Kong as the historic rivalry takes place at the new Kai Tak Sports Park with excitement building ahead of our maiden outing of our summer Tour in Asia.

In what will be Thomas Frank's first taste of the north London derby, our new Head Coach told us yesterday: "I have a great feeling, I think it’s going to be a great challenge, we all know that. It’s a north London derby, the first outside the UK, and we’re looking forward to it in front of all our fans here. We’ll be ready for it.

“I’m quite relaxed about it. The better opponents we can play will help us get up to the level we want to be in three weeks’ time. For me, it’s a fantastic test.”

Coverage is scheduled to start at 12pm as we bring you all the build-up to the NLD on SPURSPLAY - the home of our live and on-demand video content and the streaming platform for all our remaining pre-season matches this summer!

Here is our pre-season schedule...

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Women's Training Gallery - 29 July  Tottenham Hotspur

We are delighted to announce a partnership with premium pet food brand Frontier Pets to become our Official Pre-Season Tour Sleeve Partner, Official Pet Food Partner and Official Partner of our groundbreaking Supporters’ Club for dog-owners, Tottenham Hotspaw.

Frontier Pets is a purpose-driven leader in sustainable pet nutrition dedicated to revolutionising the pet food industry through responsible sourcing practices and a deep commitment to healthier pets and a healthier planet.

Frontier Pets will feature on our players’ shirts during our tour fixtures against Arsenal and Newcastle in Hong Kong and Korea, respectively. During our time in Asia, the Club will be working with Frontier Pets on bringing engaging content to fans in the region.

Tottenham Hotspur is the Club for animal-lovers and we use our platform to raise awareness of animal welfare and the importance of preserving nature. In 2024, we created the first Official Supporters’ Club for dog-owners, Tottenham Hotspaw, inspired by the Club’s many dog-loving staff, fans and players across both its men’s and women’s teams.

Members receive a discount on the Club’s retail pet range and are able to submit photos of their four-legged friend to be showcased as ‘Dog of the Match’ at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, alongside a rescue dog up for adoption through North London-based charity, All Dogs Matter.

Through the new partnership, Frontier Pets will be supporting a charity fundraising initiative for fans across the world to join in alongside their beloved pets later this summer, as well as a new content series featuring our players and their love of dogs.

Ryan Norys, Chief Revenue Officer, Tottenham Hotspur said: “We are thrilled to welcome Frontier Pets on board for our pre-season tour in Asia. As the Club for animal lovers and the first to ever establish an Official Supporters’ Club for dog-owners, we felt there was a natural alignment with Frontier Pets and their own socially conscious, sustainable approach. We are looking forward to bringing the brand to new audiences through exposure on our match shirts in Hong Kong and Korea, as well as engaging content and initiatives linked to Tottenham Hotspaw.”

Vaughn Taylor, Chairman, Frontier Pets, said: “At Frontier Pets we believe that a better world for pets starts with purpose, compassion and community. Partnering with Tottenham Hotspur - a Club that shares our deep commitment to animal welfare - marks an exciting new chapter for us both. We hope to inspire football fans around the world to feed their pets better with Frontier Pets. We’re proud to stand alongside a Club that not only plays with heart but leads with it.

“Pets are the second largest consumers of factory farmed meat after humans. What we choose to feed them not only affects their wellbeing but also plays a critical role in shaping a more sustainable food system for the planet.”

Frontier Pets’ freeze-dried raw food is designed to support a healthy, active life - simple to order, store and prepare. For more on Frontier Pets and their range of products, visit: www.frontierpets.com.au

Club Ambassador Ledley King explored one of Hong Kong’s most iconic landmarks today - the statue of martial arts legend Bruce Lee - during our pre-season tour.

The statue is situated on the Avenue of Stars, located on the Victoria Harbour waterfront, and honours celebrities of the Hong Kong film industry, modelled on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

Bruce Lee is one of the most significant cultural icons in Hong Kong film history and is credited with bringing Hong Kong action film cinema to a global audience. The statue, capturing his infamous ‘Fist of Fury’ stance, was unveiled in November, 2005 on what would have been Lee’s 65th birthday.

The construction of the statue was made possible thanks to fundraising efforts by fans of the star, reflecting both the strong sense of community in Hong Kong and its deep-rooted cultural identity.

After observing the statue Ledley took a stroll along the 440-metre Avenue of Stars to learn more about the legends of the Hong Kong film industry.

Ledley said: “Today’s trip was a fantastic way to experience Hong Kong’s rich cultural history firsthand. I have memories of Bruce Lee growing up, I remember watching his videos and being amazed by his martial arts – that was so exciting for me. He had a big influence on me as a young kid.

“Embracing local culture and history is an important tradition for the Club on overseas tours, and we know how much our Hong Kong-based supporters appreciate seeing us at significant landmarks.”