Tottenham Hotspur v BURNLEY

Date : -  Saturday 16th May 1921

Venue : - White Hart Lane

Crowd : - 18,000

Weather : - Hot, strong sunshine

Referee : -   - (-)

Score : -

Goalscorers : -

Tottenham Hotspur : - Alex Hunter; Tom Clay, Bob McDonald; Bert Smith, Sonny Walters, Arthur Grimsdell; Jimmy Banks, Jimmy Seed, Jimmy Cantrell, Bert Bliss, Jimmy Dimmock.

Burnley : -  Jerry Dawson; Smelt, David Taylor; Basnett, Boyle, Watson; Nesbitt, Kelly, Anderson, Cross, Mosscrop.

The teams were invited to play for the Charity Shield, with Burnley having been League Champions and Spurs FA Cup winners and also closely challenging for the league title throughout the season.  It was the first time after the First World War that the League Champions and the FA Cup winners had met for the trophy, with the game taking place at White Hart Lane to ensure the maximum income from the match.  However, the balmy Bank Holiday weather and a restricted rail service kept the attendance down to 18,000.

With Tottenham's technical game more suited to the weather on the day, their accurate passing and build-up play was a better option in the heat to the physical and energetic style that Burnley had relied on to take them to the top of the table.

The game started slowly and with one real chance in the opening quarter of an hour, when Jimmy Dimmock jinked past three players and put the ball on a plate for Spurs kipper Arthur Grimsdell, but his header went over the bar. Soon after, Jimmy Cantrell had a shot from five yards was not met with a good contact and the effort was saved.  Burnley seemed to be putting some moves together, but the way Tottenham kept the ball saw them take control of the play and halfway through the half, Spurs took the lead.

Switching play from one side of the pitch to the other, Tottenham opened up some space in the middle for Cantrelll and he took the ball with his back to the goal.  Holding the ball until he spotted support, he passed back to the on-running Bert Bliss, who struck a low drive rasping past Jerry Dawson in the Burnley goal to make it 1-0.

The lead was doubled about ten minutes before the half-time break with Charlie Walters breaking up a Burnley attack and laying the ball off to Jimmy Seed in midfield.  His first time pass set Jimmy Banks free with Cantrell making a run into the heart of the penalty area.  Linking as they had done so many times, Banks played the forward in and as the Burnley defenders stopped to appeal for offside, Cantrell shot home.  Disputes continued with the referee for a long while, but the goal stood and Spurs continued to dominate the rest of the first half, as Cantrell went inches wide with a shot, Banks shot over from a good position and Seed fired in a shot that only just missed the target.

The second half followed much the same pattern of the play which had gone before, with Tottenham making a string of opportunities, but failing to make the most of them.  Cantrell missed when one-on-one with the keeper and then had a shot deflected wide of the mark by a defender.  From the subsequent corner, Bert Bliss struck the post and as the ball came back out, Dimmock knocked it over the top. 

Burnley only came into the game in the closing stages, with Alex Hunter being called into action to make a couple of saves and at the other end Jimmy Cantrell scored again, but this time it was chalked off for offside, but the game finished 2-0 to Spurs and the Charity Shield came to reside at White Hart Lane for the first time.

MAN OF THE MATCH : -   JIMMY CANTRELL

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