There really is no love lost between Tottenham and Chelsea, but there was once a time when the Premier League could even be considered friends.
However, given the Premier League rivals have spent the best part of 50 years despising each other, you have to go back to the end of World War II to find a particularly pleasant exchange between them.
It involved Eddie Baily, the brilliant inside forward in Spurs’ first league title triumph.
Baily was on Spurs’ books as an amateur in 1939, but his career was put on hold when war was declared and the exciting youngster was sent to Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany with the Royal Scots Fusiliers.
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However, rumours he had been killed in action soon made their way back to north London and his registration as a Tottenham player was allowed to lapse. Unaware, Baily returned home to find himself without a club and so decided to sign for Chelsea.
John Fennelly, the Spurs historian, explained the error was only spotted when Baily dropped by White Hart Lane to collect his kit and staff saw he was very much alive.
And Chelsea, to their credit, released Baily from his contract once the mix-up was explained and in February 1946 he was a Tottenham player again.
“In a team of class performers, Baily was the true star,” Fennelly told tottenhamhotspur.com.
He made his Tottenham debut in January 1947 and by 1950 he was a Division Two champion, with the club winning their first top flight crown a year later in the swashbuckling ‘push and run’ side under Arthur Rowe.
“If Baily was born to be part of our ‘Push-and-Run’ approach, then the system could literally have been invented for him,” Fennelly wrote.
“He excelled in our short one-two passing game with the neat skills to embellish it and the wonderful vision and natural movement to enhance his contribution even further.”
But he was more than just one of Spurs’ best players. His flair and intelligent play saw him stand out and you’ll find almost every mention of his name hailing him as one of the best inside forwards of his generation.
Having scored 69 goals in 325 senior games for Spurs, he joined Port Vale in 1956, and later played for Nottingham Forest and Leyton Orient where he moved into coaching.
The great Bill Nicholson, who guided Spurs to the league and cup double in 1961, was Baily’s teammate in the 1950/51 side and he later brought him in as his assistant manager in 1963.
Ask a Spurs player who played under him and they’ll tell you it wasn’t uncommon to hear wartime metaphors used in his pre-match pep talks such as ‘right, bayonets on’ or ‘over the top. Let’s have them!’
He left with Nicholson in 1974, having won two League Cups, the FA Cup and UEFA Cup with the club, on top of his playing honours.
Baily also scored five goals in nine England games and was a member of the 1950 World Cup squad.
He retired from football in 1992 and died in 2010 at the age of 85, but his status as a Tottenham icon had been established long before then.
They may not be able to stand the sight of each other now, but the Spurs faithful certainly owe a huge debt of gratitude to their bitter London rivals.