On 3rd Feb 1960, Crewe Alexandra visited White Hart Lane under the lights for a midweek FA Cup 4th Round Replay, having held the mighty Spurs to a 2-2 at Gresty Road on the previous Saturday.
If Crewe had thoughts of felling their Division One opponents in this lucrative replay in front of 64,365 fans at White Hart Lane, they were quickly dashed as Spurs – 83 rungs above them in the league ladder – raced to a 3-0 lead inside just 12 minutes courtesy of a Bobby Smith brace and a Les Allen goal. Crewe’s Tim Coleman pulled one back after 14 minutes – but if this raised any hopes for Crewe fans of a comeback, they were quickly and cruelly dismissed and a further 7 Spurs goals without reply were scored before half time! With both Bobby Smith and Les Allen scoring 4, a Tommy Harmer and Cliff Jones goal meant the Spurs left the field 10-1 for their half time cuppa.
Maybe the Spurs eased up a little second half saving themselves for another day, rather than taking pity as a Cliff Jones brace (to complete his hat-trick) and another Les Allen goal (his fifth) saw Spurs complete their club record win of 13-2 over Crewe.
Spurs Team – Brown, Hills, Henry, Blanchflower, Norman, Mackay, White, Harmer, Smith, Allen, Jones
Spurs Scorers – Les Allen 5, Bobby Smith 4, Cliff Jones 3, Tommy Harmer
In a cruel twist of fate (or a wind up by the train service!), legend has it that the Crewe Alexandra team, travelling home by train Euston from platform 13 and return homed at Crewe station on platform 2!