ON SUNDAY, Tottenham Hotspur take on Manchester City at Wembley in the League Cup final, 40 years on from their fabled encounter in the 100th FA Cup final, the night Ricky Villa slalomed his way through the opposition defence to score perhaps the most famous Cup final winner.

That 1981 encounter is also remembered for the Cup final song written by Dave Peacock, one-half of pop duo Chas and Dave which centred around Spurs’ other Argentinian World Cup-winner Osvaldo Ardiles and Ossie’s Dream to play at Wembley, “in de Cup for Totting-ham.”

The song begins with the immortal line: “Ossie’s going to Wembley, his knees have gone all trembley” as Peacock knew that Ardiles, signed by Tottenham in 1978 after winning the World Cup with Argentina, dreamed of playing at Wembley Stadium. 

Following two quarter-final defeats in the FA Cup, Ardiles was denied the opportunity to play at Wembley the previous May when Argentina decided against selecting European-based players for an international friendly against England. 

On April 15 1981, Tottenham Hotspur reached their first FA Cup final in 14 years, defeating Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0 in a semi-final replay at Highbury, they had not lost any of their previous five FA Cup finals and had won trophies in 1901, 1921, 1951, 1961 and 1971.

At the time, Chas and Dave were signed to the “Rockney” label formed by their manager Bob England together with his wife Natasha. Once Spurs reached Wembley, England, “a mad Tottenham fan,” implored Chas and Dave to release a Cup final song.

In the midst of a 35-day non-stop tour and Chas busy working out string arrangements, it was left to Dave to write the song. 

“It’s the quickest song I ever wrote,” he recalls 40 years later. “I wrote it in about two minutes.” 

However, if it wasn’t for a phone call from his sister Marie Brown, the song would not have contained its most famous line. 

Peacock explains he was telling his sister that England had asked him to write a song for the cup final.

“She said: ‘That’s funny, I’ve just heard Ossie Ardiles on the wireless, he don’t say ‘Tottenham,’ he says ‘Totting-ham.’ As soon as she said that, I thought that could be a bit of a hook.”

The rest of the song came together based around terrace chants.

“Up on The Shelf at White Hart Lane, they used to sing: ‘Keith’s Blue and White Army.’ Keith Burkinshaw was the manager, that rhymes with ‘war,’ so I’ll make them all soldiers marching off to Wembley to capture the cup, and that’s what I did.”

With the final just two weeks later, the Spurs squad were hastily assembled at Portland Studios in London.

According to Peacock, “When we did the record, Ossie didn’t really want to do it, as such, because he wanted it to be about the whole team not the focus being put on him. He didn’t realise how well he was loved by everybody.

“We got him in the studio and I said to him: ‘How do you say Tottenham, Ossie?’ He said ‘Tottenham.’ I said: “Don’t want you to say it like that, I want you to say it how you used to say it — Totting-ham.”

Peacock remembers how the rest of the squad could not contain their amusement.

“You know what them footballers are like, they was all taking the mickey out of him. I remember Chas saying to him: ‘Look at that clock on the wall, don’t look at them lot. When your bit comes just say: ‘In de cup for Totting-ham,’ just do it. 

“Sure enough when his turn came, he did it in one go, he did it perfect! Years later we did it with Nico Claesen, we did another version with the Belgium international, but he couldn’t get his tongue around it.”

The song was recorded in one session.

“It was the quickest record ever turned around. Our manager had us pressing the vinyl 24/7. Chas’s wife and Bob England’s wife, and a couple of other girls all dressed in Spurs kits were delivering them to the record shops.

“A fortnight later we was at the Cup final and they were all singing it before the kick-off. It was a buzz because of the quickness of it all. They still sing it now because it’s got sing-ability, it’s easy to sing.”

Ossie’s Dream was the duo’s second top-10 hit, charting higher than their breakthrough single Rabbit when it peaked at No 5 after Spurs won the FA Cup in a replay. 

“It was a big song for Tottenham — a big song for Chas and Dave. It wasn’t a typical Chas and Dave song with a loads of fast words, it was ever so easy to sing. They were all mates together. It was good. We loved it.”

Chas and Dave later recorded Cup final songs with Tottenham in 1982, 1987 and 1991, the last occasion in which they won the FA Cup. 

Thirteen years have passed since Spurs won any trophy and they go into the League Cup final against a seemingly unstoppable Manchester City, a team chasing silverware on three fronts. 

However, with the year once more ending in a 1, Dave believes anything is possible. 

“They are a red-hot team, Man City, but if [Hueng Min] Son starts wagging his tail, you don’t know what can happen. I know no-one will give us much of a chance but you never, never know in a football match.”