Disillusionment and disbelief – thousands leave early as Spurs in freefall

As thousands of Tottenham fans streamed out of their stadium at half-time on Thursday, no one could have been in any doubt about the threat of relegation.

After taking an early lead against Crystal Palace, three goals for the visitors in 12 first-half minutes – sparked by a penalty conceded and red card for Micky van de Ven – condemned Igor Tudor’s side to another miserable defeat.

Spurs remain the only Premier League side without a victory in 2026. Their 11-match winless league run is the club’s longest since 1935, when they went 15 games without winning.

With nine matches to go, they remain one point above the relegation zone and in real danger of losing their Premier League status for the first time.

The thousands of empty seats were telling. The fans who remained until the end met the final whistle with loud jeers as belief of survival appears to be draining from them.

“Anxiety was all through the stadium,” former Chelsea and England winger Joe Cole said on TNT Sports. “The whole performance was tepid.

“There was no bite and no anger and the fans were feeling that. It feels like they have given up.

“It looks like the fans are disillusioned, disenchanted and not believing it.”

When Tudor was appointed as interim boss last month, he said Tottenham “100%” wouldn’t go down. It would take a brave person to say that now.

“Of course i understand the fans [leaving]. It’s normal, they wanted more,” said the Croat, whose has lost all three of his matches in charge.

“I need to choose the right guys: Who is in the boat and who will leave the boat.”

Tudor refused to be drawn into conversations about his future after full-time, despite questions already being raised about whether he would see out the season.

Spurs fan Chris Cowlin told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I’m lost for words over what I’ve seen tonight. You want fight, desire and most importantly points.

“It is too much for a lot of people and this is the reality that Spurs might get relegated.

“When we moved to this stadium in 2019 it was meant to be a game changer for us, the springboard for success and always competing for top honours. I’ve never known a time like this.

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is not a happy place at the moment.

They have not won in the Premier League in 2026 and have only led in league games for 13 minutes since 7 January.

Outside the stadium, Tottenham supporters told BBC Sport the club were “in their worst moment in history” and “were more likely than not to go down”.

One fan blamed Tottenham’s form on the players, saying “there are too many egos” and “the players are still living off that high of the Europa League and sleep-walking to relegation”.

Another added “Nottingham Forest and West Ham have got fight and grit. We don’t have any of that.”

One supporter said the board’s failures in the transfer market was the main culprit, pointing to a lack of goalscoring options and a failure to cover Tottenham’s many, many injuries.

Spurs currently have nine players sidelined.

Fans also pointed to the team’s lack of discipline. Cristian Romero was serving the final game of a four-match ban after a straight red card in February.

Van de Ven’s sending off on Thursday means he will now serve a three-match ban.

Many also queried the appointment of former Juventus boss Tudor. The Croat had never managed in the Premier League before his appointment in February.

On New Year’s Day, Tottenham were 12th and 12 points clear of the drop.

When they appointed Tudor on an interim basis to succeed the sacked Thomas Frank on Friday 13 February, they were 16th and five points clear.

Before kick-off, Opta gave Tottenham a 8% chance of relegation. Post-match, that rose to 14%.

“It’ll sound strange but I believe more after this game than I believed before,” said Tudor.

“I saw something. I want to be positive. I saw the guys gave everything. We need to stay together now, This is key. There’s still nine games to play.”

Still, the stats make grim reading for Tottenham supporters.

Since Tudor’s appointment, Spurs are bottom of the league in terms of goals conceded, goal difference, xG conceded, xG difference and points.

Tottenham were on a poor run even before Tudor’s appointment.

They have only won twice at home in the league all season – beating Burnley on the opening day and Brentford on 6 December.

As things stand, only Wolves (20) have lost more home Premier League games than Tottenham (19) since the start of last season.

They also have the fewest home points (31) of any ever-present side since the start of 2024-25 season.

One of the Premier League’s traditional ‘big six’, Tottenham haven’t been relegated since 1976-77.

Ten months ago, they won the Europa League and, despite being 16th in the Premier League table, are in the Champions League last 16.

Since promotion from the Second Division in 1949-50, they have spent just one season below the top flight (1977-78).

But none of that guarantees anything right now. Tottenham’s next Premier League game is at Liverpool on 15 March. They still need to play fellow strugglers Forest, Leeds and Wolves. And they need points.

“Tottenham have not got many games left, but they need to find a concoction and some understanding to go get some results over the line,” former Crystal Palace striker Glenn Murray told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“It is ridiculous to think of them sacking [Tudor] after three games after seeing what the players have ultimately produced.