How a lasagna sparked the fierce rivalry between Tottenham and West Ham

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Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United contested one of the most memorable matches in Premier League history, but not for what happened on the pitch.

The London clubs are, of course, two of seven Premier League clubs based in the capital city, but they have one of the fiercest rivalries in the top flight.

Supporters across England might be forgiven for thinking Spurs are more focused on North London rivals Arsenal, but they would be surprised by how similar their feud with West Ham is.

Mohammed Kudus’ £55 million move to Tottenham via the London Stadium this summer was deemed “disrespectful” by Alan Pardew, given the history between the clubs.

However, the clubs have not always held such a strong hatred for one another; in fact, ex-Spurs man Jermaine Jenas has pinpointed the exact moment that the feud began.

Lasagna-gate was the beginning of the Tottenham and West Ham feud

On May 7, 2006, Tottenham travelled to the Hammers’ former stadium, Upton Park, to conclude the 2005/06 campaign.

Martin Jol needed all three points to stand a chance of securing a fourth-placed finish in the Premier League over Arsenal and Champions League qualification for the first time in the club’s history.

Jermain Defoe cancelled out Carl Fletcher’s opener in the first half, but Yossi Benayoun would score the match-winner in the 80th minute to crush Spurs’ hopes as Arsenal ran out 4-2 winners against Wigan Athletic.

But what happened in the build-up to the match is what makes this specific clash so memorable, as most of the Spurs squad fell ill the night before with food poisoning caused by a lasagne served at the team’s hotel.

“Lasagna-gate” is what the incident is referred to as to this day, and Jenas told TNT Sport that it was the day the Tottenham and West Ham rivalry truly began.

“The moment (the rivalry) hit me, from a Spurs perspective, that there’s a dislike now, was when we apparently got poisoned with lasagna.

“Last game of the season, we’ve got Arsenal on the ropes. We’ve just got to beat yourselves (West Ham) and we’re in the Champions League for the first time.

“The game was what it was. I think we went 1-0 up, and you ended up beating us (West Ham in fact took the lead). There was this moment where we were sat in the dressing room and there were eight, nine, 10 people being sick everywhere.

“One is in the toilet, one’s in the sink, one’s in a bucket, everyone’s just being sick everywhere. And then all you could hear was the biggest party ever going on in the dressing room opposite.”

Jenas added: “It was just everybody being sick, it was horrendous. But the minute I heard that music, I was like ‘something has ignited now’.”

Dean Ashton recalls how West Ham players felt on the day

While all the subsequent reporting on the incident has been centred around Tottenham’s perspective, ex-Irons forward Dean Ashton shared his insight on “Lasagna-gate”.

Ashton told BBC Sport in 2023 that the West Ham players could feel the tense atmosphere at Upton Park in the build-up to the clash.

“The players didn’t really know. It was only when we got to the ground. Players like us, that were behind the scenes, started to get the info and noticed that certain players hadn’t travelled on the coach, and the reasons possibly behind it.

“There was this real anxiety around their dressing room. You could feel it in the tunnel that there was something strange going on.

“I think (Michael) Carrick came out and looked white as a sheet. It was a really, really weird atmosphere before the game because of what was on the line for them and the fact that this had happened.

“Obviously, it was great for West Ham, but what a weird experience.”