Although it doesn’t seem entirely fair or reasonable, there is a truth in the fact that clubs in London are always more likely to attract both top-class players and famous supporters than those based elsewhere. The reality of the matter is that the English capital will always be seen as somewhere glamorous and exciting, which will often result in players being more willing to play there, whilst famous people are also keener to spend time in London than in other parts of the country. Unless they have a link to the likes of Liverpool or Manchester, a London club is more likely to win their heart.
So it is that Tottenham Hotspur have a wealth of different famous supporters, some of whom are keen followers of the game and know everything about the club. There are, of course, some that are more ‘fair weather’ fans, but that is the same of every major club anywhere in the world. For Spurs, the good news is that their presence in London has allowed the club to attract those who might not otherwise spend too much time thinking about them. All names always need to be taken with a pinch of salt, given the fact that the claims to being a supporter can sometimes be spurious at best.
This list is far from exhaustive, but it will give you a sense of some of the big names that like to follow Tottenham’s results whenever the club plays a match:
Sir Alan Sugar
Although he will be known to most for being the host of the TV series The Apprentice, Sir Alan Sugar was once a business entrepreneur who launched his main company, Amstrad, in 1968. Born in the East London suburb of Hackney, Sugar teamed up with the manager of Tottenham Hotspur, Terry Venables, in order to stop Robert Maxwell from taking over the club in 1991. He then became the Chairman of Tottenham Hotspur, remaining in the position until he sold his stake in his boyhood club in the February of 2001, yet he remained a supporter long after that.
Simon Mayo
Anyone who has ever listened to broadcaster Simon Mayo’s radio show, whether on BBC Radio 2 or after he made the switch to Greatest Hits Radio, will be entirely aware of his love of Spurs. Born in London in the September of 1958, Mayo actually graduated university with a degree in History and Politics before working in the media. He grew up as a Tottenham Supporter and has continued to follow the club ever since, once going to watch the club take on their fierce rivals Arsenal and being sat at the end of the ground that housed the Gunners’ supporters.
Sir Trevor McDonald
Sir Trevor McDonald talks about his lifelong love for Tottenham Hotspur football club:
“When Spurs won the double in the 1960’s I became a fan. People change football teams, I do not know how that is even possible.” 💙👏🏻
🥰🔥😍
[@talkSPORT]#THFC #COYSpic.twitter.com/YnoIgCF1z1
— Last Word On Spurs (@LastWordOnSpurs) October 23, 2019
His voice and face became known to the British audience when he became the main presenter of the News at Ten on ITV, being knighted for services to journalism in 1999. Although born in the Trinidad and Tobago city of San Fernando in 1939, he moved to London when he became employed by the BBC. It was whilst he lived in the West Indies that he became a Spurs supporter, however, listening to the club win the double in the 1960s and falling in love with the club from that moment, failing to understand how anyone ever changes their allegiance.
Michael McIntyre
Any time a comedian is a fan of a football club, it is difficult not to make the connection between their love of a team and them being a ‘joke’. Michael McIntyre will doubtless have heard plenty such gags over the years, having been a long-term Tottenham Hotspur fan. That is likely due to the fact that he was born and brought up in the English capital, going on to persuade his children, Oscar and Lucas, to also follow the North London side. Even when touring the likes of Dubai, Australia and New Zealand, he still keeps an eye out for the Spurs scoreline.
Mark Wahlberg
The truth of the matter is that Mark Wahlberg is probably one of those Tottenham supporters who doesn’t really follow the club, but would rather they won matches than lost them. There is little question that he has at least got a soft spot for the side, however, as demonstrated in the July 2018 when he sent a message of support to then-Spurs players Harry Kane and Dele Alli ahead of England’s semi-final match in the World Cup. It all started in 2016 when he visited White Hart Lane, demonstrating an affinity for the London club in the years that followed.
Tom Holland
If you’re going to have a celebrity supporter, then you’d be hard-pushed to do much better than your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. In Tom Holland, that is exactly what Tottenham Hotspur have got, with the actor having been a lifelong fan of the club. He even admitted that when he attended the Ballon d’Or ceremony in 2021, he attempted to persuade Kylian Mbappé to join the side. He admitted that being a supporter has taught him ‘resilience’, such is the nature of getting behind a team that regularly falls short of being able to win the biggest honours in the game.
Sir Kenneth Branagh
Although Sir Kenneth Branagh was born in Belfast, he moved to London as a nine-year-old in the 1970s in order to escape the Troubles. He grew up in Reading, but became a Tottenham Hotspur supporter as a child, which carried on into adulthood. When filming Belfast, the young actor who was essentially playing the role of a young Branagh refused to say that he was a Spurs supporter on account of the fact that he actually supported Liverpool. On the final day of the 2016-2017 season, Branagh voiced a montage that was shown at White Hart Lane.
John Cena
There is an argument that we’re back in the realms of ‘supporter in name more than deed’ when it comes to John Cena, but he reportedly fell in love with the club when doing a tour of the United Kingdom with the World Wrestling Entertainment in 2008. Gerry Francis gave him his very own replica shirt, which he proudly wore for photographs and has followed the club’s fortunes ever since. When Spurs took on Manchester United in the Europa League final in 2025, they played Cena’s WWE theme tune in order to get supporters excited about the forthcoming match.
Adele
Selling more than 170 million records worldwide, Adele is perhaps one of the most famous singers of all time. She regularly wrote about the pain of relationships and breakups when she was first making it big, whilst the fact that she’s been a lifelong Spurs fan might well have given her another reason to feel heartbroken a lot of the time. She once sang the club’s anthem, Glory, Glory Tottenham Hotspur in a video, all but proving her loyalty. There was also a suggestion that she might do something of a homecoming concert in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
AJ Tracey
Born Ché Wolton Grant in Brixton in 1994, the professional rapper and record producer better known as AJ Tracey was raised in Ladbroke Grove. His dad gave him one of the club’s shirts in the late 1990s, which was the moment at which he knew he was going to follow the club. As a season ticket holder, he gets to go along to home games with his brother and knows the people that he sits near. He also interacts with other supporters on social media, proving that he’s certainly not just a fair-weather fan who is in it for the glory, given the fact that there hasn’t been much during his lifetime.
J.K. Rowling
Having been born in Yate in Gloucestershire, author J. K. Rowling might not strike many as the obvious person to become a Tottenham Hotspur fan. Nowadays, the creator of the Harry Potter series spends most of her time acting in a weirdly vindictive manner towards trans people, so obsessed is she with the idea of people living the life that they want to, so she might not have that much time to keep up to date with the Spurs results. She began supporting the club because her father was a fan, although she also admitted that she’s ‘not a very passionate one’.