Spurs stories | Formz: "I was practically born with a Spurs shirt on"

Born in Barnet, brought up in a Spurs-supporting family, musician and TikTok star Formz was only heading one way when it came to football - N17 - as he explained to Andy Greeves in our Official Matchday Programme for Saturday's match against West Ham...

First of all, can we ask how you became a Spurs supporter?

Formz: "I was practically born with a Spurs shirt on. My mum is a huge Spurs fan…she was the big influence on me. Interestingly, her mum is an Arsenal supporter and her dad is a Chelsea fan. But in school, all her friends were Tottenham fans and she rebelled against her family and became a Tottenham fan like them and then passed that support for the club on to me.  I was born in Barnet, so I’m a north London boy and I was raised in Hertfordshire, so I consider myself a relatively local Spurs fan!"

What are your earliest Spurs memories?

Formz: "My first Spurs game was against Portsmouth in 2008. The person that brought me to the game bought me a Tottenham cap before the match. I remember sitting there and being mesmerised by the stadium, the atmosphere. It was incredible, especially as I was only nine years old at that time. Not a lot happened until the end of that game. I decided to put on the Spurs cap late on and within seconds of doing it, Darren Bent scored. A few minutes later, Jamie O’Hara scored a second and we won 2-0. I’ll never forget that feeling and the link to the first goal going in seconds after I put on the cap! I found the shirt from that season in my wardrobe recently."

What have been your favourite moments supporting Spurs over the years?

Formz: "A game that instantly springs to mind is our 5-3 win over Chelsea on New Year’s Day 2015. I was at that game and I remember the atmosphere was absolutely electric. Every Spurs fan is going to say the win over Ajax in Amsterdam in 2019 as being one of the best moments supporting the club and I’m the same. I was in the living room with my sister and my best mate watching that game on TV and we all cried and hugged each other after that! It was just such a special moment. And I’ve got a very special recent moment - going up to Old Trafford for the 3-0 win over Manchester United this season. That was my first time doing a collaborative vlog with Spurs and to win 3-0 at a venue like Old Trafford… you can’t really ask for more than that can you? It’s an away game I won’t ever forget."

How did that collaboration with the club come about?

Formz: "I’ve been posting about the club on social media for many years and I’ve been a very vocal Spurs fan, wearing Spurs shirts in most of my content. The club reached out a few seasons ago and we started working together on the Twitch channel and then I did a bit of stuff with the retail team. Then came the opportunity to do the vlog recently. I vlog every game I go to anyway, so it was nice to have the opportunity to do it for the club directly."

Who have been your favourite Spurs players over the years and why? 

Formz: "Gareth Bale is the player who got me into football. I was always a Spurs fan, but not a massive football fan as a whole maybe. But when Gareth Bale started doing what he did, it got my eyes glued to watching football week-in, week-out and my love for the game as a whole really grew. Bale was my first big football influence. As time went on, Harry Kane took over that mantle of being an absolute superstar. I loved Mousa Dembélé. He was unstoppable. Spurs have had a lot of big stars who have performed on the biggest stage and I grew inspiration from them because that’s what I want to do. I want to be a big star in my field and perform on the biggest stage."

Who are your current favourite Spurs players and why?

Formz: "Micky van de Ven is incredible. It sounds strange to say this about a defender but he is so entertaining. He’s next level and you can appreciate the passion he has for the club. (Guglielmo) Vicario is so talented. He stepped up so quickly having joined the club last season. He’s commanding at the back and it’s encouraging to hopefully have a keeper like that between the sticks for some time to come. The England boys are looking good… Madders (James Maddison), (Dominic) Solanke. The squad is so good and I’m excited what we can do going forward."

What did you make of Ange Postecoglou's first season in charge of Spurs and the start to this season?

Formz: "When we got Ange, I appreciated it was going to be a process to move the team in the direction he wanted. But it was something I was so excited for. We started signing players who were able to play his system from the get-go and, crucially, believed in that system. The football has been a good watch and I think, in the main, last season has to be viewed positively as he was instilling this style of play. I met Ange at the training ground and I said to him ‘thanks for bringing a family feel back to the club’ and that’s really what I feel he did in his first season. We’ve had a good start to the season. We’ve play well in each game, albeit not always getting the results we wanted or probably deserved. That’s the Premier League though, results don’t always go your way. I’m still very excited about what’s possible with this team and this manager."

How did your music career begin?

Formz: "Music has been in my life since I was in primary school. I can remember my mum driving me in the car, me hearing a song on the radio and remembering the lyrics within my first listen. I went to a Tinie Tempah concert in 2014 and it had a massive impact on me. I just remember his presence, the way he performed with 20,000 people rapping his words back to him. I thought ‘I have to be there one day’. I started writing that night and haven’t looked back. My way into music was pretty organic. I found beats online and I’d record songs and post them online and see what stuck. It’s gone from there. I’ve been building a nice house brick by brick. It has been going well."

In both your lyrics and videos, you are often repping Spurs?

Formz: "Of course. I met (Dejan) Kulusevski recently and I showed him footage of my first headline show when I was wearing a Kulusevski shirt and I got the crowd to sing ‘Gimme, Gimme, Gimme’. It was class. Kulu was on board with it when I showed him the video!"

What have been your highlights of your music career so far?

Formz: "I performed at the British Grand Prix this year in front of 60,000 people. That was incredible. I wasn’t nervous at all. People asked me how I felt coming off the stage and I said it felt normal, which is surreal as it was obviously a massive opportunity."

What does the rest of 2024 have in store for you?

Formz: "I’m speaking to you on the day I did a shoot with Sky Sports for a video that will be shown as part of Super Sunday. I’m an ambassador for the NFL, so I’ve been going to the States quite a bit for that. I’ve also been at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, seeing the transformation of the ground from a Premier League to NFL venue, which was incredible. I was at both NFL games at the stadium recently. I’m going on a big music push for the rest of 2024. I’m transitioning more into singing having previously been more of a rapper. I went through a bit of a heartbreak earlier this year, so I’m currently writing a heartfelt break-up album, which I’m really excited about as I think it’s my best work yet. That should be out towards the end of the year, maybe early next year. Then 2025 will be all about live shows, getting out on stage and continuing to build a fan base. I feel so comfortable on stage and that’s where I most want to be."

Finally, what are your hopes for Spurs this season?

Formz: "I think we can achieve big things, while understanding where we are in terms of our development at the same time. I’m excited to see how far we go in Europe. I think it’s a competition we could do very well in. I’m looking forward to some of the big away matches we’ve got coming up in the Europa League and hopefully performing like we have been and getting some results. Outside of Europe, I’m looking forward to seeing what the season as a whole can bring."