Jermaine Jenas believes that the controversial lasagna incident sparked the intense rivalry between Spurs and West Ham.

Former footballer Jermaine Jenas, now working as a pundit for TNT Sports, has shed light on the intense rivalry between Tottenham and West Ham, which was sparked by the infamous ‘lasagna-gate’ incident in 2006.

The incident occurred on the final day of the 2005-06 season when Spurs needed to match or better Arsenal’s result to secure a spot in the UEFA Champions League for the first time. However, a number of Tottenham players fell ill with suspected food poisoning, believed to be caused by a hotel lasagna, and they suffered a devastating 2-1 defeat to West Ham, allowing Arsenal to qualify instead.

Jenas, in a conversation with former West Ham captain Mark Noble, recalled the harrowing experience and how it fueled the animosity between the two clubs. He explained, “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 match itself was a rollercoaster, with Tottenham taking the lead before West Ham turned the tables. However, it was the scenes in the dressing room that left a lasting impression on Jenas. He described the chaos, saying, “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.”

Noble, who did not play in the game, expressed his surprise at the severity of the situation, admitting that he had never spoken to a Spurs player about that day. He said, “Obviously I heard. But I’ve never had a Spurs player say the boys were being sick. We just thought ‘oh yeah, there were one or two players’.”

Jenas further revealed the extent of the players’ suffering on the pitch, highlighting the desperate plea from Michael Carrick to be substituted. He said, “Edgar [Davids] was the only player that didn’t have any type of food poisoning and he had a nightmare on the day. This is no joke. I was sat there with Martin Jol as the game is going on, or just behind him, and he’s turning around. You know sometimes you can hear the manager saying: ‘he’s having one’, this that and the other, let’s take him off. So he’s gone up to get the board up to take off Edgar, and Michael Carrick has come running over and gone: ‘Don’t you dare – I can’t last another second on this pitch, take me off now’. He had to keep Edgar on – that’s how bad Carrick and everybody else was.”

The ‘lasagna-gate’ incident left a lasting impact on both clubs, igniting a fierce rivalry that continues to this day. West Ham will face Tottenham in the Premier League on Tuesday, a match that is sure to be filled with intensity and passion. Fans can catch the action live on TNT Sports and discovery+.