Alfie Whiteman swaps his gloves for a lens in Tottenham's love letter to its fans

Goalkeeper-turned-photographer Alfie Whiteman spent 15 years inside the club he grew up opposite. Now his debut film for Spurs celebrates the people of N17.

Written By: Katy Cowan

24 August 2026

Football is back for another season – a fact you'll either love or loathe. The players have returned from their summer breaks. There have been a few transfers, new haircuts (Haaland, anyone?), and the usual season buildup. Except at Tottenham, where something a little warmer has been happening too.

To kick things off, the club has released Tottenham Til I Die, a short film celebrating the people who make the place what it is. That includes the matchday stewards, the barbers and seamstresses of the famous High Road, a walking football team called the Tottenham Hotsteppers, and Alan Baldwin – its oldest season ticket holder who's now 93.

Young boy wearing a white and navy Nike football shirt with a Tottenham badge, smiling at the camera in a bedroom with bookshelves and potted plants behind him

Man with tattooed arms wearing a Tottenham Hotspur shirt sits at a desk in an office, looking thoughtfully away from the camera

Young woman wearing a Tottenham Hotspur vintage shirt sitting on a bed next to a Dembele number 19 jersey

The whole campaign is directed and photographed by Alfie Whiteman, who grew up across the road from the stadium and joined Spurs at 10, going on to spend 15 years there as a goalkeeper. He was living, as the club puts it, "every kid's dream". In 2025, Alfie retired from the beautiful game to pursue a career in photography.

Since then, he's signed with production firm Somesuch, shown his first exhibition at the club's own OOF gallery, and won a Silver at the Young Director Award during Cannes Lions for Toe Wrestling – a documentary about, yes, you guessed it, toe wrestling. Not bad for his first year out of football.

Man wearing navy baseball cap and jacket playing acoustic guitar indoors

Vintage ceramic footballer figurine in white and black standing on a shelf amongst fresh flowers and decorative items

A man wearing a black cap smiles beside a close-up of a happy black and white dog with its tongue out

Three men sit in a sparsely furnished waiting room with a Tottenham Hotspur banner and player photographs on the wall behind them

Tottenham Til I Die brings it all back home. Spurs fan and The Odyssey star Himesh Patel narrates the film, and Alfie's own father, Les Whiteman, wrote the whole score. It also features some famous fans: actress Taylor Russell, musician Dev Hynes (aka Blood Orange), and Grammy Award-winning composer Daniel Blumberg. It even opens with a childhood shot of Alfie himself.

The campaign is a new approach for Tottenham Hotspur to advertise itself to its fans. Rather than focusing on new players or transfers, it has turned to the local community and all the people who make the club special. Because let's face it, football wouldn't be anything without their fans.

Bald man with extensive chest tattoos wearing a silver chain necklace, standing next to a red sign reading "NO CRY BABIES" in a room with framed artwork on the walls

Woman in bright pink top standing in a vibrant pink kitchen decorated with Betty Boop memorabilia and THFC signage

Alfie Whiteman sitting at a desk next to a framed portrait photograph, wearing a dark shirt with a cross necklace

Alfie Whiteman sits in a grey armchair by a window in a domestic interior, wearing a navy polo shirt and pink shorts, with his hands clasped together

The film was made with creative studio Blind Faith and production company Somesuch, with casting by Najia Saad, editing by Joe Benson, and production by Milo Black. Scenes stretch beyond N17, too, with fans from New York to Tokyo.

"When people speak about us with love, they call us Tottenham," says Adam Gardiner, Tottenham's chief marketing officer. "This is about giving them that back." The film, he continues, "captures the rawness, character and courage that runs through this community, and lays the foundations for what comes next."