From Sol Campbell to Emmanuel Adebayor - Meet the players who crossed the North London derby divide and played for both Arsenal and Tottenham

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Sol Campbell and Emmanuel Adebayor played for both North London clubs
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A grand total of 15 players have represented both arch-rivals throughout the years

The North London derby is one of the most-heated football derbies in English football and the list of players who dared to cross the rivalry is unsurprisingly small.

Two of the names everyone will likely remember are Sol Campbell and Emmanuel Adebayor, with the former's move in particular making plenty of headlines when it happened.

The centre-back had previously assured Spurs fans he would stay put, while also insisting he would never play for the Gunners, only to then commit the ultimate sin and join his boyhood's arch-rival on a free transfer.

Ouch!

Adebayor, meanwhile, seemed to make a bit of a sport out of winding up Arsenal fans at every opportunity he got after leaving the club. A true rebel!

But who else had the courage to represent both rivals? Let's take a look.

  1. William Gallas
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    William Gallas

    Ever since he arrived from Chelsea to Arsenal, fans were divided in their opinion of Gallas.

    While the French defender captained the Gunners, he was stripped off that honour for his infamous interview he gave to the media in 2008, where he revealed inside talks within the Arsenal squad.

    Later, after not being able to successfully negotiate a new contract with high wages, he joined Tottenham as a free agent and went on to captain the Lillywhites.

  2. Jimmy Robertson

    Tottenham signed Robertson from St. Mirren in 1964 and his next four years at Spurs saw him attain legendary status at White Hart Lane.

    Robertson made 181 appearances for Spurs, scoring 31 goals in all competitions.

    He joined Arsenal in 1968 in a straight swap deal with David Jenkins.

    Despite crossing the North London divide, he is fondly remembered as a club legend by Spurs faithfuls.

    Robertson made 59 appearances for Arsenal, scoring eight goals.

    Till date, he remains one of two players to have scored for both Arsenal and Tottenham in the North London derby.

  3. Vic Groves

    Groves only featured in four games for Tottenham during his one season at the club in 1952-53, but even then he still scored three times for them.

    After briefly appearing for Walthamstow Avenue and Leyton Orient, Groves arrived at Arsenal in 1955.

    In his nine-year spell with the Gunners, Groves became the club's captain, going on to score 31 goals in 185 appearances.

  4. Emmanuel Adebayor
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    Emmanuel Adebayor

    After featuring for Arsenal between 2006 and 2009, Adebayor broke Arsenal fans' hearts as he made a big-money move to Manchester City.

    He then followed that up by celebrating a goal for City against Arsenal in front of his former fans in wild fashion running from one end of the pitch to another.

    Facing failure in his overall spell at City and his loan move to Real Madrid, Adebayor arrived at Tottenham in 2011.

    He later went on to score in a North London derby only to be shown a red card minutes later in a game that Arsenal won 5-2.

  5. Pat Jennings
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    Pat Jennings

    One of the rare players who was terrific at both Arsenal and Tottenham in his time at the clubs, Jennings played for the Lillywhites for 13 years, making more than 450 appearances, before moving to Arsenal in 1977.

    over made over 200 appearances for the Gunners and helped them to four cup finals in three successive years; the FA Cup final in 1978, 1979, and 1980, as well as the European Cup Winners Cup final that year.

    An interesting fact about Jennings is that on 26 February 1983, he became the first-ever player in English football to make 1,000 senior appearances.

  6. Sol Campbell
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    Sol Campbell

    Former England defender Campbell swapped allegiances from Tottenham to Arsenal in 2001 in order to win silverware.

    What hurts Spurs fans more is that he left as a free agent when his contract expired.

    In his debut campaign with Arsenal, Campbell won both the Premier League and FA Cup, featuring alongside two club legends Tony Adams and Martin Keown at different junctures of the season.

  7. Willie Young

    After making 64 appearances over two seasons with Tottenham, Young made the move to Arsenal in 1977.

    Young featured for Arsenal in the 1980 FA Cup final and European Cup Winners' Cup final as they finished runners-up in both games.

    Young made 237 appearances for the Gunners, scoring 19 goals and winning a FA Cup title in the 1978-79 season.

  8. Jimmy Brain

    One of Arsenal's greatest strikers ever, Jimmy Brain scored 139 goals in 232 appearances between 1923 and 1931.

    Brain was the first-ever player to reach the 100-goal landmark for Arsenal.

    He moved to Tottenham in 1931, scoring 10 goals in 47 games in a rather underwhelming three-season spell before moving on to Swansea Town.

  9. George Hunt

    Hunt featured for Tottenham between 1930 and 1937.

    After arriving from Chesterfield, Hunt scored 138 goals in 198 games at White Hart Lane, but failed to win any silverware the club.

    In 1937, he moved to Arsenal for £7,500, making him the first player to move directly from Spurs to Arsenal since Peter Kyle in 1906.

    Hunt played for the Gunners for just one season and won the English league title.

  10. Freddie Cox

    Cox started his career at Tottenham, making 99 appearances for them.

    He served as a fighter pilot in England's Royal Air Force during the Second World War.

    After the war, he returned to Spurs for three more seasons before moving to Arsenal for £12,000 in September 1949.

    After playing 79 games and scoring nine goals, he left the Gunners in 1953, having been part of Arsenal's 1950 FA Cup winning team.

  11. The rest, from Steve Walford to David Jenkins
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    The rest, from Steve Walford to David Jenkins

    Steve Walford featured for Tottenham between 1975 and 1977, before playing for Arsenal between 1977 and 1981. He won an FA Cup with the Gunners.

    David Bentley started at youth level at Arsenal before moving to Blackburn Rovers and later to Tottenham Hotspur. Apart from his screamer for Spurs against Arsenal in a 4-4 draw, he didn't manage to make an impact at either club.

    Laurie Brown arrived at Tottenham from Arsenal during their golden generation in 1964, however, he didn't prove to be the hit many expected him to be.

    David Jenkins was part of a swap deal with the aforementioned Jimmy Robertson, who moved to Arsenal. Robertson is still one of Spurs' greatest ever players. The same can't be said about Jenkins for any of the two North London clubs.

    Rohan Ricketts is another relatively unknown player to have changed ships from Arsenal to Tottenham. The attacking midfielder made no senior appearances in his one season with Arsenal in 2001-02, before moving to Spurs, making just 30 appearances for the Lillywhites.