October 2nd, 2014. Fans of Tottenham Hotspur trudge out of White Hart Lane, their former home, after a drab 1-1 draw with Beşiktaş in the Europa League. Among those filtering out of the iconic stadium that night was a 10-year-old girl from Norway, watching the game alongside her dad.
That Norwegian happened to be Cathinka Tandberg. More commonly referred to as ‘Tinka’, she left White Hart Lane that night full of admiration for her hero, Harry Kane, who had once again found the back of the net.
To be able to replicate her hero eleven years later by scoring goals in the famous Lilywhite shirt really is the stuff of dreams for the Norwegian, whose journey has taken her from humble beginnings in Oslo to the bright lights of the WSL. Tandberg started her career with boys’ teams IL Heming before joining Stabæk in 2018, where she made nine appearances for the club’s second team and opened her professional goalscoring account.
A move to Lyn in the summer of 2020 gave Tandberg three seasons at the top level of professional football, allowing her to hone her craft. While she scored just five goals across those three seasons, the potential was clear to see, and a move across the border to Sweden gave her the chance to truly flourish.
Linköping in the Damallsvenskan was the next port of call for the then 19-year-old. While she would only spend two seasons there, it was in Sweden where she began to show real glimpses of the potential so many could see in her.
During this period, she also began her international journey, scoring at every youth level from Under-15 to Under-19. Most notably, she netted 11 goals in 25 appearances for Norway’s Under-19s before making her senior debut in 2023, going on to earn eight caps for the national team to date.
A simply remarkable goalscoring record followed during her two years at Linköping across 2023 and the first half of 2024. Tandberg scored 22 goals in just 29 appearances, including a quite frankly unheard-of double hat-trick as she netted six goals in a single league game – a feat some of the greatest goalscorers in football have never managed. She carried that prolific form into 2024, attracting the attention of Hammarby IF, who moved quickly to secure her signature.
It was also in Sweden that Tandberg got her first taste of European football, the only European campaign of her career to date. Tandberg shone among Europe’s elite, scoring five goals in ten European appearances for Hammarby. Alongside her league form, particularly in 2024 where she scored 11 goals in 12 league games and 14 in all competitions, she caught the eye of Spurs scouts and Martin Ho, who fought tooth and nail to bring her to N17 and make her a key part of his Tottenham revolution.
For ‘Tinka’, it was a full-circle moment. A dream come true. Speaking to the official Spurs website, Tandberg recalled telling her dad, the reason she supports Tottenham, that she “was going to play here one day” as they left White Hart Lane following that Europa League clash against Beşiktaş all those years ago.
The move finally got over the line on Transfer Deadline Day last summer. Tandberg made her debut from the bench on the opening day in a 1-0 win over West Ham United, but it was a week later, away at Everton, where she truly announced herself.
Goodison Park is a difficult place for anyone to go, but not for Cathinka Tandberg. She set up Tottenham’s opener before scoring the second with one of the goals of the season, a sumptuous 40-yard lob over Courtney Brosnan that not only showcased her quality, but also the confidence and ingenuity to even attempt such an outrageous finish.
She netted six goals in her first season in England and, while that doesn’t match the tallies she produced during her first seasons at Linköping or Hammarby, her quality remains unquestionable. With a season under her belt, she’ll only continue to get better – that much seems certain.
As Spurs look to build on a record-breaking 2025/26 campaign, fans like myself can take comfort in knowing that one of our own is leading the line every week. Someone who embodies the ‘To Dare Is To Do’ motto, who truly understands what the badge means, and who will fight even when she has nothing left to give.
