I think you can understand it from anywhere but it is different when you live in North London and are immersed in it.
For example, in '91 after the FA Cup Semi-Final - it was the first really big game I'd been to - I remember on the Monday morning walking in to the 6th form common room and literally a cheer going up from the Spurs fans. I still wake up screaming. No fan in Nigeria or Hong Kong or wherever around the world is having that experience. They're not going on trains full of Spurs fans going to or from the game. It has to be a different experience.