Confirmed: This is Tottenham’s Last Season at White Hart Lane
By Ryan Wrenn
Though it has been widely expected to be the case for much of the season, it now appears confirmed that this will be Tottenham’s last season in White Hart Lane.
The Express revealed Thursday that a months-long negotiation finally came to a close this week, with the Football Association allowing Tottenham to play its home games at Wembley for the 2017/18 season.
Of course, the move is only temporary. Should everything go according to plan, Tottenham will move into their new stadium ahead of the 2018/19 season.
That stadium’s construction is already underway in the area immediately surrounding White Hart Lane. Indeed, a segment of Spurs’ legendary ground was already demolished over the summer to make way for the club’s new home.
That is just one of many examples of the sacrifices made for Tottenham to realize their dream of a new stadium. Virtually no area of the club has been left untouched as chairman Daniel Levy streamlined in an attempt to finance the new stadium.
Perhaps the most obvious impact came in the club’s transfer policy. Levy — along with Mauricio Pochettino when the manager was appointed in 2014 — sought to balance the books with incoming and outgoing players. Simultaneously, the club shifted focus from player recruitment to player development in an attempt to become more cost-effective.
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The results to date speak for themselves. Pochettino is crafting a young, talented side built for a fraction of the cost of Tottenham’s primary competition. That they can do so while also competing toe-to-toe with them — they are in the midst of their second Champions League qualification push in as many years — bodes well for the future of the project.
By the time the club moves to their new home, Tottenham could be perennial title contenders. It won’t be without difficulties in the short term of course.
Among the more immediate concerns is White Hart Lane itself. By the time Tottenham take on Manchester United in their last home game of the season on May 13th, they will have played at White Hart Lane for 117 years, eight months and nine days. That’s not a history easily shrugged off.
Add to that the fact that Spurs won’t enjoy — either with Wembley or the new stadium — quite the same tight confines as White Hart Lane. Even with a relatively modest capacity, the noise on any given match day is cacophonous.
Tottenham will also need to find a way to manage the dimensions of Wembley’s pitch next season. When the club was obliged to use the stadium for their Champions League group stage matches in the autumn, the considerable increase in the width of the playing field made the pressing game particularly difficult. The losses suffered there to Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen played a large part in Spurs missing out on the competition’s knockout round.
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In the long term the move is nothing but a good thing for Spurs of course. The new stadium’s increased capacity — up from about 36,000 to 61,000 — will increase revenue and propel Tottenham to even greater heights of competitiveness. A ground sharing deal with the NFL will also pad Spurs’ pockets well.
Fans will hope that confirmation that this is the last year at the Lane will spur Tottenham on to finish strong. They currently reside in third, perhaps out of reach of the title but certainly in the mix to qualify for the Champions League next season.