Friday 9 September 2016

Tottenham Hotspur's stay at Wembley Stadium - details

A number of concerned local residents have asked me about Tottenham Hotspur's plans for using Wembley Stadium.  I reproduce below their statement made earlier this summer which makes clear that the main impact will be in the 2017-18 season:
 
The Club can confirm that we have reached agreement with Wembley National Stadium Limited (WNSL) to play our Champions League fixtures for the 2016/17 season at Wembley Stadium.
 
This will be necessary in order to meet UEFA requirements, which will be impacted by the works in and around the current stadium affecting access, capacity and rights delivery.
As we shall be required to vacate White Hart Lane to complete the latter stages of our new stadium and surrounding environs, the agreement additionally provides an option to play all our Premier League and cup home games at Wembley Stadium for the 2017/18 season. It is our intention to open the new stadium for the 2018/19 season. This timetable is, however, also dependent on infrastructure, transport and associated commitments being delivered by TfL and Haringey Council.

Chairman Daniel Levy said:
We are delighted that, through working in partnership with WNSL and the Football Association, we have been able to reach this agreement. Given the current reduction in capacity at White Hart Lane for next season and the ticketing requirements for Champions League, playing at Wembley will mean that we can continue to accommodate all of our existing Season Ticket holders. Our season ticket waiting list is over 50,000 so this now also offers us a great opportunity to provide more of our supporters with a chance to see the team play live during our Champions League campaign.

Importantly, as we know it was our fans' preference, it means that we can continue to play our home matches in London during our season away.

Football Association Chief Executive, Martin Glenn said:
Having Tottenham at Wembley for big European nights next season is a welcome opportunity for us to further the stadium’s position as a world-class venue. As well as helping the club and its fans, it will benefit London and English football in general with our commitment to reinvesting all profits back into the game.

The increased revenue will particularly help us meet our targets for improving coaching and grassroots facilities and growing participation. We were already on a strong financial footing, which allowed us to reinvest £117m back into the game at all levels last season.
We should like to thank all our supporters for their patience during the period leading up to this announcement.

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