Skip to main content

Spurs face choices about where to stage games

Spurs will not move into their new stadium until mid-October due to issues with 'critical safety systems', thought to relate to electrical systems and fire alarms. Such difficulties are not unusual with large and complex construction projects, but they leave the club with some difficult choices about future games.

They must tell Uefa within a fortnight where they will play their home group games in the Champions League. Although the stadium could be ready for their second and third group games, the first of which is October 23rd, Uefa demand certainty. The safe option would be to play all three games at Wembley.

Spurs have asked for the Premier League games on September 15 against Liverpool and October 6 against Cardiff to be moved to Wembley. The game against Manchester City on October 28 cannot be moved to Wembley because the stadium is hosting a NFL game which is sold out. They could ask Manchester City and the Premier League to reverse the fixture, but this would need the agreement of Greater Manchester Police. The other alternative would be to postpone the game, but given fixture congestion for Premier League clubs, this would only be allowed as a last resort.

A further 200 workers were brought on to the site on Sunday, some of them lured from Crossrail by higher pay. The cladding has yet to be finished and it is thought that the crane will be on site until October. Before a safety certificate can be granted there have to be two test events with increasing attendances.

The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust is asking for a full refund plus a goodwill gesture in cash for supporters with tickets for the Cardiff and Liverpool games. Refunds for this Saturday's game against Fulham have been offered in club credit only.

Spurs have now been given a fortnight to decide whether they stage their match against Manchester City on October 28th.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Threat of financial calamity removed from Baggies

West Bromwich Albion had effectively been in decline ever since the club was sold to a Chinese consortium in August 2016, paying a figure north of £200m to buy former owner Jeremy Peace’s stake. Controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai’s ownership was fairly disastrous for the club, but his unloved tenure finally came to an end after Bilkul Football WBA, a company ultimately owned by Florida-based entrepreneur Shilen Patel and his father Dr Kiran Patel, acquired an 87.8% shareholding in West Bromwich Albion Group Limited, the parent company of West Bromwich Albion Football Club. This change in ownership was urgently required, due to the numerous financial problems facing West Brom, including growing high-interest debt and serious cash flow concerns, following years of no investment from the former owner. Indeed, West Brom’s auditors had already rung the alarm bell in the 2021/22 accounts when they cast doubt on the club’s ability to continue as a going concern without making player s...

Spurs to sell minority stake

Tottenham Hotspur is in talks to sell a minority stake in a deal that could value it at up to £3.75 billion and pave the way for Joe Lewis and his family to sever ties with the Premier League football club. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is seeking an investment that values the club at between £3.5 billion and £3.75 billion, including debt. While the terms of any deal have not been finalised, City sources expect Spurs to sell about 10 per cent. The club is being advised by bankers from Rothschild on the sale. Tottenham wants to raise fresh capital for new player signings and to help fund the development of an academy for its women’s team, as well as a 30-storey hotel next to its north London stadium. The financier Amanda Staveley, who brokered the deal for Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to take over Newcastle United, is understood to be among the parties to have expressed an interest in Tottenham. Staveley’s fund, PCP Capital Partners, has raised about £500 million to ...

Fulham requires big funding from owner

After lengthy delays, Fulham’s shiny, new Riverside Stand has finally opened, creating “a unique Thameside destination with first class facilities for supporters and partners on match days, as well as for the wider community year-round”. This ambitious project has increased Craven Cottage’s capacity by around 4,000 to 29,600, while it has also taken advantage of the club’s fantastic location and wealthy catchment area by including two Michelin star restaurants, a rooftop swimming pool, corporate hospitality and event space, all benefiting from views of the Thames. Chief executive Alistair Mackintosh observed, “Fulham is the sort of club that can have a business class or first class and have fans that turn left on a plane.” Indeed, there is also an exclusive members club – with a football season ticket as an optional extra. It’s fair to say that “the times they are a-changing”, as this is a long way from the traditional pie and a pint. However, in a world where clubs face the tw...