Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the home of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in north London, replacing the club's previous ground, White Hart Lane. With a seating capacity of 62,850,[1] it is the 3rd largest football stadium in England and the largest club ground in London.[10] It is designed to be a multi-purpose stadium and is the home of the NFL in the UK. It features the world's first dividing, retractable football pitch, which reveals a synthetic turf field underneath for NFL London Games, concerts and other events.[11]
The construction of the stadium was initiated as the centrepiece of the Northumberland Development Project, intended to be the catalyst for a 20-year regeneration plan for Tottenham. The project covers the site of the now demolished ground White Hart Lane and areas adjacent to it. It was conceived in 2007 and announced in 2008, but revised several times, and construction of the stadium, beset by disputes and delays, did not commence until 2015. The stadium opened on 3 April 2019 with a ceremony before the first Premier League game held there.
The name "Tottenham Hotspur Stadium" was meant to be temporary, the intention being to sell the naming rights to a sponsor,[12][13][14] but it has still not been renamed. The stadium is sometimes referred to as New White Hart Lane by fans and some in the media.[15][16][17][18]
Aerial view of White Hart Lane, demolished in 2017. The greater part of the area in view was redeveloped in the new stadium project.
Tottenham Hotspur was formed in 1882, and early matches of the club were played on public land at Tottenham Marshes.[19] As their matches became more popular with the public and the number of spectators increased, the club decided to move to an enclosed ground allowing it to charge an entrance fee and control the crowd. In 1888, the club rented a pitch at Asplins Farm, next to the railway line at Northumberland Park.[20] However, the ground soon became overcrowded, and in 1899 the club moved to a piece of land owned by the brewery company Charringtons to the east of Tottenham High Road behind the White Hart pub.[21] This became the White Hart Lane ground.
The club acquired the freehold of the ground, as well as additional land at the northern (Paxton Road) end, in 1905.[22][23] Starting in 1909, a new stadium with stands designed by Archibald Leitch was built over a period of two and a half decades. The stadium had a capacity of nearly 80,000 by 1934. Over the years, the stadium underwent a number of changes and seating replaced the standing areas, which reduced the capacity to about 50,000 in 1979. Significant standing areas, however, still existed, including the long stretch of raised standing terrace favoured by fans on the East Stand known as The Shelf.[24]
Beginning in the early 1980s, the White Hart Lane ground was redeveloped, and in order to comply with the recommendation of the Taylor Report of 1989, it was turned into an all-seater stadium. The capacity of the stadium was reduced to around 36,000 by the time the refurbishment was completed in 1998. The capacity was, by then, lower than the grounds of other major English clubs, with many of these clubs also planning to expand further. As revenues from gate receipts in that period formed a substantial part of the club's income (before it became dominated by TV broadcast rights deals),[25][26] Tottenham began to explore ways of increasing the stadium capacity to allow it to more effectively compete financially with rival clubs.[27]
A number of schemes were considered over the years; these included rebuilding the East Stand as a three-tier structure,[27] and moving to different stadiums and locations such as Picketts Lock and the Olympic Stadium at Stratford, London. None of these plans came to fruition,[28][29] except for a proposal to redevelop the existing site that would become the Northumberland Development Project.[30]
Planning
The club first announced in 2007 that redevelopment of the current site was one of the options under consideration.[31][32] In April 2008, the club revealed that it was considering the acquisition of the Wingate Trading Estate immediately adjacent to the north of White Hart Lane for building the stadium.[33] In October 2008, the Northumberland Development Project, which included the construction of a stadium, as well as a club museum, homes, shops and other facilities, was announced.[34][35] The early plan was for Tottenham to move into the new stadium, while it was partially built, at the beginning of the 2012–13 season, with the stadium completed by the end of the following season. However, the project was delayed, with the plan undergoing a number of revisions and the completion date pushed back several times.[36][37] The club also did not fully commit itself to building the stadium in Tottenham until January 2012, after it had lost its bid for the Olympic Stadium to West Ham United.[30]
The first plan of the project, with a 58,000-capacity stadium, was released in April 2009 for public consultation.[38] In October 2009, the planning application for a 56,000-seat stadium, designed by KSS Design Group, and other buildings was then submitted.[39][40] The proposal, which included the demolition of eight locally listed buildings and two nationally listed buildings, was criticised by conservation groups including English Heritage, as well as the Government's advisory body on architecture, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.[41][42][43] In response to the objections, a revised plan, that retained some of the listed buildings, was resubmitted in May 2010.[44][45] This plan was accepted by Haringey Council on 30 September 2010, and later by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, as well as the government.[46][47][48] However, only part of this plan, the construction of Lilywhite House, was implemented.[49]
Models of buildings in the Northumberland Development Project
In August 2011, a major riot erupted in a deprived area of Tottenham. Haringey Council, keen to keep the economically important club within the community, issued planning permission for the project on 20 September 2011,[50][51][52] and a week later removed the demand for community infrastructure payments usually required for such a project.[53] In a joint statement with Haringey Council in January 2012, Tottenham announced that it would stay in North Tottenham and work with the council to rejuvenate the area.[54] In this scheme, the Northumberland Development Project would serve as the catalyst for a 20-year regeneration program planned by the Haringey Council.[55][56][57] In March 2012, Haringey Council approved of plans to hand over council-owned land in the redevelopment area, including part of Wingate Trading Estate, as well as Paxton Road and Bill Nicholson Way, to Spurs. It also agreed on a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) to buy the remaining properties on Paxton Road that had yet to be sold.[58][59] After a long delay, the Secretary of State for the Department for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, confirmed the CPO on 11 July 2014.[60][61] The owner of the remaining business with two plots on the development site, Archway Sheet Metal Works, then attempted but failed to have the CPO decision quashed in the High Court.[62] On 31 March 2015, the remaining plots on Paxton Road were acquired, allowing the development to proceed.[63][64]
It was first revealed in October 2013 that the club was considering a new plan for a multi-use stadium that can also host American football games.[65] On 8 July 2015, the club announced that it had reached an agreement with the NFL to hold a minimum of two NFL games a year in a 10-year partnership from 2019.[66] The same day a new design team was also announced, alongside a revised project plan, with Populous led by Christopher Lee responsible for the stadium design.[56][67] In December 2015, Haringey Council approved the revised plans, including the demolition of locally listed buildings.[68][69] The Mayor of London also gave formal approval to the plans in February 2016.[70]
Construction
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium construction
May 2017 Construction of the northern section of new stadium in progress. A day after the last game at White Hart Lane in May 2017, demolition commenced to allow the new stadium's South Stand to be built.
April 2018 Two steel "trees" supporting the South Stand erected and the cable net roof structure were installed and the trays or the retractable pitch are visible under the podium in the foreground.
February 2019 Last section of metal cladding panels being installed and the stadium is nearly complete.
Building work on the Northumberland Development Project started in September 2012, however, construction of the stadium itself did not commence until 2015 due to the CPO dispute. The stadium was constructed in two main phases so that White Hart Lane could still be used in the 2016–17 season while construction was still in progress. The first phase involved the building of the northern section of the stadium (including the North, West and East Stands), while the South Stand construction started in the second phase after White Hart Lane had been demolished. A large part of the land north of the existing stadium had been cleared by 2014 while the CPO dispute was ongoing.[71] After the dispute was resolved, preliminary work on the basement began in the summer of 2015,[72] with concrete and ground works for the foundation by Morrisroe starting in autumn 2015, based on earlier approved and amended plans.[73][74][75]
The new plan for the project was given final approval in February 2016, which allowed the construction of the main structure of the new stadium itself to start soon after. In order to facilitate the construction of the northern section of the stadium while matches of the final season were still being played at The Lane, the northeast corner of White Hart Lane was demolished in the summer of 2016 after the 2015–16 season had finished.[76][77] From the basement to level 6, the construction of this section is in reinforced concrete.[78] Three further levels above are constructed in steel frame. There are only six cores in reinforced concrete for vertical circulation of spectators instead of the eight expected of a stadium of this size as they needed to be constructed within the first phase of the stadium construction.[79] The South Stand constructed in the second phase has open staircases to the concourses.[80]
The demolition of most of the remaining White Hart Lane ground began the day after the last home match of the 2016–17 season was played, and the demolition was completed with all visible remnants of White Hart Lane removed by early August 2017.[81] Piling work for Phase 2 of the stadium construction started in June 2017.[82] While the northern section constructed in the first phase is a largely concrete structure, the entire single-tier south stand has a steel frame to allow for a speedier construction.[79] The two steel "trees" that support the South Stand were erected in December 2017.[83] The compression ring that holds the cable net roof structure was completed in February 2018,[84] and the roof structure raised in March 2018.[85]
Parts of the old White Hart Lane have been incorporated into the new stadium – crushed aggregate of the concrete foundation of White Hart Lane was mixed in with new concrete to create the floor of the concourse of the new stadium,[86] and bricks from the East Stand were used for the Shelf Bar.[87] A number of heritage plaques are placed around the stadium marking points of the old stadium, such as its centre.[88] The pitch was laid in early October 2018.[89] The exterior of the stadium is finished with 35,000 decorative tiles, 4,801 perforated metal panels and 2,505 glass panels.[90] The external cladding of the stadium was completed with the last few metal panels of the 'veil' installed in March 2019.[91]
Opening
View of stadium from the east
Four test events were initially planned at the stadium in August and early September 2018;[15][92] the first two were intended only for club staff and officials,[93][94] and the following two open to the public with increasing levels of attendance necessary for the issuing of safety certificate.[95][96] However, issues with the critical safety systems due to faulty electrical wiring delayed the completion of the stadium,[97][98] and these two games were postponed to March 2019.[99] A fan familiarisation event was held instead at the stadium in December 2018.[100] The first match, an under-18s fixture between Tottenham and Southampton held on 24 March, was attended by 28,987 fans and won by Tottenham 3–1, with the first ever goal at the stadium scored by J'Neil Bennett.[101] The second, a Legends match against Inter Milan on 30 March, was attended by 41,244, but resulted in a 4–5 loss to the Inter Forever team.[102][103][104]
The opening was originally planned for the second home match against Liverpool in September 2018,[105][106] but delays to the opening of the stadium forced Tottenham to extend their temporary tenancy of Wembley Stadium for the 2018–19 season until April 2019.[107][108][109] They also played their home game in the third round of the EFL Cup at Stadium MK.[110] The first NFL game was due to be Oakland Raiders against Seattle Seahawks on 14 October 2018 but this too was relocated to Wembley following the stadium delay.[97][111] The club shop was the first to open on 23 October 2018.[112] The stadium opened with a ceremony on 3 April 2019 before its first competitive senior game, a Premier League match against Crystal Palace.[109][113] The match was won by Tottenham 2–0, with Son Heung-min scoring the first ever official goal at the new stadium.[114][115]
Architecture and facilities
View of stadium from Tottenham High Road
The stadium is an asymmetric bowl, with a capacity of 62,850.[1][116] The bowl shape of the stadium comes from the need to maximise hospitality facilities while the asymmetry is the result of the creation of a single-tier stand in the south.[117] The stadium is around 48 m high, 250 m long on its north–south axis and about 200 metres wide east to west.[118] The stadium covers an area of 43,000 m2, nearly twice the area of White Hart Lane (24,000 m2).[119] There are 9 floors in the horseshoe-shaped northern section above the basement, and 5 floors in the south, with a gross internal area of 119,945 m2,[118] which is around four times that of White Hart Lane.[120]
West entrance of stadium on Tottenham High Road
The front of the West Stand faces the High Road and features a projecting, angled, glazed box that encases an escalator and serves as the main entrance for guests and patrons. The projecting entrance, along with the facades of other buildings of the Tottenham Experience, present a traditional linear frontage along the High Road. A 9.5-m pavement is created in front of these buildings to improve the flow of the crowd on match day on the High Road. To the east, on Worcester Avenue, is a dedicated entrance for NFL events.[80] There are two raised podiums for fans access, one to the north and one to the south. Away fans may enter from the northeast corner of the stadium via Worcester Avenue and the north podium. A large open public square, the size of Trafalgar Square, has been created on the south podium as the main access point for home fans. The square has a number of ventilation shafts, and it may be used for sporting and community activities.[121] The square is fronted by a single 7,000 m2 curved glazed facade, behind which is a 5-storey atrium where fans can access the South Stand.[122][123]
South entrance to the atrium of the stadium
The bulk of the structure dominates the surrounding area, but the appearance of the mass of the building is modulated by different claddings of glass, metal panels and pre-cast concrete. The perforated metal panels serve as a screen but allow for natural ventilation and light for the open plant areas in the stadium, and they also act as a unifying sculptured element in the appearance of the stadium. Regions of glazing not covered by the metal screen, including the main entrances and concourses, offices, Sky Lounge, as well the extensive glazed area to the south, allow for views into and out of the stadium.[123] The metal panels may be in an open or closed position, and they are lined with LED luminaires that glow on match nights.[124]
The roof is a cable net structure, held in place by an elliptically shaped compression ring.[84] The roof has a circumference of 720 metres, and it is clad in standing seam aluminium panels that end with extruded polycarbonate on the inside edge to allow light through onto the pitch but reduce the contrast of the shadow of the roof on the pitch.[123][90] 810 curved aluminium eave cassettes connect the roof to the wall. The pitch is lit by 324 LED floodlights, arranged in 54 groups of six and attached to the columns of the roofing system.[125] There are four large LED screens inside the stadium, the two on the south side are the largest of any stadium in Western Europe.[126] There are also two facade video displays on the outside of the stadium, three tiers of LED ribbon displays inside, and nearly 1,800 video screens in and around the stadium.[127][128][129]
The stadium is designed like a concert hall with good acoustics in mind so as to optimise the atmosphere on match day.[130] The corners of the stadium are enclosed and the stands are placed close to the pitch, with fans generating a "wall of sound" that can reverberate around the ground.[131][132] The design extends to the shape and material of the roof and the seating, such as aluminium soffit lining to the roof, and aims to produce cleaner and quicker reverberation times that allow fans to sing in sync thereby producing chants that are louder and last longer.[130] The stadium is also designed to maintain the character but noisier than White Hart Lane and facilitate a sense of "home".[133][134]
View of South Stand
Stands
Although the stadium is designed as a bowl, it still has four distinct stands.[130] The tiers of the stands are set at angles of up to 35 degrees, the maximum permissible in British stadium design,[10][135] and all seats provide clear views of the pitch for the ticket holders.[80][136] The South Stand is designated the 'Home End', and it has a single tier which is the largest single-tier stand in the country, with seating for 17,500 fans. It is 34.1m high with a 34 degree incline, has concourses on Level 1, 2, 3 and 4 and is accessible from the south atrium.[137] The design of the South Stand is influenced by the "Yellow Wall" of Borussia Dortmund's Westfalenstadion and the stand is intended to be the "heart-beat" of the stadium that can generate an intense atmosphere on match day.[130][138][123]
The 35.5m high North Stand has three tiers with concourses on Level 1, 2, 4 and 5.[137] The East and West Stands are 33.8 m and 33.2 m high respectively, and have concourses on Level 1 and 5. Both stands have four tiers each, two of which are smaller and intended for premium seating.[137] There are around 8,000 of these premium seats as well as 70 private loges and super loges for premium members and corporate hospitality.[139][140][141] The seats of the stadium, initially numbered 62,062 but increased in three stages to 62,850.[1][142] are in navy blue,[143] with 42,000 of these reserved for season ticket holders.[144] The seats have a minimum width of 470mm (compared with the 455–460mm of the previous stadium), increasing to 520–700mm for premium seats, with legroom of between 780 and 858mm.[145][146]
Views towards the North Stand. Away fans sit on the northeast corner. The Sky Bridge is above the North Stand.
Away fans are allocated seats in the north east corner; 3,000 seats in the lower tier for Premier League games, while for domestic cups they may be allocated up to 15% of the capacity spread over three tiers.[145] The stands include areas with 7,500 seats that can be quickly turned into safe standing areas should there be a change in the legislation that banned standing in football stadiums.[147][148][149] It is the first Premier League stadium with areas of rail seating,[150][151] and it is one of the five stadiums to trial "safe standing" in January 2022.[152] A family area is located in the north west corner for those attending with their children. Disabled fans are catered for with 265 wheelchair bays, areas for assistance dogs as well as facilities for those with "complex care requirements".[139][153] Accessible seating is available in all four stands, where the design allows for flexible seating for family groups.[154]
Pitches
The association football pitch of the stadium has a standard dimension of 105m x 68m, same in size as the pitches at Old Trafford and Wembley Stadium, but 440 square metres larger than the pitch at White Hart Lane.[155] The overall grass surface is 114.58×79.84 metres, including the perimeter between the pitch and the stands. The distances between the stands and the pitch are minimised so as to enhance the atmosphere on match days – 7.97 metres (26.1ft) on the east, north and west sides from the front of the stand to the pitch, and 4.985 metres (16.4ft) at the south end of the pitch.[156]
In order to keep the football pitch in optimum condition, there are two different surfaces – a GrassMaster hybrid grass pitch for football, and a synthetic turf surface underneath to be used for NFL games, as well as concerts and other events.[156][122] The football pitch can be retracted in a way similar to that of the Arizona Cardinals' home stadium, but it is the first in the world to split into three sections before retracting.[157][158] The pitch needed to split so as to accommodate the two columns supporting the South Stand when retracting.[159] Each of the three sections weighs more than 3,000 tonnes, and is made up of 33 smaller trays, making a total of 99 trays, with a combined weight of 10,000 tonnes.[160] The retracting pitch slides into the car park under the South Stand and the south podium, and the surface can be switched in 25 minutes to an hour.[157][161] The NFL field is placed 1.6 metres beneath the natural turf surface, and the change in height when the surface is switched also produces ideal sightlines for the front row for both codes (NFL team personnel tend to stand along sidelines in allocated areas which would block the view of the front row if the field level is not lower in NFL games).[157][162][163]
The stadium features the world's first integrated grow lighting system over the pitch. Grow lights are suspended on six 70-metre trusses to encourage the growth of the grass in the shaded areas of the stadium, and they can be folded away under the North Stand when not in use.[164][165][89] The grass can also be maintained for up to 5 days with artificial lighting, air ventilation, dehumidification and irrigation systems when the pitch is retracted under the south podium.[161][166][167]
The stadium provides separate facilities for football and NFL players; these include changing rooms, medical facilities, restaurants, hydrotherapy pools, warm-up areas, pre-match players' lounge, as well as lounges and creches for their families.[168] It also caters for the different requirements of football and NFL media.[10] There are a number of bars for fans on match day. In the South Stand is the Goal Line Bar, which at 65m is the longest in Europe. The White Hart and The Shelf are bars in the East Stand, while The Dispensary is found in the West Stand.[169] The stadium offers a wide range of food and drinks outlets (65 at the club opening);[120][170] in the South Stand is the 'Market Place' with a range of food and drink outlets, and a selection of food outlets are also available in other stands.[171][139] Other features include an in-house bakery and the world's first microbrewery in a stadium, which can produce 1million pints of craft beer a year and deliver up to 10,000 pints a minute.[172][173] The stadium is the first cashless stadium in the country, it also offers stadium-wide connectivity for all the fans with more Wi-Fi access points and Bluetooth beacons as well as greater bandwidth than any other stadium.[174][175][176] Some car parking spaces, but not for general admission fans, are provided underneath the stand and in the basement. A range of hospitality facilities in the East and West Stands are provided for those with premium memberships. These include two Sky Lounges on the top floor of the East and West Stands, with views over London and the pitch, the Sky Bridge, which is the world's first bridge to be suspended from the roof of a stadium, 65 suites of private loges and super loges, Michelin star level dining, and the Tunnel Club that allows its members to observe the players as they walk from the dressing room to the pitch through a glass-walled tunnel.[177][178][179]
The Market Place under the South StandPlayers tunnel
The stadium is intended to be active all year round as a sports and entertainment destination with conference and banqueting facilities. It offers visitor attractions such as a 'Dare Skywalk' opened on 31 August 2020; visitors may walk up the side of the stadium to the roof, then over a glass walkway around the golden cockerel above the South Stand where they may view the goal line from the roof, or abseil down to the south podium from a viewing deck.[180][181] The East Stand includes a double-height banquet hall that may be used for conference events.[122] To the south of the stadium, the raised podium forms a large open public square that may be used for a range of sporting and community activities. The Tottenham Experience, which includes a club shop, club archive and museum on Tottenham High Road, serves as the arrivals hub for visitors, where they may collect tickets and start a tour of the stadium. The museum is located in the Grade II listed Warmington House, and the new club shop is the largest in Europe, featuring a 100-seat auditorium area that may be used for pre-match experiences.[182] On the northwest corner is M cafe, a media room that may be open to the public and used as a cafe on non-match days.[183][184] On 23 July 2021, the OOF art gallery opened. The gallery occupies the Grade II listed Warmington House within the stadium and is accessed through the club shop.[185] Other facilities may be offered in ancillary buildings surrounding the stadium, including a ticket office, and a planned extreme sports building as well as a community health centre.[122]
Statuary
A 4.5-m-tall and near-double-sized fibreglass replica of the spurs cockerel, originally created in 1909 to sit atop the west stand at White Hart Lane, was placed on the roof structure above the South Stand on 6 November 2018.[186][187] It is a faithful replica of the original, including dents caused by Paul Gascoigne when he shot at it with an air rifle.[188] A statue of Bill Nicholson will be placed on the south west approach to the stadium; the old gate to the West Stand from White Hart Lane will also be placed here, and the statue of Nicholson will be positioned at its centre, recreating a historic photographic image of Nicholson.[189]
Uses
The stadium's over-arching use is as the home venue of Tottenham Hotspur, who play all their Premier League and cup home matches at the ground. However, the stadium is also used for other football events; in its first year, it was used for a live screening of the 2019 UEFA Champions League Final,[190] select Under-23s games,[191] as well as the first North London derby in the FA Women's Super League between Tottenham and Arsenal held on 17 November 2019.[192] The stadium has since hosted a number of home games for Tottenham's women's team.
The stadium is intended to be used for a number of purposes aside from association football, serving as the venue for NFL games and other events. It can host up to 16 non-association football events a year, at least two of which will be NFL games.[193]
Dolphins v Jaguars getting ready to start at the stadium in 2021
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the first and only stadium to be designed specially for NFL games outside of North America and is officially the home of the NFL in the UK.[194] The first game at the stadium took place on 6 October 2019 when the Chicago Bears played against the Oakland Raiders. A record crowd of 60,463 watched the Raiders win a close game 24–21.[195] The following week, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosted the Carolina Panthers on 13 October.[196]
The first touchdown at the stadium was scored by Josh Jacobs.[197] A number of NFL events were held at the stadium before the first game, including the trials for the first intake of the NFL Academy was launched at the stadium on 2 July 2019.[198][199][200]
The NFL returned in 2021 after the 2020 games were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[201] with the Atlanta Falcons hosting the New York Jets on 10 October 2021, and the Jacksonville Jaguars hosting the Miami Dolphins the following week on 17 October, with Atlanta and Jacksonville winning.[202] Prior to cancellation of the games in 2020 both Miami and Atlanta were due to host games at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Jacksonville were scheduled to host two games at Wembley Stadium.[202]
The first UK regional flag football championships for schoolchildren aged 8–11 were held 3 July 2019. Twelve schools, 180 young athletes, playing their part in the stadium's first ever competitive NFL games.[203][204] Houghton Primary School from Godmanchester beat Ysgol Gwynedd School from Flintshire 32–31.[205]
International football
The stadium is one of the stadiums chosen to stage the matches of UEFA Euro 2028 to be held in the United Kingdom and Ireland.[206]
The Premiership Rugby club Saracens agreed to play their annual showpiece game at the stadium for five years, starting in 2020.[215] However, the first match originally scheduled for 28 March 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[216] Saracens eventually played their first match at the stadium on 26 March 2022, when they defeated Bristol Bears.[217][218] Saracens' showdown against Harlequins drew a crowd of 61,214 in March 2024.[219]
The stadium is permitted to hold up to six music concerts a year.[193] The football pitch is retracted and the artificial pitch is in use when a concert is held.[223] The first artists scheduled to perform at the stadium were Guns N' Roses, originally to be held in 2020 as part of the European leg of their Guns N' Roses 2020 Tour,[224] but delay until 1–2 July 2022 due to Covid.[225] Other artists who performed at the stadium included Lady Gaga,[226] and Beyoncé whose five-night shows were attended by 240,330 fans.[227][228]
Boxing
The stadium was initially to host the Anthony Joshua vs. Kubrat Pulev for the heavyweight world titles for its first bout on 20 June 2020 but it was postponed and rescheduled elsewhere due to the pandemic.[229][230] The first boxing bout hosted by the stadium was the Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk match on 25 September 2021 between Joshua, defending his WBA (super), IBF, WBO, and IBO belts, and Usyk, the former undisputedcruiserweight champion fighting his third bout at Heavyweight.[231] Usyk defeated Joshua by unanimous decision in front of a crowd of 65,000.[232] On 3 December 2022, in the bout between Tyson Fury and Derek Chisora at the stadium, Fury defeated Chisora by technical knockout in the 10th round of their trilogy in front of a crowd of nearly 60,000.[233]
Go-karting
A go-karting track was built under the South Stand, after a 15-year motorsport deal was signed with Formula One. It is the world's first in-stadium electric karting facility and the track is accredited by the National Karting Association that allows it to host races for karting championship. A driver academy programme is also planned.[234] Three track layouts are available designed to suit racers of different ages and ability.[235] The facility opened on 6 February 2024.[236]
Other uses
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the stadium became the first community hub to be opened for the delivery of food to vulnerable Londoners.[237] It was also the first to be used as a centre for drive-through COVID-19 testing,[238] and the Women's Outpatient Services of the North Middlesex University Hospital was relocated to the stadium to free up hospital capacity as well as keeping pregnant women away from the hospital.[239][240]
Attendance
The stadium had an initial capacity of 62,062, increased later in stages to 62,850,[241] but due to the need to segregate fans, the full capacity may never be reached for association football matches as some seats are deliberately kept unused.[242][243] Attendance is counted by the number of fans going through the gates rather than the number of tickets issued which is the method used by many grounds such as the Emirates as well as Spurs at Wembley where attendance figures may include season ticket holders who did not turn up for matches and unused free tickets.[243][244][245] The first match after its official opening, although sold out, was attended by 59,215 fans as some rows of seating were kept empty and some premium areas were not yet opened.[242][243][246] Attendance in the first season at the stadium averaged at 59,175 from the seven home matches played there, compared to 59,826 for all home matches that season, most of which were played at Wembley which has a higher capacity.[247]
The official stadium record attendance for a Tottenham game currently stands at 62,027 in the English Premier League match against Arsenal on 12 May 2022,[2] beating the previous record of 61,104 against Chelsea on 22 December 2019.[248] The previous highest attendance for any game was the first NFL game held at the stadium on 6 October 2019 between Chicago Bears and Oakland Raiders, which was watched by 60,463 spectators.[195] The highest attendance for an NFL game is 61,273 for the game between Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars that took place on 8 October 2023.[249] It recorded what was at the time the highest ever attendance for a Women's Super League match at 38,262 in the match against Arsenal Women held on 17 November 2019.[250]
Cost, finance and sponsorship
East entrance on Worcester AvenueView from south
An early estimate put Phase 2 of the development, that includes the construction of the stadium, at £305million,[251] but in July 2018, it was reported that the construction of the stadium itself was projected to cost £350–£400million, out of the estimated £850million cost for the entire Northumberland Development Project.[50] The cost had increased due to the higher cost of import by at least 15% caused by the Brexit vote on the exchange rate,[252] changes to the build, overtime working, extra hirings and higher construction costs.[253][254] The club said that the final cost would be less than £1billion,[255] and just before the stadium opened in April 2019, the club chairman Daniel Levy said that the cost is of the order of £1billion.[7] In November 2020, Levy indicated that the stadium build had cost £1.2billion.[256]
The project was financed through a combination of the club's own resources, bank loans and club revenues.[257] A £200million interim financing facility was arranged in December 2015 with three banks to finance the project.[258] This was replaced in May 2017 by a £400million, five-year loan, deal with the banks to fund the remaining build.[259] By this stage, £340million had already been spent on land acquisition and the planning process, as well as the construction cost; £100million of this came from the 2015 interim financing, with the rest from club resources.[260] However, with costs spiralling, the club was forced to borrow an extra £237million, raising the financing facility to £637m.[261] The debt will be repaid over a 23-year period at £30million a season.[262] In order to reduce debt-servicing costs and improve annual cash flow, £525million of the debt was refinanced by issuing bonds that will mature in 15 to 30 years' time. The bond issue was arranged by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which also provided a £112m loan.[263][264] The club aims to pay for the stadium through a number of means: income from ticket sales is forecast to increase to £100million per year, more than twice that earned from White Hart Lane;[168] revenues from other sports hosted at the stadium with the NFL contributing £10million to the initial cost;[265] increased hospitality and catering income,[266] as well as sponsorship, merchandising, advertising, concession and digital rights, and broadcast revenues.[120]
In June 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the club had to secure a £175m loan from the Bank of England due to the loss of expected revenue streams as matches and scheduled events such as concerts at the stadium had to be cancelled.[267] In February 2021, a financial analysis indicated that the club had the biggest debt amongst all European clubs. The great portion of the estimated £1.177billion debt was due to the construction of the stadium.[268]
Partnership and deals
The club has a number of partners at the stadium. Following on tradition, Heineken, who have previously held sponsorship deals, have been named as the beer sponsor for the new stadium.[269] The north London brewer Beavertown is the official craft beer supplier and it installed the world's first stadium-located microbrewery on the south east corner of the stadium.[270] The company selected by the club to supply the advertising system in the new ground was TGI.[271] Tottenham signed a contract with LG to supply the new stadium with "ultra-premium" TVs and digital signage.[272]Hewlett Packard Enterprise is the IT networking and wireless infrastructure partner for the new stadium.[273] The concessions for food and drink in the stadium are run by Levy, a subsidiary of Compass.[274]
Naming rights
The stadium will remain named Tottenham Hotspur Stadium until a naming rights agreement is reached.[12] The club is apparently seeking offers in excess of £20m annually (£400million for a 20-year deal or £200million for 10 years),[13][14] or £25million in a 15-year deal (£375million).[275]
Economic impact
The club estimates that the stadium will inject around £293million a year into the community in Tottenham, and create more than 1,700 new jobs out of the total of 3,500 jobs created when the project is complete.[276][277]
Reception
The South Stand, also known as the Park Lane end, before the UEFA Champions League quarter-final with Manchester City F.C. on 9 April 2019, with fans displaying the club motto 'To Dare Is to Do'.
The new stadium has received generally positive comments from fans as well as sports and architecture writers alike. Paul Hayward of The Telegraph described it as "imposing and extravagant, yes, but still true to Tottenham Hotspur's spirit and raison d'être".[168]The Observer's architecture critic Rowan Moore, despite being unimpressed by the "ugliness" of its external appearance, chose it as one of the top five buildings of 2019,[278] arguing that the stadium is at its best as a venue for watching football, and that it has achieved "the desired combination of magnificence and intimacy".[141] Similarly David Hytner of The Guardian noted that while the stadium is significantly larger, it still has the "feeling of intimacy" due to the closeness of the stands to the pitch, and that the design of the stadium has managed to "retain the feel of the old White Hart Lane".[135]Henry Winter of The Times offered the opinion that the new stadium has shown the other clubs "the quality of spec required" for a new stadium, and one that can produce the loudest sound for the fans. He also noted the significance of the new stadium within the community in Tottenham by helping to regenerate a deprived area blighted by riots, becoming a stadium that is "a must-see stop on those touring London's architectural splendours" and one should be a source of pride "for all in the game".[277]
In a survey of 4,302 fans organised by Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust, 95% were satisfied with their experience attending games at the new stadium, compared to 52% of fans who were satisfied while Tottenham were playing at Wembley Stadium. 84% of those were satisfied with the atmosphere at the stadium for league game, rising to 98% for European games.[279][280] ]
Northwest corner of stadium, with access to the north podium, the Paxton ticket office and a cafe
The stadium won the Supreme Award for Structural Engineering Excellence in the Structural Awards from the Institution of Structural Engineers in 2019. It also won in the Long Span Structures category.[281] Other awards it has received in 2019 include Architects' Journal's Architecture Awards for 'Best Leisure Project',[282] the Building Magazine Project of the Year,[283][284] Gold awards from the World Interior News (WIN) in the Branding and Wayfinding category as well as for its general concourse design in the Leisure and Entertainment Interiors category,[285] Bronze Award in the Leisure category of the World Architecture News Awards,[286] Local Authority Building Control (LABC) Building Excellence Award in the Best Inclusive Building category for Tottenham Experience,[287] and British Constructional Steelwork Association's Structural Steel Design Award for Project of the Year.[288] It was voted second by the public in the Stadium of the Year awards at StadiumDB.com in March 2020 after the Puskás Aréna in Hungary.[289][290] It was also named the Venue of the Year for "the world's best stadium, arena or sports venue" in 2020 by TheStadiumBusiness,[291] and won the stadium category at the mondo*dr Awards 2020.[292] It won the RIBA National Award and London Award for 2021,[293][294] and won the Special prize Interior in the Sports category of Prix Versailles 2020.[295]
In popular media
The stadium is the subject of an episode of Richard Hammond's Big where the show's presenter Richard Hammond explores the biggest things he can find, broadcast in February 2020 on Discovery Channel.[296] The stadium was the setting for an elimination challenge on the fourth episode of Top Chef: World All-Stars.[297]
Transport
The stadium is accessible via a number of London Overground, London Underground and National Rail stations: Seven Sisters, Tottenham Hale, Northumberland Park, and White Hart Lane stations. The nearest station, at around 200m away, is White Hart Lane, which is on the London Overground line from Liverpool Street station.[298] The station ticket hall was rebuilt in 2019, and a Wembley-style walkway for fans from the station to the stadium is planned. The next nearest is Northumberland Park and fans can reach the stadium via Park Lane. Both Seven Sisters and Tottenham Hale stations are stops along the Victoria line on London Underground. The walk to the stadium from Seven Sisters station takes around 30 minutes.[299] White Hart Lane and Seven Sisters are popular stops for fans which can cause congestion after games on match days.[300]
The stadium area is served by up to 144 buses an hour.[301] Bus routes that stop close to the ground are 149, 259, 279, 349, and W3.[298] A number of bus routes however are subject to diversions on matchdays. The club also operates two high frequency shuttle bus services to the stadium, one from Alexandra Palace via Wood Green (on Piccadilly line) and finishing at Haringey Sixth Form College, and the other from Tottenham Hale to Duke's Aldridge Academy.[301][302] On matchdays, roads near the stadium are normally closed to traffic two to three hours before kick-off, and one to one-and-a-half-hours after the match.[303][304] Car parking in the area is controlled on matchdays.[305] Tottenham has also started an arrangement with Big Green Coaches to provide matchday travel for fans to and from matches. A number of major towns in and around South East England are chosen as pickup points and supporters are dropped off at a designated coach parking facility near the Stadium, and are collected from the same area, with coaches departing around an hour after the final whistle back to their collection points.[306]
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team has played its home matches in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium since 2019, replacing their former home of White Hart Lane, which had been demolished to make way for the new stadium on the same site.
Robert Dennis Blanchflower was a former Northern Ireland footballer, football manager and journalist who played for and captained Tottenham Hotspur, including during their double-winning season of 1960–61. He was ranked as the greatest player in Spurs history by The Times in 2009. After a lengthy playing career, he retired at the age of 38. He became a respected football journalist and, later, a football manager.
White Hart Lane was a football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater it had a capacity of 36,284. The stadium was fully demolished after the end of the 2016–17 season.
White Hart Lane is a London Overground station on the Lea Valley lines located in Tottenham of the London Borough of Haringey in North London. It is 7 miles 11 chains (11.5 km) from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Bruce Grove and Silver Street. It is in Travelcard zone 3.
Tottenham is a constituency in Greater London represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2000 by the current Foreign Secretary, David Lammy of the Labour Party. Lammy has also served as the Shadow Foreign Secretary from 2021 to 2024 in the Shadow Cabinet of Keir Starmer, in which he previously served as Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and Shadow Lord Chancellor from 2020 to 2021. Tottenham was re-created as a parliamentary constituency in 1950, having previously existed from 1885 to 1918.
Daniel Philip Levy is an English businessman and the current chairman of Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur. He has held this post since 2001, making him the longest-serving chairman in the Premier League.
The North London derby is the meeting of the association football clubs Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, both of which are based in North London, England. Fans of both clubs consider the other to be their main rivals, and the derby is considered by many to be one of the fiercest derbies in the world. Although the two teams first played each other in 1887, the rivalry did not begin until 1913 when Arsenal moved their ground to North London from Woolwich, south of the River Thames.
Spotland Stadium, known as the Crown Oil Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose sports stadium in the Spotland district of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, which is home to Rochdale Association Football Club and Rochdale Hornets Rugby League Football Club. The venue has a capacity of 10,249.
Alan John Gilzean was a Scottish professional footballer, active from 1955 to 1975. A striker, Gilzean played most prominently for Dundee and Tottenham Hotspur, and also appeared in 22 international games for Scotland. He helped Dundee win the Scottish league championship in 1961–62 and Tottenham win the FA Cup in 1967, two League Cups and the 1971–72 UEFA Cup
Northumberland Park is a ward in the Tottenham area of London Borough of Haringey, in Greater London, England. It is largely residential, consisting of houses and flats. It is the location of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the home ground of Tottenham Hotspur F.C. The ward is represented by three Labour councillors. It is named after the Northumberland family who originally owned the land, the family included Harry Hotspur, who Tottenham Hotspur Football Club are named after.
Tottenham is a town in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred 6 mi (10 km) north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Walthamstow, across the River Lea, to the east, and Stamford Hill to the south, with Wood Green and Harringay to the west.
Ryan Glen Mason is an English professional football coach and former player, currently an assistant coach at Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, of which he has twice been interim head coach. He first became interim head coach of Tottenham Hotspur in 2021, becoming the youngest coach in Premier League history, at 29. He had a second spell as interim manager in 2023.
The Northumberland Development Project is a mixed-use development project that centres around the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium which replaced White Hart Lane as the home ground of Tottenham Hotspur. On opening in April 2019, the stadium had a capacity for 62,062 spectators, later increased to 62,303, and was designed to host football as well as NFL games. The development plans also include 585 new homes, a 180-room hotel, a local community health centre, the Tottenham Experience, a Spurs museum and club shop, an extreme sports facility, as well as the Lilywhite House, which contains a Sainsbury's supermarket, a sixth form college and the club's headquarters.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is a football club based in Tottenham, north London, England. Formed in 1882 as "Hotspur Football Club" by a group of schoolboys, it was renamed to "Tottenham Hotspur Football Club" in 1884, and is commonly referred to as "Tottenham" or "Spurs". Initially amateur, the club turned professional in 1895. Spurs won the FA Cup in 1901, becoming the first, and so far only non-League club to do so since the formation of the Football League. The club has won the FA Cup a further seven times, the Football League twice, the League Cup four times, the UEFA Cup twice and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1963, the first UEFA competition won by an English team. In 1960–61, Tottenham became the first team to complete The Double in the 20th century.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club Women, commonly referred to as Tottenham or Spurs, is an English women's football club affiliated with Tottenham Hotspur. The club currently plays in the Women's Super League (WSL), the top flight of women's football in England. The club gained promotion for the WSL after finishing second in the 2018–19 FA Women's Championship.
The Chelsea F.C.–Tottenham Hotspur F.C. rivalry is a rivalry between London-based professional association football clubs Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. Chelsea play their home games at Stamford Bridge, while Tottenham Hotspur play their home games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. As of May 2024, 177 games have been played between the two teams, 79 of which were won by Chelsea and 55 by Spurs.
The London Academy of Excellence Tottenham is an academically selective free school for pupils aged 16-19. The sixth form academy was opened in September 2017 in the London borough of Haringey.
White Hart Lane is an electoral ward in the London Borough of Haringey. The ward has existed since 1978 and was first used in the 1978 elections. It returns three councillors to Haringey London Borough Council.
The London club Tottenham Hotspur has one of the largest fan bases in England. The fanbase of Tottenham was initially drawn primarily from North London and the nearby home counties, but the fanbase has expanded worldwide and there is now a great number of fans around the world. The club has one of the best attendance figures in the Premier League for its matches, and it holds the record attendances in the Premier League. There is a long-standing rivalry with Arsenal, and the North London derby is considered the most important of their matches by the fans.
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White Hart Lane 
Northumberland Park 
