Tottenham Forced To Delay Opening Of New Stadium To October

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Spurs’ Premier League fixtures against Liverpool and Cardiff moved to Wembley along with NFL game scheduled for October 14.

Tottenham’s new stadium opening has been delayed until at least October over safety concerns, with the team forced back to Wembley in the meantime.

The club confirmed on Monday that the home clash with Liverpool on September 15, which was due to be the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium’s unveiling, and the next home game against Cardiff have been moved to the national stadium.

The Northumberland park development’s first NFL game between Seattle Seahawks and Oakland Raiders, scheduled for October 14, has also been moved to Wembley after recent testing revealed “critical safety system” issues.

Tottenham will play at Wembley at least until the Man City home game in late October.

Tottenham say a revised timetable will be released after “urgent” follow-up meetings with contractors, but chairman Daniel Levy admitted disappointment at finding out the new 62,000-seater stadium’s issues on Monday.

“We know this will be disappointing for all our season tickets holders, premium members and our fans worldwide,” he said. “We appreciate the support our partner the NFL has shown since the extent of this issue became evident today.

“At the start of the project we asked for your support during what we knew would be a complex and challenging build and now we ask for your continued patience and forbearance.”

The venue for their next scheduled home game against Manchester City on October 28 is still “to be confirmed”.

But several reports in the national newspapers on Tuesday claim Spurs have paid the FA to host matches at Wembley until the New Year, with talks underway with UEFA over hosting their Champions League group games there.

Meanwhile, Mark Waller, NFL executive vice-president of international, reassured that his company “totally understand the issues”.

“Everyone has been so excited about the prospect of playing in the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium and I know all at the club are very disappointed, but determined to clear this final hurdle,” he said.

“We shall continue to work with them towards making our future games at Spurs a huge success. The new stadium will be an amazing venue for the NFL and we are very excited about our long-term partnership with Tottenham Hotspur.”

The Tottenham Supporters Trust say they are speaking with the club board today to “discuss practical implications and mitigation for the thousands of ST holders and fans affected by this news.” The same supporters club recently called for a “full and believable explanation” of Spurs’ summer transfer policy.


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