Options on the Olympic Stadium move

Thanks indeed!

It is crucial to maintain our identity whilst being progressive. Would destroying WHL and rebuilding on the same site retain our identity whilst moving a few miles away destroy it to the extent that it would wreck the club? It's hard to see the logic behind this argument. Tottenham Hotspur does not lose it's identity by moving to Stratford. If it did, there wouldn't be much identity there to begin with.

Can't help but feel that Levy is playing games .

Dangerous games at that of bluff and double bluff .

Now that they've got planning permission for the site I can't believe that they couldn't find a suitable new owner with the inclination to build in Tottenham .

Since they like to keep it within the family someone like Phillip Green .

you cannot let go of something so special in life. its impossible and nothing would stand in the way of my loving spurs

Support Spurs all The way!

If it makes "infinitely" more sense to move, then by all means do it.

mattyspurs said:

Suposr Spurs for me.

I don't want us to move, but for me the club is everything. If that means the club will be 6 miles down the road then so be it. especially if it means we can compete on a higher financial level than we aleady are then it's a no brainer.

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Matty i get what your saying, it isn't so much the distance that bothers many, but the actual postcode...we will be an EAST london club.

That makes things so different, everyone keeps going on about other big clubs that have moved, MAN CITY were a manchester club always, not a north manchester club, so moving round manchester didn't really change their identity, for us its so different, no more North London derbies, its so different,well to me it is.

I wouldn't ever agree to moving, but would accept a little more easily if we were still in NORTH London....sounds petty, but i feel so strongly about it and will never change how i feel.


As for still supporting spurs...thats not an option....its a way of life .

I agree ELY the most heartbbreaking thing about a move is we will be an east London club and our local derby will be west ham which is very saddening...

Lammy however is doing a good job in making me want to move more and more

There is too much history between Arsenal and Spurs for the rivalry to go away in my opinion.

It will always be the big derby because of history and tradition.

I personally believe the magnitude of the fixture has more to do with the respective teams league positions than it does the area they are based now. I mean for quite a while when Arsenal were consistantly outperforming us many of their fans told me that the Man U fixture had replaced the SPurs match as their biggest and most heated rivalry (and they werent looking to offend me,they actually said its a shame as they missed the proper rivalry with us at the time)

There's also a reason Chelsea see us as the main London rivals even though they have Fulham and QPR on their doortstep (because of history regardless of location)

If Spurs moved to East London, I feel we would still be a North London club because that is where we have come from and were our history lies and by no means would the rivalry with Arsenal dampen (unless one of the teams were to be relegated and no longer play each other)

Although I do concede that like Arsenal and Woolwich....many years down the road the identity of the club would change and there would be a whole new generation of Spurs fans who see the club as East London and that is a sad notion.(although the level of media records from our North London history and the length of time we were there would make it less forgetable than Arsenal's short and fairly undocumented stint in South East London)

Also football is more global than it was in days gone by and local rivalries are less relevant in terms of distance as exposure is greater and people are more upwardly mobile. Fans have moved further a field and traditional support boundries have been replaced with mix and mash lumps of supporters determined more by club success than geographical location.

I mean when I was growing up at school there were many more Man U, Liverpool and Arsenal fans than Chelsea, QPR, Brentford or Fulham even though the latter set of West London clubs were the local teams.

I just want the decision made ASAP now so we know where we stand, if the club moves I will follow, I love the club and will continue to do so, I really hope all our fans will do the same.

The North London derby isn't the same on the pitch as it once was. Not since Arsene Wenger changed the core of the club from the English core to a foreign one. The derby itself hasn't felt the same since the days of Adams, Keown, Platt, Merson, Wright etc going up against the likes of Anderton, Barmby, Sheringham, Mabbutt, Hazard etc over the years.

We've kept our proud tradition by way of a true English core. The likes of Dawson, King, Huddlestone, Lennon, Defoe, Crouch... It just doesn't have quiete the same feel as it once did. It's more of a competitive derby now than a deep rooted one from the past. It's more a case of where the 2 teams are and who has the bragging rights at the end of it all.

For long periods of the Wenger era we've found ourselves outplayed and outclassed on the pitch. Arsenal fans just loved playing us because they knew there was a great chance they would beat us. They'd chant "you'll never beat the Arsenal" because they had our number for so long. Thank god the tide is changing now. We have the 5-1 to brag about, we've at least won a trophey in the past 5 years, and a couple of League wins in 2010 have shown how close we are now on the pitch.

If we move to East London, is the North London Derby going to be any less competitive? I just dont think it can. If it was 20 years ago then I think the situation could be different. But rivalries are more heated for the competitive nature more than the deep rooted nature of the clubs now. It's more about bragging rights and where the club sits in the table, and how many trophies have we won lately. Are West Ham going to be our new big derby game? Never in a million years.

I have to say am surprised with the results of this poll, I can't believe over 80% would "Happily support Spurs". I thought Tottenham meant a lot more to Spurs fans than it obviously doesn't. I have no idea what I would. Definitely not "Happily Support Spurs". I don't think I could accept our home ground being in Stratford, at this time I wouldn't go there for our home games in East London. Even though it might not be, but in my heart it will be the end of the real "Tottenham Hotspur" and the start of a new club. It was mentioned before, if we win the League in Stratford, where on earth would the parade be? Not likely to be in Haringey is it? It would have to be in Stratford and that doesn't sound right.

kishman said:

I have to say am surprised with the results of this poll, I can't believe over 80% would "Happily support Spurs". I thought Tottenham meant a lot more to Spurs fans than it obviously doesn't. I have no idea what I would. Definitely not "Happily Support Spurs". I don't think I could accept our home ground being in Stratford, at this time I wouldn't go there for our home games in East London. Even though it might not be, but in my heart it will be the end of the real "Tottenham Hotspur" and the start of a new club. It was mentioned before, if we win the League in Stratford, where on earth would the parade be? Not likely to be in Haringey is it? It would have to be in Stratford and that doesn't sound right.

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I'm not surprised at all, I would have expected all Spurs fans to say they would happily support the club regardless as I thought it natural that the club transcends it's location. I am surprised so many don't see it this way if I'm honest

I think the poll is slightly misleading in it's options, because grudging is not the right term. If it said I would continue to support Spurs with heavy heart (or if that were an option) I am sure you would have seen a lot less votes for tha Happily support spurs option.

Because it doesn't mean those of us who voted happily support spurs would not feel the emotion at leaving the Lane (as we would even if the new stadium were in Tottenham) it just means our LOVE of SPURS is greater than any emotion tie to the area and we would happily support the club we love i.e. there would be no grudge about our love for the club.

If however the option was still love the club but regret leaving the Lane the poll votes I suspect would look a great deal different.

Would the 141 people that have voted to stick with supporting Spurs still do so if we had to change our name?

I'm afraid that if we move to Stratford and have to change our name that will not sit well with me!

I doubt I could support Stratford Spurs / London Hotspur etc

This isnt America at the end of the day and I don't agree with franchised football.

Looks like I will end up following a lower league team.

My mindset has always been to distinguish the area from the club.

I remember as a kid my childhood home was walking distance from the Twickenham rugby stadium and me and my dad used to always say how great it would be to have Spurs playing there so we could just walk to games.

So even though I have memories and an affection to the area because of the amount of time spent there over the years (and indeed even family ties there, as.
I have said and been told myself without the old Tottenham Royal I would never have been born) I have always thought as the club to be what is important and the location simply the host of where my club is.

In truth I probably would feel similar to how you feel when a player you love leave the club (like when I was a kid and Klinsmann left) gutted for a short while but move on because it's the club you love not the player.

But yea, for those of you who are unable to seperate the location from the team it will be a very sad time if the move gets the go ahead and I hope in the years it takes to develop the stadium you can all come to terms and continue to love and support the club because while I think it would only be a small number who would withdraw support it would be a passionate group of supporters and a loss to the club in terms of spirit if not reflected in tangible terms (as I am sure someone else will happily snap up season tickets vacated)

ChrisW81 said:

Would the 141 people that have voted to stick with supporting Spurs still do so if we had to change our name?

I'm afraid that if we move to Stratford and have to change our name that will not sit well with me!

I doubt I could support Stratford Spurs / London Hotspur etc

Looks like I will end up following a lower league team.

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firstly this would never happen.

There is no reason for us to change our name, we are not an unsupported outfit needing to beg the locals to support us by changing our name to make them feel a connection.

Plus as shown by many other English sports team (not least Chelsea who are in Hammersmith and Fulham) moving out of the area that bares your name does not force you to change it. (ask LONDON wasps in Buckinghamshire or LONDON IRISH in Reading)

even if somehow we were forced to remove the Tottenham from our name we would surely just call ourselves SPURS and never Stratford anything.

And to answer your question on a purely hypothetical basis..if the Club became Stratford Hotspur I would despise the name change but this would not stop me from supporting the club no.

Yeah I wondered about the name change...we couldn't seriously continue calling ourselves Tottenham Hotspur anymore if we played nowhere near Tottenham.

I guess just "Hotspur" would have to do it, a bit like "Arsenal" rather than "Woolwich Arsenal"...oh shit I just realized that if we move, we can't laugh at them anymore about their move, one of the few things we used to have over them.

Oh well, now we beat them regularly, that's better

AngerManagement said:

firstly this would never happen.

There is no reason for us to change our name, we are not an unsupported outfit needing to beg the locals to support us by changing our name to make them feel a connection.

Plus as shown by many other English sports team (not least Chelsea who are in Hammersmith and Fulham) moving out of the area that bares your name does not force you to change it. (ask LONDON wasps in Buckinghamshire or LONDON IRISH in Reading)

even if somehow we were forced to remove the Tottenham from our name we would surely just call ourselves SPURS and never Stratford anything.

And to answer your question on a purely hypothetical basis..if the Club became Stratford Hotspur I would despise the name change but this would not stop me from supporting the club no.

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I hope you are right on the name change issue.

I feel that IF we move to Stratford and are force to change our name it would strip the club of our identity and heritage.

I don't want us to be named anything other than Tottenham Hotspur

When we finally move, whether it's to the OS or a few yards up the road, I'll look to the past with a tear in my eye and to the future with a smile on my face.

My memories of Spurs, stretching back to 1964, are of those Saturday afternoons, and the night matches under the lights, spent under the roof of the old stadium.

I won't shed a tear if the club leave Tottenham, but I will when it's finally time to leave the old stadium, regardless of whether it's to the OS or NPD.

spurious1 said:

Yeah I wondered about the name change...we couldn't seriously continue calling ourselves Tottenham Hotspur anymore if we played nowhere near Tottenham.

I guess just "Hotspur" would have to do it, a bit like "Arsenal" rather than "Woolwich Arsenal"...oh shit I just realized that if we move, we can't laugh at them anymore about their move, one of the few things we used to have over them.

Oh well, now we beat them regularly, that's better

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Nowhere near Tottenham? Are you serious? It's hardly the other end of the Country. It's like 5 miles or something. Why would we change our name?

EastLondonYid said:

Matty i get what your saying, it isn't so much the distance that bothers many, but the actual postcode...we will be an EAST london club.

I wouldn't ever agree to moving, but would accept a little more easily if we were still in NORTH London....sounds petty, but i feel so strongly about it and will never change how i feel.

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I have to say mate, but that not only sounds petty, it comes across as childish.

Life's full of so many important things to get passionate about, Spurs are clearly one of them, but post-codes?? Quibbles over regional London? You say you'll never change, but I think you will, I've no idea how old you are, but these kind of minor hates are like childhood passions, you think they'll be forever but they rarely last any time at all.

Stratford is in fact less than 2 miles East of Tottenham. Tottenham is East of the City Centre, Both are north of the city centre. At the end of the day, who cares.

ChrisW81 said:

I hope you are right on the name change issue.

I feel that IF we move to Stratford and are force to change our name it would strip the club of our identity and heritage.

I don't want us to be named anything other than Tottenham Hotspur

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The most Simple example is Chelsea.

Chelsea are not in Chelsea they are in Hammersmith and Fulham, they have not been forced to change their name and they play in the same league as us so why would we?

For people saying they don't see how we could keep the name Tottenham if we were no longer in Tottenham, why don't you ask London Wasps rugby team who have been in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire for ten years and still kept the London in their name.

I don't see a single reason why we would have to or should want to change our name, it simply won't happen and the papers are just printing a non issue story to sell papers and people are using it to drum up support for an anti stratford protest.

I believe in people's right to stand up for what they believe in and I can understand those of you who totally oppose the move, but stick to the real issues of tradition, heritage and things like that don't use fabricated bs like name changes.