Inside Sport re: Our stadium plans

Tottenham plan stadium expansion


Tottenham have turned to a man who played a major role in the development of Arsenal's Emirates Stadium to help them build a venue of similar quality.
Tony Winterbottom, formerly of the London Development Authority, is now masterminding plans to expand Spurs' White Hart Lane ground to about 52,000.
The project would cost in the region of £300m of which £150m would be borrowed.
But it would mean Spurs having to vacate White Hart Lane for two seasons, and may have to share with West Ham.
A couple of years ago Tottenham were very keen to become permanent tenants at Wembley but the Football Association did not want that.
Now Tottenham have again approached Wembley to inquire about playing some of their matches there while they rebuild White Hart Lane.
But Wembley want a lot of money to hire the stadium and Tottenham may only consider it worthwhile that top matches, such as the derby with north London rivals Arsenal, are played there.
So they have also spoken to West Ham, with a view to playing the less high-profile matches at Upton Park.

The problem with West Ham is that the Hammers are themselves thinking about building a new stadium, so that might complicate things too.
Another solution might be to share the Emirates Stadium with Arsenal but that seems fraught with difficulty, particularly with the present rivalry between the fans.
Consequently, there is also talk of Tottenham playing some matches at a ground outside London.
But while rebuilding White Hart Lane is the preferred option for Spurs, there are two other alternatives that are being considered.
One is to develop some land just north of White Hart Lane.
This would mean Tottenham would continue to play at White Hart Lane while the new stadium was built.
Or they could develop one of a couple of possible sites in Enfield, but that would mean a new stadium quite some distance from their current ground. Redeveloping White Hart Lane is definitely the number one choice and Paul Phillips, a project manager at Emirates, is also helping Tottenham. Spurs have also got high-powered architect Ken Shuttleworth, who is the right-hand man of Norman Foster, whose company designed the new Wembley, on board.

Click to expand...

SpurSince57 said:

Really not much there that we didn't know already, though.

Click to expand...

Grand designs for Spurs
Mihir Bose - BBC sports editor
5 Nov 07, 10:50 PM
Tottenham insiders say their latest thinking on a new stadium shows the ambition of chairman Daniel Levy, who may not have won any trophies so far, or got into the Champions League, but has made handsome profits and made sure that off the field Spurs is a successful club.
But the club needs success on the field and the new vision of being a top four club with a big new spanking stadium means they have to perform where it matters.
What's more, the board feel if they don't catch up with the existing big four now, then maybe they never will. There's a real sense of now or never.
Two months ago when the club were at loggerheads with Martin Jol it was made clear Tottenham had to make it to the big four and directors said having come fifth twice, they had do better. They could not just stand still.
Now for Juande Ramos a top four finish looks very unlikely, and the official word is he must do as well as he can.
But it is clear the manager must have a finish which sees Tottenham back in Europe even if it only the UEFA Cup.
A lot will depend on how top players like Berbatov perform
His agent is talking to Damien Commoli the director of football, who is now Ramos's boss.
The club are publicly keen to play down the meeting and say it is routine. Berbatov has another two and a a half years on his contract with an option for another two which is still to be agreed.
But I am also told when Martin Jol came into the dressing room to talk to the players after he learnt he was leaving, Berbatov said to him "If you go, I go too".
And of course the big question is not just whether Berbatov will be sold, but will Tottenham be sold?
Officially the club keep saying it is not for sale. However I am told Levy has been sounded out by buyers and soon after the season started, a price of £600m was talked about with Levy wanting to stay on as chairman.
Unless Ramos helps Tottenham recover quickly on the field of play it will be hard to get that price and Tottenham, when the club is sold, may go for a lot less.

Click to expand...

TheChosenOne said:

Back in the 50's & 60's the gate was 50K (standing included) but a lot of them fellahs are dead now.

Click to expand...

Consequently, there is also talk of Tottenham playing some matches at a ground outside London.

Click to expand...

llamafarmer said:

If it's going to be 52,000, I hope there won't be as many corporate seats (proportionally) as at Wembley and the immigrants. Not much chance of that though and as SS57 says, we'll probably have to charge more to make up the money.

Click to expand...