The one with Tottenham’s stadium frustration

Article by Joe Fish

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Tottenham’s quest for a new stadium has hit more road-blocks than a will-they-won’t-they sitcom romance. And now our happy ending seems far, far away.

The club revealed on Wednesday that a legal wrangle means that it is "highly unlikely" that we will move into our new stadium as scheduled for 2017-18.

In order to compensate for the delay in construction caused by the court case, Spurs and White Hart Lane may take a break, much like Ross and Rachel did.

A statement on the official website confirmed that we are exploring alternative venues at which to play all of our home games for the entirety of one season.

The Olympic Stadium, Wembley and Stadium:mk have been touted as possible temporary homes, required due to the noble defiance of one local business.

Spurs have managed to “successfully and amicably” relocate more than 70 landowners of the proposed Northumberland Park site, adjacent to the Lane.

But Archway Sheet Metal Works Ltd obviously feel that they cannot produce doner kebab grills and electric pizza ovens anywhere other than Paxton Road.

The Josif Family, owners of the company, are well within their rights to stand their ground, but they have little to no chance of single-handedly overturning the government’s compulsory purchase order when they appear at the high court.

Our new 56,250-capacity stadium plans have the backing of Westminster and, according to Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, a strong local support.

So for what other reason than blinded stubbornness would a family business go through what is certain to be a long, unsuccessful and very costly legal process?

Unless they have a long-standing grudge against the club? Perhaps it was in one of their ‘bespoke commercial kitchens’ in which that infamous lasagne was deliberately sabotaged in 2006! It is all starting to make sense now…

But seriously, it would surely be in the interests of both parties for an agreement to be reached outside of court that would mean we could avoid a season in limbo.

We have seen with Coventry City only last year what damage being without your own stadium can do to the morale and identity of a football club and its people.

Ground sharing with West Ham or MK Dons is undesirable for that reason, and considering our relationship with the former, and the stature of the latter.

Wembley would be the best of the rumoured options, and one season there may be a worthwhile sacrifice to hasten the arrival of a much-needed new facility.

Particularly in the Financial Fair Play era, we need a bigger and better stadium to be able to compete commercially with the rest of the Premier League’s elite.

And we need it as soon as possible, but this latest delay is a sign that the already six-year long journey to our new home will have several more setbacks yet.

I can only hope that the next six years and five managers see better progress on the stadium front. Ross and Rachel got their happily ever after, so why can’t we?

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