Grounds for optimism as new Spurs stadium opens its door to fans

To Dare is to Do is the Tottenham Hotspur motto, but 13 weeks after daring to stage their first match at their much-vaunted new stadium, their footballers are still waiting to “do” anything on their new home pitch. Last week’s announcement that their January match against Manchester United would be the tenth league game this season to be moved to Wembley Stadium is the latest setback for a venue which has already missed out on glamour European nights against Barcelona and Inter and its first scheduled NFL match. Attendances which averaged 67,953 last season have plummeted in this campaign with fans growing weary of travelling to the national stadium. “We are acutely conscious that we are asking fans to go to Wembley for far longer than any of us wanted to” admitted Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.

On Sunday, 6000 Season Ticket Holders were drawn from a ballot and given the chance to attend a “fan familiarisation” event within the 17,500 capacity South Stand which will replace Anfield’s Kop as the largest single-tiered stand in the country. Among them were Stewart Rowe, a season-ticket holder for 29 years, who finally got to use his stadium access card three months after it was sent out to him.

“It really is awe-inspiring” said Rowe of his first view of the seating area. Angled at 34 degrees and with the first row of seating less than five metres from the goal-line, he added that, “the immediate thing that strikes you is how steep and compact the stand is. The seats are as close to the pitch as White Hart Lane was. Tottenham promised that, and they have delivered”. The lower part of the stand has been built with rail seating installed which could be turned into a safe-standing area for 7,500 fans should there be a change in stadium legislation.

The designers of the new stadium took their inspiration from Borussia Dortmund’s Südtribüne as Christopher Lee of Populous explained, “If you’ve ever been to a game at Dortmund it’s incredible. The atmosphere was really important for us, so the idea of the single tier really drive the idea of that atmosphere”. With yesterday’s Champions League round of 16 draw handing Tottenham another clash with Dortmund, there will be a chance for fans of both teams to compare their respective South Stands to see who can generate a greater “Wall of Sound”.

Within the stadiums concourse, fans were able to visit The Market Place, which takes “inspiration from London’s vibrant street food market scene”. Running parallel to the pitch, the South Stand also houses the Goal Line Bar, the longest bar in Europe at 65m. Fans will be able to sample craft beer from the Beavertown Taproom, the first micro-brewery within a football stadium. Rowe found prices to be comparable with Wembley and the quality of the food to be much higher.

The home match with Watford on Wednesday 30 January is the now the target for the opening of the new stadium. However, with further test events necessary before the venue is allowed to stage first-team matches, Levy is unwilling to make any promises. “What I don’t want to do is set any firm dates until we have finally achieved a safety certificate”. For Rowe any further delays would be a massive disappointment. “A lot of people commented that it would be hard going back to Wembley after having seen what is coming at the new stadium”.