Watching the Champions League tonight, you may ask yourself: why are Spurs playing at Wembley?
Here's why.
Why Are Spurs Playing At Wembley?
Spurs are currently in the process of demolishing White Hart Lane and building a brand new, 61,000-seater stadium on their current patch of North London. You have noticed that the work has already begun, with one corner of White Hart Lane razed to the ground. While Spurs are continuing to play Premier League games at White Hart Lane, they decided to take the option of Wembley for European nights, as they would have faced the prospect of playing front of as few as 28,000 supporters in the Champions League. This would not have been enough to cater for Spurs' 30,000-odd season ticket holders.
It was also a necessary move to meet requirements set by UEFA. Here is the statement Spurs released when the Wembley move was confirmed:
This will be necessary in order to meet UEFA requirements, which will be impacted by the works in and around the current stadium affecting access, capacity and rights delivery.
The regulations White Hart Lane has failed to meet refer to UEFA's directives regarding access, capacity and media rights.
Spurs will play their domestic games at England's national stadium from next season, as White Hart Lane is fully demolished, with the new ground set to open for the 2018-19 season. Should there be any delay, Spurs have the option of staying on at Wembley.
Is it a popular move?
Generally, Spurs fans have been supportive of the move, as they initially feared being forced to play their home games in Milton Keynes, at the home of MK Dons.
Martin Cloake, co-chair of the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust (THST) told Yahoo Sport that while there were ‘mixed feelings’ about Wembley hosting Champions League games, the venue provided a pragmatic alternative: “Most fans would have loved to see White Hart Lane off in style with Champions League glory nights at our own stadium, but the fact is we can’t play our games at White Hart Lane".
Wembley is a venue we’ve campaigned in favour of using for our ground share, and the news that we’ll be able to play our home games there while we’re away is a welcome victory. It keeps Spurs in London, and it gives more fans the chance to see the team live".
Has this happened before?
Not with Spurs, although Wembley has previously held Arsenal's European games. Arsenal held their Champions League games at Wembley during the 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 seasons as Highbury’s capacity was limited by the need for new advertising hoardings.
Is playing at Wembley an advantage for Spurs?
It's too diificult to tell. The pitch is a substantially larger than the playing surface at White Hart Lane, so Pochettino has increased the size of the second training pitch at Totenhamm to meet the dimensions of Wembley.
Arsene Wenger found the move for Arsenal to be a "nightmare", citing a lack of familiarity with the environs as the main reason for their underperformance.
You would imagine the increased size of the area will be a major help to Spurs' attempts to hit the opposition on the counter-attacks. Also, they will have the benefit of a record crowd cheering them on, with more than 80,000 tickets sold for toight's game.
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