YET ANOTHER DELAY! SPURS GROUND WON’T OPEN BEFORE MARCH
TOTTENHAM have confirmed that their new stadium will not be open until March at the earliest as chairman Daniel Levy apologised to fans for their extended stay at Wembley.
The north London club announced yesterday that they have cut prices for the three extra Premier League ‘home’ matches that will now be hosted at the national stadium.
Tottenham also confirmed that the first leg of their tie against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League’s last 16 will be staged at Wembley.
If Crystal Palace on March 16 becomes the first fixture to be hosted at their new home, it means Spurs will only play a maximum five Premier League games there.
If they beat Dortmund and qualify for the quarter-finals, which take place in April, UEFA will allow the club to stage Champions League football at the new stadium.
Spurs were originally scheduled to move into their new venue in September and Levy said: ‘I should like to apologise to our fans and thank you for your continued patience. The response from those who attended the familiarisation event was great to hear and reinforced our commitment to deliver an exceptional match-day experience for everyone.
‘We shall now seek clarity in respect of building test schedules and test event dates and provide further information on these in the next two to three weeks.’
As revealed by Sportsmail yesterday, Tottenham are reluctant to make Arsenal on March 2 their new stadium’s first fixture. This is because there is a potential for trouble and due to the possibility of losing the curtain-raiser to a direct rival.
Spurs said in a statement yesterday: ‘The past month has seen remedial works take place and corrected safety equipment installations increase. Testing has also continued.
‘Given the time required to deliver these, our Premier League matches against Watford, Newcastle and Leicester, and our Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund, will take place at Wembley Stadium.’