Riots led to new Spurs stadium
THE Tottenham Riots of 2011 paved the way for the club’s 62,000capacity stadium to be built at White Hart Lane and will be marked during the opening ceremony.
Spurs had originally wanted to take over the London Stadium following the 2012 Olympic Games but executive director Donna-Maria Cullen revealed that everything changed in August 2011 when riots broke out in the shadow of the club’s ground.
‘I was in San Diego on holiday and chairman Daniel Levy was in Florida,’ Cullen said. ‘ The riots happened and we said, “That’s it, we stay in Tottenham”. Something good always comes from something bad.’
Cullen explained that, following the trouble, the government began to respond to Tottenham’s plans for the £850million stadium, having initially been unreceptive.
‘We’d banged our heads against that brick wall for so long,’ she said. ‘Nobody would have spent money in an area that had no commitment from government to support infrastructure and transport. After the riots everyone came back around the table and it was something we could do.’ Seven years later, the ribbon is close to being cut and the role the disturbances played will be acknowledged in an opening ceremony planned for the Premier League game against Liverpool on September 15.
‘You’ll see when we do it,’ Cullen said. ‘There is a nod to the area, to the riots and to how this is a fresh start for everyone. Our roots are all over that stadium.’ The venue will be known as The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Cullen revealed that there are parties interested in becoming naming rights partners, something which could net Spurs up to £20m a year.
‘It was not essential to open the stadium with naming rights,’ she said. ‘Those discussions are ongoing. Daniel wants to make sure they go the right way. With any big development you will always find some bits are ahead, some bits are on time and some bits have got to catch up.’
Last week it emerged that the NFL have Wembley on standby should Tottenham not be ready to host the Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks on October 14. But Cullen does not think that will be an issue. She said: ‘It would only be prudent if there was a plan B.’
Today Spurs will deliver 60,000 leaflets to residents detailing £100m worth of traffic improvement measures. Cullen said: ‘We talk to Transport for London on a weekly basis and it will probably end up being the best public transportserved stadium in London.’
The venue will also host concerts but Cullen said: ‘At the moment we’re just concentrating on getting the stadium open. As soon as we’re up and running we’ve got interest for conferences and events, e-sports, music concerts, you name it.’
Tottenham lost 5-3 on penalties to Barcelona in Pasadena at the weekend after coming from two down to draw 2-2 in the International Champions Cup. Their goals came from Son Heung-min and Georges-Kevin N’Koudou.