On Monday, Tottenham Hotspur announced another delay in the opening of their new home stadium at White Hart Lane. The new venue, which was had been slated to open in early-mid September will now be delayed until mid-late October at the earliest. Thus, Spurs moved home games against Liverpool on Sept. 15 and Cardiff City on Oct. 6 to Wembley Stadium, the ground that has served as their temporary home until Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is ready.
On October 28, Spurs will host Manchester City, but where as of yet is still to be determined. They can’t play at Wembley, because a National Football League game is slated to the national stadium that day.
The idea of a third venue isn’t the most feasible either, as the Premier League is already allowing the north London side to have two different home venues in the same season. Pushing for a third is a tall order. Ideally they would just move the date of the Spurs-City match, but that is problematic as well.
Tottenham Manager Mauricio Pochettino admits there as basic logistical challenges everywhere surrounding this fixture.
“At the moment I cannot say that we’re not going to play this game in our new stadium. If it’s not possible to play in the new stadium, it’s about finding a way to play at Wembley because I think to play at another place — maybe three stadiums in one season — will be too much,” Pochettino said at a news conference.
“Maybe we need to adapt. The day after the NFL game, maybe the pitch is not in the best condition, but we need to make the effort and try to play in the end because maybe to find another date will be difficult.”
Other potential alternatives include moving the match to City that day, or playing it on Monday night the 29th at the national stadium. There are challenges present with every alternative solution.
“We all feel disappointed of course with the announcement (that the stadium construction is once again delayed) this week,” Pochettino said.
“We need to be all together. We need our fans to understand that it’s a massive, huge project that will be (in place) forever for them and the club. Of course, I understand the problems about the tickets, the money and everything, and I feel sorry for (the club’s supporters).”
“I want to say thank you and apologize. We’re going to try to reward everyone by winning games. It’s the only way we can add and can pay all the effort they are doing and they are going to do for the club,” Pochettino added.
The new stadium will be a very special venue…and it better be considering all the money is cost and the headaches it is creating.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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