THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON — Tottenham plans to move to a new 60,000-seat stadium, confirming a long-expected move from its White Hart Lane home.
The Premier League club, which announced the stadium news Thursday along with preliminary results showing a large drop in net profits, will switch to a stadium adjacent to what has been its north London home since 1899.
Spurs did not say when they expected to move to what is presently an eight-acre industrial site immediately north of White Hart Lane, but will put the plans on show to the public next month to allow comments and revisions before submitting them to local government for approval.
“It represents a significant step in the growth of the club, with a proposed stadium capacity of 60,000, and would provide state-of-the-art facilities, important public space, new jobs and homes and a significant boost for the local economy,” Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said in a statement.
White Hart Lane holds just 36,000 fans, restricting Spurs’ income from ticket sales and match-day revenue compared to that enjoyed by the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United — both of whom attract crowds about twice as large.
With 22,000 people on a waiting list for season tickets and 70,000 club members, Tottenham should be able to fill a larger ground, as the club’s popularity belies a long history of underachievement in which the club won the last of its two English championships in 1961.
Last season’s Carling Cup was the club’s first trophy in nine years and just the third in 24.
The club had examined the possibility of moving elsewhere in London but has elected to stay in its traditional home of Haringey — a largely working class borough of north London — despite being unable to redevelop “the Lane,” as fans affectionately refer to the present stadium.
Tottenham officials have watched the club’s biggest rival Arsenal successfully switch to a new larger stadium and will hope their plans lead to a similar impact.
Having broken the 100-million-pound (C$198.2 million) barrier for the first time a year ago, Tottenham’s total revenue rose 11 per cent to 114.8 million pounds (C$227.6 million) for the year ending June 30.
But expenditure on player transfers and the hiring of a new coaching staff, who were fired last week following a poor start to this season, meant net profit dropped from 19.2 million pounds (C$38.1 million) to one million pounds (C$2 million).
That figure also included net debt of 14.6 million pounds (C$28.9 million) and property acquisitions to help with development of the stadium.
It also had to pay five million pounds (C$9.9 million) to Portsmouth for hiring its manager, Harry Redknapp, last week and must compensate Juande Ramos, Damien Comolli, Marcos Alvarez and Gus Poyet who were fired as manager, sporting director, fitness coach and assistant manager respectively on Saturday.
Tottenham is in the UEFA Cup again this season, but is bottom of the Premier League after 10 matches and fighting to avoid a costly relegation to the League Championship.
Although the new stadium will not be open for several years, the news will be welcome to fans who expected either a decision to be deferred once more or the club to move out of the city.
Tottenham said it would be able to continue playing at White Hart Lane until the new ground was ready, ruling out the need for a temporary move to somewhere such as Wembley.
“Tottenham Hotspur is proud of its roots in Haringey,” Levy said. “We have been in the borough for 126 years and the club is inextricably linked with this part of London.
“We believe that this scheme has the potential to create a truly inspirational environment for the club and the community as well as acting as the catalyst for the uplift of the wider area.”