Everything you need to know about the new Tottenham stadium

It does not yet have a definitive name, given that the naming rights have yet to be assigned and it's actually called Tottenham Hotspur Stadium or, more commonly, New White Hart Lane. The new home of the London team, after a exhausting wait, will finally open its doors tonight in the occasion of the Premier League match against Crystal Palace, almost two years later (it was May 14, 2017) the last game played in the old stadium, adjacent to the one just built. But let's start with order, trying to summarize the most significant steps and data of the new temple of English football. The new Spurs venue is part of a much deeper re-qualification project in the Tottenham stadium's neighborhood, located in the north-east of the English capital, the so-called Northumberland Development Project, already announced in 2007. The work then began effectively in 2015, when the old White Hart Lane was still fully in use, and then continued when the stadium that hosted Tottenham matches for 118 years was demolished.

As announced at first, Spurs had to exile to Wembley where according to the initial forecasts they should have played only the 2017/2018 season. However, the works have suffered numerous postponements caused by some problems in the security system, so much to delay several times the debut in the new stadium, which has become a real international case in recent months. The process that preceded the opening was gradual: in December 2018 an event was organized for families which involved around 6 thousand season ticket holders. Then was the time of the first real test match, last March 24th, when between the teams of Tottenham and Southampton U-18 with an attendance of about 29 thousand people; then it was the turn of the friendly match between Tottenham Legends and Inter Forever, the occasion to offer the new stadium's catwalk at old club's glories like Paul Gascoigne, Jurgen Klinsmann, Robbie Keane, Dimitar Berbatov. In fact, the first goal in the new facility was signed by the young players J'Neil Bennett.

Now, seven months later compared to the initial programs and with 47 matches played away from home, Tottenham will move permanently. Not that the Spurs have missed to give us he updates on the state of the construction site, periodically reported through photos and time-lapse videos that testified the progress of the work. With its 62,062 seats (almost twice the number of 36284 seats of the old stadium), the new venue will be the biggest in London and the second of the whole Premier League, only behind Old Trafford. More than the mini brewery located inside (which can tap 10 thousand pints per minute), the huge number of LEDs used or the external coating in steel, glass and ceramic, among the most significant details there is certainly that relating to South Stand, the maxi stands inspired by the 'yellow wall' of the Borussia Dortmund stadium. Curated by the famous English architectural studio Populous (the same one who had been interested in building the stadium of the rivals of Arsenal, the Emirates) the stadium cost something like 400 million pounds, or probably much more. To get there, the nearest metro station is White Hart Lane, on the London Overground line.

One of the peculiarities of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is undoubtedly its versatility, given that it will host something like 16 extra football events per year. In addition to music concerts, it will become one of the landmarks of American football in Europe, and it will be the place where to host at least two NFL matches a season thanks to agreements with the major American league. And also the English rugby club of Saracens will play there. Playing on two different surfaces will be possible thanks to the retractable playing field, which will allow the sliding of two different types of turf. Simply 'a different stadium' as President Daniel Levy said, which focused so much on this project that it also overshadowed the players market and that, as stated by architect Christopher Lee at the Telegraph, it was revealed 'the most demanding client I have ever worked with, in a positive sense of course'.