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Spurs aim for 60,000-seat White Hart Lane by 2012
Tom Collomosse16 Dec 2008
Tottenham hope to be playing in a new 60,000-capacity stadium in four years' time. The club revealed plans for their new ground, to be built on the site of White Hart Lane, at yesterday's Annual General Meeting, with the details of the project received enthusiastically by shareholders.
Although chairman Daniel Levy would not give a timescale for the completion of the project, architects KSS believe the new ground could be ready for use by 2012.
The company's chairman David Keirle told Standard Sport: "Realistically, it is four years at best, and five if we have one or two hiccups.
"I think 2012, or maybe 2013, but there is a lot of work to be done, and a lot of people have to have their say in it, but so far it is going really well.
"The club need this stadium. It is the next step forward for them. If you look what clubs like Arsenal have done with the Emirates, Spurs have been a little bit left behind.
"But now Haringey Council is being very supportive, as is Mayor Boris Johnson, so it is all moving in the right direction."
Spurs intend to submit a planning application to the Council in 2009, and Levy added: "There is a long period - anything between six to 12 months - in terms of when planning is determined by the planning authority. It will be done as quickly as possible.
"We have been working extremely hard behind the scenes. There has been a lot of progress, and over the coming months, the fans will be pleased to see more detail come out, and see how advanced we really are."
The chairman also insisted that the plans the club have off the field will not affect any dealings in the transfer market.
He appeared to offer manager Harry Redknapp the hope that he may be able to bring more players in next month. The manager said yesterday that he felt the current squad was "well short" of what was required to break into the top five of the Premier League and challenge for a cherished Champions League place.
But when asked about Redknapp's comments, Levy's response was: "Managers are never satisfied. If you look at the performance of the team since Harry Redknapp came in as manager, we would be in the top four had the season started when he took over on 25 October.
"We will do whatever we can, but it is just that it is very difficult to buy high quality players during the January transfer window.
"I do not envisage any major transactions in or out of the club next month. When the financial world is falling apart around us, we have to exercise caution, although we will keep an open mind, should the right opportunities arise."
Levy also insisted that he is happy to leave Redknapp to do his own wheeling and dealing in the transfer market after dispensing with sporting director Damien Comolli when Juande Ramos was sacked.
He added: "In hindsight, maybe we have made some mistakes regarding the appointment of certain people, but it is not about the director of football system itself.
"Harry has abilities on a number of fronts, and I very much hope that he will be with us for many years to come."
Meanwhile, Spurs plan to speak to the Football Association in January regarding the obscene chants aimed at the club's former defender Sol Campbell during the Premier League fixture at Portsmouth on 28 September.
Hampshire Police released images of 16 men who are believed to have shouted racist and homophobic abuse at Campbell during the game at Fratton Park, but some Spurs fans dispute that the chanting was racist.
Of the 16 suspects, police believe they have identified 12 and have now questioned and released on bail a total of five.
The club's director of communications Donna Cullen said: "We will sit down to discuss the matter with the FA and Hampshire Police early in January."
Reader views (29)
Rob 'Crooner' sorry 'Gooner', what major competition did Sven take us to the semi finals? we went out to a 10 man Brazil in Japan because he didn't have the bottle to bring Joe Cole into play to try to break them down and Germany 2006 as surely even you will agree was a very poor show with another poor squad selection in taking Walcot when he was not ready, in my opinion we had the ability to do better with the players available, beating Germany 5-1 got him a big contract he didn't deserve.
I still think that teams should be restricted to 5 foreigners for the sake of the national team.
By the way I forgot to ask, is it her indoors or him?
- Terry, London, 17/12/2008 15:37
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HAS ROB GOONER GOT A JOB OR IS HE A FULL TIME COLUMN WATCHER HERE??? WHO CARES WHAT THE GOONERS THINK IT IS A NEW TOTTENHAM STADIUM AND HAS SOD ALL TOO DO WITH ANY CLUB...ESPECIALLY THEM LOT UP THE ROAD.
- Tom, uxbridge, 17/12/2008 15:11
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Rob, Terry and Anthony, loving the banter! Your show do a tv show!
- Colin, London, 17/12/2008 15:02
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Excellent Malc! Tottenham fans are very amusing, they mix up people & try to defend their woeful club! Everyone knows that Daniel Levy tries in vain to immitate the Arsenal blue print. Poaching Comolli, new training facillities, the proposed new stadium, even an attempt with a French manager for 11 matches! In reality they truly are light years behind Arsenal, hence the resentment.
- Rob Gooner, North London, 17/12/2008 15:01
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Erm, Malc ... this is a story about about Spurs, so your quote regarding Spurs fans commenting on the thread is quite contradictory as it is Arsenal fans commenting on Spurs threads. Time to wake up, Malc.
- Rober Gunaunt, je suis Francais, 17/12/2008 14:54
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Coops
Its actually based on the design of that stadium, and is a smaller version, and every Gooner knows that.
But what is funny is how easy it is to wind up Spurs fans. It shows by they have replied to the threads.
Who are the Muppets now. YAWN...
- Malc, London,England, 17/12/2008 13:56
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I think Rob Gooner, Rob Hotspur has another alias.......Sparky Paxton, Essex!!! What a Mug
- Paxton, N17, 17/12/2008 13:20
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Terry - unfortunately, I disagree with you, Sven did well with the national team, always reaching the quarter or semi finals of major competitions, as will Cappello. In respect of foreign managers I think Martin Jol did an excellent job in guiding Tottenham to 5th place two seasons running & could possibly have progressed if he had received Daniel Levy's backing, rather than interference. Assuming English players are competent they will be playing at the top level. Indeed Arsene Wenger is bringing through a generation of English players, which could be seen in last nights reserve match, including Hoyte, Randall, Wilshere, Rodgers, Gibbs, Simpson, etc. I just want to see the best players irrelevant of nationality. Club football is now far superior to the national game & I really dont have a problem with that.
- Rob Gooner, North London, 17/12/2008 13:02
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Well Rob Gooner, North London, check out the first comment on this thread, or did you forget that you had already posted on here as Rob Hotspurs, South London?
And MK Dons, why, because I live in Wimbledon, please - I support tennis.
Yes, you too have a Merry Christmas.
- Anthony, Wimbledon, 17/12/2008 12:09
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Rob 'Mooner' sorry 'Gooner.
Good to see that you are married, I was a bit worried.
I agree with your point that the foreign players have contributed a lot to English football over the years.
My point is that your whinging, sour faced manager goes over the top by playing 10 or 11 overseas players every week, imagine if the other managers in our top league adopted this selection policy? Mr Capello would be watching England's finest deep in the depths of Doncaster and such like places, even a happily married man like yourself must agree that this would have a negative affect on our national team.
Sven's attempt as our national coach in my opinion was very poor, yet Harry Rednapp is doing a far better job at Spurs than his foreign counterpart, a case of swings and roundabouts.
Regards to the good misses
- Terry, London, 17/12/2008 11:37
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Still confused? Anthony from Wimbledon or should that be MK Dons? Have a happy christmas & new year
- Rob Gooner, North London, 17/12/2008 10:29
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Like I said Rob Gooner, who are you fooling? Anybody with a sense of literacy will know it is you posting with different, but similar alias - Rob Gooner, Rob Hotspurs; South London, North London. The only confusion is on your behalf to who you support come derby day.
Good luck to Spurs and Arsenal, both of you are so far from the top it doesn't really matter.
- Anthony, Wimbledon, 17/12/2008 08:49
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Terry - Firstly Im happily married, so you are incorrect in your foolish assumption. Before the influx of foreign managers & players to the English leagues we were treated to the likes of John Pratt, David Price, Steve Walford, etc. Now we have seen great players such as Klinnsman, Bergkamp, Ginola, Henry etc. Managers such as Wenger have brought great new ideas into our game, from which all clubs have benefitted. We tried an English manager, MacLaren, who failed miserably & now have the excellent Cappello. Surprise, surprise we start winning again. Its narrow minded fans such as yourself who fail to appreciate the superb football we are now able to see thanks to these 'rotten' foreigners.
- Rob Gooner, North London, 17/12/2008 08:41
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terry dont make us all laugh please you have french, croation and loads of high priced players, you had to buy because you dont have other sourced players from your junior ranks, its another low place for your lot this year, your light years away from arsenal even harry says so ha ha.
- Paul Connolly, potters bar, 16/12/2008 22:16
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Rob the 'Gunner' are you not worried that your team although successful over the years have done it without home grown players.
Imagine if every manager (apart from whinging and making pathetic excuses every time things go wrong and never seeing any of his teams wrong doings) adopts this selection policy, do you not think our national team would suffer?, for the sake of English football I only hope Arsenal fall from the top 4 like they look like doing and a team with at least a few Englishmen take their place.
For me Wenger is rotten to the core for English football, he must be a hero in Africa for bringing so many of their players along.
Good luck to the new stadium at Tottenham, with the best support in London Spurs need a big ground, I think Antony of Wimbledon did have a point when he suggested that you get yourself a partner now that these cold winter nights are arriving, let us know how you get on.
- Terry, London, 16/12/2008 19:04
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Anthony, I was cynical about Rob Gooner, but he tends to be correct. If you recall he forcast the problems with Ramos, Comolli & Levy and the inbalance in the squad after the summer transfer dealings. His latest comments seem to be realistic as well. I have also noticed that he makes negative as well as positive comments about Arsenal. We have to be truly naive to think we are going to build the proposed stadium, alas its pure fantasy.
- Sparky Paxton, Essex, 16/12/2008 17:21
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Anthony Wimbledon. I am perfectly entitled to my opinions which tend to be spot on, as are Tottenham fans entitled to theirs. Its amusing how easily they bite, then again a life time in the shadows of their great neighbours must be difficult. Incidentally, there are a lot of other Rob's other than me in this world, so dont get too confused.
- Rob Gooner, North London, 16/12/2008 17:13
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Seriously Rob Gooner, Rob Hotspurs, Robbie Blackburn, read this:
GET A LIFE!
I like to read the sports stories here and I am impartial to any team, but you, you seem to want to run a one man army and bring down Spurs. You will post continually when Aresenal have a win and brag how great you are and then keep quite when you are losing. Every Spurs story, there you are talking down the club and it's pursuit of glory posting as Rob Hotspur - who are you fooling?
You need to give it a rest, I suggest you get yourself a girlfriend or something mate, your obsession is really warping your sense of reality.
On another note: Good luck Spurs with your new stadium and bright future.
Anthony - Wimbledom. Football enthusiast, not a boring one-eyed critic.
- Anthony, Wimbledon, 16/12/2008 16:52
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Amusing comments from Tottenham fans who as usual are living in dreamland. Arsenal have the stadium, the training facillities, the manager & a great young team who are 5th from top in the premiership & in the last 16 of the Champions league.It beats 5th from bottom, the second rate Carling & UEFA cups! Your chairman who has recently wasted millions on sacking managers, their backroom staff & replacing perfectly decent players with inferior ones, should be more realistic. There is absolutely no way the proposed stadium can be financed in the current crisis, which incidentally ENIC & their owner Joe Lewis have suffered in substantially. Set aside the planning & transport problems. This is no more than a blatantly obvious attempt by Daniel Levy to make the club appear more attractive to any prospective purchasers.
- Rob Gooner, North London, 16/12/2008 15:44
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Arian and Jason, the fact that your even on here discussing us is proof you are worried. In case you need reminding...you couldnt even beat us lowly relagation candidates and we gave you a 4-2 lead haha
This thread and my post was about the new stadium....I didnt mention league tables or top 4 placings but replied to the original pointless post of Arian. You are both obviously too thick to stay on topic but have a try and see if you can......its about the new stadium...go on have a try!
- Topalex, Essex, 16/12/2008 15:34
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First thing i noticed was a gooner getting involved in comments, there scared of us on the field and frightened to death of what we could achieve of it. We have a richer owners Mr Gooner ENIC if you dont know are owned be Joe Lewis (Billionaire) we have more loyal fans and as they say you dont win nothing with kids and while you have the made ( i did not see it) frenchmand there you will continue to win nothing. You to will be wishing you could win the league cup !
- Paul Alexander, CHELMSFORD, 16/12/2008 14:17
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I'm a little mystified about how in the middle of a credit crunch (and the start of a recession) that has already more or less scuppered liverpools new stadium plans spurs are able to afford this?
And Topalex - we're currently 5th in the league and in the next round of the champions league, yet you're better than us because you've been fighting a relegation battle for half a season despite outspending us 4 to 1 - how does this work exactly?
- Jason, london, 16/12/2008 13:45
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Hmmm, so the Emirates isn't a copy of the Estadio De Luz then? Muppet!
Anyway, the area is crying out for this. Haringey would be nuts to trun down the application! As for finance, we're a well run plc and have the structure in place to raise finance. In fact investment propositions like this can be even more attractive when interest rates are low, and may seem attractive to European investors due to the current outlook on the Euro exchange rate.
Transportation? Ok it's not great, but then neither is Wembley. Just accept that you get their 20 mins earlier than normal and it'll take you a bit longer to get home... no big deal. It'll be worth it. The atmosphere in this place will truly rock!
- Coops, London, 16/12/2008 13:14
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Looks like a cop0y of the Emirates to me.
- Malc, London,England, 16/12/2008 12:54
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Dear Topalex, Arsenal fans are green with envy with the league position and the great accomplichments of Spurs; I STAND CORERCTED!
- Arian, Guildford, 16/12/2008 12:50
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I can see where 'Rob Hotspurs' (Is that his real name?!)
is coming from, but hopefully recessions can only last so long, the planning and preparation going in to a project of this size takes years, by which time i'll be able to afford a season ticket and we will still be pulling in the same positive direction with no more major hicups with both manager and squad, another false dawn?? Nah!, come on you Spurs
- Dave Bryant, Leicester, England, 16/12/2008 12:45
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If you read the architects statement you'll see its actually far better than Ar5ena1s stadium...so no copying there.
Please name me one Ar5ena1 target that Spurs didnt buy fairly?
And as for mediocre.....well Ar5ena1 have taken that word to new levels this season.
All in all it sounds a bit like the green eyed monster has taken hold of our neighbours already!
- Topalex, Essex, 16/12/2008 12:20
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COPYING ALL ARSENAL DO; INCLUDING EVEN STADIUM DESIGN (or hiring their talent scout, or buying their targets, etc.) will NOT make an Arsenal out of Spurs! They just have too much of a mediocre team for anyone to take seriously!
- Arian, Guildford, 16/12/2008 10:59
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It would be great to believe that a quality stadium like this could be constructed. However, there are two main hurdles to breach. Firstly, in this financial market how are we going to finance it? Arsenal struggled despite the excellent transfer policy of Arsene Wenger, plus the revenue generated by the redevelopment of Highbury, etc. Secondly, the transport facillities struggle at present to cope with 36,000 supporters, how will they cope with 60,000?
- Rob Hotspurs, South London, 16/12/2008 10:42
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