Spurs for Wembley

Daniel Levy and the Tottenham board are considering all their options ahead of the building of the new stadium. Spurs for Wembley in 2016/17 makes sense.

Spurs for Wembley


It has been reported that an offer to buy West Ham United's old ground to use as a temporary home was made and rejected. Not quite sure playing at Upton Park would have gone down to well with the Spurs faithful, better options exist.

Other options Spurs are weighing up the pros and cons for are Wembley and Milton Keynes Dons as well as staying at White Hart Lane as long as possible while building work progresses around.

Staying at White Hart Lane with reduced capacity and moving for a small period will appeal to some but do we really want to be playing with a reduced capacity, especially if some of those games were against the top teams? The potential to maximise revenue and take our game to a wider audience should not be missed.

It seems logistically, financially and for speed of building sensible to spend a season away from The Lane. The new stadium build would then have no disturbances and work can carry straight through instead of having to stop and start all the time. A set period for the build with very hefty penalty clauses for failure to meet target dates would mean there should be be no excuses for not being able to come home for the 2017/18 season.

Other options the club are looking at are said to include the Olympic stadium and a roaming role, using several grounds as differing home bases depending upon the size of the opponent, which is a bit of a logistical nightmare.

The recent shareholders statement from the club remind us that we have 47,000 on a ticket waiting list. You add that to the existing 36,000 and we have a potential crowd of 83,000. The big games against Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool would sell out the national stadium.

Wembley stadium holds 90,000 which at £50 per ticket equates to £4.5 million. You can start to see the level of income potential when you consider higher prices and all the potential corporate income, plus the money 90,000 people would spend.

The booking office quoted prices for hiring Wembley for a football match 5 years ago at between £250,000 and £750,000 + around 10% from all receipts. If Wembley were hired for a series of events then naturally there would be scope to negotiate price.

It makes sense to maximise revenue and play games there, if only the big games. In addition there is another added bonus, players, especially oversees players, love to play at Wembley. It's the home of football and is an undoubted draw for them.

The pitch itself is also large which would suit a passing team, exactly what we would be under Louis Van Gaal. White Hart Lane is 110 x 73 yards (100 x 67 m) , Wembley is 115 x 75 yards (105 x 69 m).

The Dutch coach plays a possession based 4-3-3 system continually passing to wear the opposition out and create mistakes as they get tired. The hard working sides, while being up for the game, would get worn out. We would have space to play the ball in behind for a Lennon run or Townsend to bound down a wing. We could stretch a defence, there would be more holes for us to exploit on a wider pitch.

From a playing point of view Wembley would probably suit us but if we were to have a season at Wembley for instance, would we attract better quality players for that season at least? Would it be a draw that no other team could offer? We couldn't offer the wages but we could offer the prestige.


Spurs for Wembley


The club will have to weigh up how many tickets they would sell for ties like Hull City or Stoke City. Would it be more feasible to use a smaller stadium for these games? The Milton Keynes venue will have an increased capacity of 32,000 in time for the 2016/17 season. Is that enough?

If we are to build a 56,000 or 60,000 seat stadium, we would have sold season tickets for these games anyway so why don't we just hire Wembley?

Perhaps the Olympic Stadium is an option again. We had the Stratford debate before and it may raise issues again but instead of a turn up on the day and pay, could Tottenham not issue a one season season ticket to people on the waiting list?

Potentially there are 83,000 fans wanting tickets so why not have a season letting as many of them as possible see the games, they may not get the chance again so I'm sure fans would jump at the chance. The club then get a healthy chunk of revenue guaranteed plus all the match day income, £2 million a game at the atmosphere free Emirates.

I'd prefer to see us playing at Wembley rather than Stratford and any problems that may incur. can't see West Ham fans being too delighted with tens of thousands of Spurs fans constantly turning up. I could envisage trouble and that would be the last thing we need.

Would Wenbley be a draw for our foreign supporters, would they arrange trips, holidays or weekends to come and watch Tottenham play at Wembley? I'm sure they would, you can never guarantee a club getting to Wembley for a Cup Final so it would be a chance to experience us playing there guaranteed.

What do you think, should Spurs be the touring minstrels, or a set home for the season, a big home, at Wembley? Are you a foreign fan, would you make a special trip over for a 'home' game at Wembley?

It would be even better if we qualified for the Champions League for that season as well, just think of the TV revenue we could generate. League games and European games could be sold around the world easily, our share of TV revenue money would be enhanced.

Louis Van Gaal would have a season to turn us into a Champions League team. European nights at Wembley would be huge worldwide, sponsors would lap it up.

West Ham are paying just £2 million for the Olympic Stadium, which is a travesty so we could hardly be charged more. Wembley however has that appeal. Just think of sponsorship though, wouldn't companies flock to become sponsors for that season so they can entertain their clients at Wembley.

The stadium seems to me to have so much potential for us that we should choose that option with all it's associated off field as well as on field benefits.

We already have the songs, no doubt Chas and Dave would write some more!