It took a while, but Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium is finally ready for business.
Before it can host it’s first Premier League game – against Crystal Palace on 3 April – two test events are scheduled to take place. First up on 24 March is the U18 game between Spurs and Southampton. Then it’s a legend’s game where the great and the good of Inter will be in London on 30 March.
2
Workmen repair the original statue in 1934
And when supporters return home, a familiar sight will greet them in the form of the iconic golden cockerel that stood above the old White Hart Lane.
It first appeared in front of fans in 1909 and now sits in the lobby of the the club’s Lilywhite House offices in Tottenham. Spurs have commissioned a scaled up replica to be made and this new version stands at roughly 4.5m tall – nearly double the height of the original – and will sit above the redeveloped ground’s South Stand.
LATEST FOOTBALL NEWS
And when the club say it is a replica they mean it has all the bumps and scratches from the original, which club legend Paul Gascoigne has a lot to answer for.
Recalling the time the cockerel was removed from the old East Stand for maintenance in 1988, Tottenham historian, John Fennelly, told the club’s official website: “The Cockerel was falling apart. It was dented and in pretty poor condition.
2
Gascoigne is a Spurs legend, having played for the club between 1988 and 1992 and winning the FA Cup in 1991
“The story was the dents had been caused in the Blitz. But the truth was the damage was done by Gazza — with an air rifle!
“He tried to deny it but he’d been spotted.â€
Gascoigne joined Tottenham from Newcastle in 1988 and cemented his place as one of the game’s finest midfielders, winning the FA Cup in 1991 and helping England reach the World Cup semi-final a year earlier.
LIVE on talkSPORT
There are seven live commentaries across the talkSPORT network this week. Find out what they are and where to hear them, below...
- Kazakhstan vs Scotland (Thursday) – talkSPORT 2
- England vs Czech Republic (Friday) – talkSPORT
- Walsall vs Barnsley (Saturday) – talkSPORT 2
- Shrewsbury vs Portsmouth (Saturday) – talkSPORT 2
- Gibraltar vs Republic of Ireland (Saturday) – talkSPORT 2
- San Marino vs Scotland (Sunday) – talkSPORT 2
- Netherlands vs Germany (Sunday) – talkSPORT 2
In joining Spurs he also made an enemy of Sir Alex Ferguson, having told the former United manager he would sign for them before changing his mind and moving to London.
A scan through the list of legends set to feature for Tottenham against Inter, throws up Robbie Keane’s name, as well as Darren Anderton and Rafael van der Vaart, but ‘Gazza’ is surprisingly absent. He wants to play, though, and tweeted to say he ‘is up for it.’
The 51-year-old actually missed Tottenham’s farewell to the old White Hart Lane two years ago, as he was ‘focusing on staying well’, rather than travelling to north London for the revelry.
Maurizio Sarri likens Gonzalo Higuain at Chelsea to Luis Suarez's time at Liverpool Mirror.co.uk 12:02 29-Apr-19 Higuain as a false nine? It's another false dawn for Sarri's Chelsea Eurosport UK 09:16 29-Apr-19
Premier League top four race: Table, odds and Tottenham
Wilfried Zaha: Crystal Palace ace ready to leave Eagles in
Liverpool dominate the Champions League squad of the season with six of their players being included, while Tottenham have three. UEFA revealed their squad of the season on Monday following
Liverpool news: Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold
Fulham chairman Shahid Khan has apologised to the club's supporters after the London club were relegated from the Premier League following a 4-1 defeat at Watford on Tuesday. Fulham owner Khan
Fulham owner Khan apologises to fans after relegation to
Manchester United will be rooting for rivals Manchester City to complete the domestic treble in the FA Cup Final against Watford in a bid to avoid Europa League qualifying. if they beat
Man City: Why a diminished treble leaves fans with greater
Chelsea duo Hudson-Odoi and Sterling performed superbly all night for England. And it was the Chelsea players who dazzled most for England. Ross Barkley was superb throughout the game, netting two goals and an assist in the match, while Callum Hudson-Odoi caused endless havoc to the Montenegro defence in a brilliant full debut for the teenager.
Chelsea news: Blues fans plead with Maurizio Sarri to play
Teemu Pukki scored late to salvage a point for Norwich City Credit: PA:Press Association. It was a massive relief for Daniel Farke's men who had been controversially knocked off course by a
Pukki's late strike salvages point for Prem-bound Canaries
Barcelona legend Xavi has announced that he will retire from professional football at the end of this season. The central midfielder currently plies his trade in Qatar with Al Sadd, who he joined
Barcelona Legend Xavi Announces His Retirement At The End Of
All-English European cup finals due to 'ageing squads' of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus and Bayern Munich Listen back to talkSPORT's interview with
Arsene Wenger EXCLUSIVE: All-English European cup finals due
Chelsea vs Arsenal: The Blues academy stars who could be on the bench for Europa League final. Both clubs will be able to name 12 subs, which means Chelsea may have to dip into their rich pool of
Chelsea vs Arsenal: The Blues academy stars who could be on
Welcome to the Evening Standard's LIVE blog dedicated to the latest transfer news, rumours and gossip. Arsenal will resist any offers for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with Chinese clubs interested
Transfer Centre - Football Transfers News & Rumours | Sky Sports
No comments:
Post a Comment