Curiouser and curiouser cried H, as he heard a twisted tale unfold from his extra shiny Dualit radio. Stratford, THFC, Olympic Stadium, Pikeys? Hold up…
What about the Naming Rights Arena? And what of all those beautifully and dutifully superimposed artists’ impressions of happy and contented Client Reference numbers merrily marching to mass at the New Lane?
This curve ball comes in the form of a venture between AEG and THFC which would see both parties as joint anchor tenants after the Games are over.
My view is that I can see the logic. The venue will only require minor adjustments to make it football friendly. The issue of the running track needs addressing of course. Perhaps disguising with a flowerbed depicting Legends (minus Jimmy, Rambo, Gazza and other delinquents, of course) or perhaps wheelchair bound fans waving complimentary flags… something heartwarming with a positive message.
The commercial factors are massively enhanced too. The publicity and media exposure will be on a par with the Kennedy assassination. Olympic games are historically on the telly and in the paper loads and usually riddled with huge gaps to fill when nothing is actually happening. The chances of commentators and journalists musing about the future uses of the arena they find themselves in for days on end are very high.
The only downside is that the emotional heart of the bulk of supporters lies in an entirely different postcode within the capital. In the cold light of day, one could argue that the proposed new White Hart Lane in N17 would essentially be entirely new also. I haven ‘t bothered wading through all the planning bits and bumf, so perhaps they plan to recycle some of the bricks, transport the pitch, turf by turf, offer the bat a bespoke rafter of its own choosing.
So the Olympic Stadium wouldn’t have the spirituality that the existing venue has. Ceremony would be lost for those who opt to take – on a nice day – the ambling walk down from Seven Sisters tube station.And what would become of Bill Nick Way? Which late night room temperature can vendor would open it’s doors on it? How many nail bar/hair extension salons/dirty Internet cafes can one borough take?
The Olympic Stadium would also, despite any counter arguments face the same atmospheric obstacles that the Woolwich Wanderers came up against at the Emirates. Tottenhamization. You read it here first. Say it out loud. How does it sound? Without being underhand in any respect it sounds like a philosophy that may have come out of Germany in the 1940’s. Which leads me neatly to…
The Pikeys. I hear strains of Cyndi Lauper. This week’s directors of West Ham (Nipple Clamps & Edible Knickers Dept, Newham Ltd) Mssrs Gold & Sullivan have shown their true colours. Talk of unwashed people participating in civil disorder. Burnt out cars being re-burnt out. Pound shops looted.
Rivers of blood, eh? Nice.
BIOYPC!
Possibly a little bit of Levy brinkmanship – making Boris Johnson more aware that Tottenham will get their new ground regardless of his decision; and what Haringey will lose out on should he give the NRP the thumbs down
I mentioned on your last blog that I dont think its such a crazy idea.
I believe that there is some serious transport infrastructure upgrading to be done before we can accomodate an extra 20,000 matchday visitors, and there will plenty of negotiation about who will pay for it.
Our stadium costs have no doubt already increased due to changes to satisfy English Heritage and as we know from Wembley, it is easy for costs to mount up and a project to overrun, however prudently it is managed.
Everyone says the finance is in place and it wont affect our team building but we cant have signed a contract with anyone until beverything is finalised re planning/transport etc. It is entrirely possible that potential backers/sponsors could fall by the wayside or want to renegotiate. There are also risks, such as how much of the financing is based on property prices.
Then there is the impact on the team/transfer budget – just look at the goons, whose spending has been very limited since moving to the emptycrates and many other clubs who have overstretched themselves building a shiny new stadium and suffered on the pitch.
Stratford has many advantages – it will definitely be there, it will surely be less expensive and we would be in a good bargaining position as there would be few serious rival bidders (we’re doing you a favour Gold and Sully – you’d only bankrupt yourselves!), transport is brilliant and much easier for almost everyone who isnt actually from Tottenham itself (we would potentially attract a much wider fan base from Essex and Kent), we would have the prestige of playing in the Olympic stadium, the Stratford area itself is already regerated, we would have less direct local competition (ie spam rather than the goons).
I know all the stuff about our spiritual home (I used to stand on the Shelf), but the new ground at whl will not be our spiritual home anyway. It will be all seated and have a corporate sponsor’s name and be as much a part of an overall property development project as it will be a stadium.
Dont get me wrong, if we can stay at whl I will be happy and I believe that Levy probably wants that too – but at the end of the day he will be pragmatic and if one option is £100 million better than the other, he will probably take it.
It would be interesting to know how many of the regular attendees actually live in Tottenham or very nearby. Isn’t the training ground in Essex?
The commercial aspects are pretty clear as you perhaps suggest, mate. They didn’t open up a Spurs Shop in Chelmsford ‘cos there was a free unit going. It would make us an East End club by default…. eeek.
from the horse’s
http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/articles/stadium-plans-update-061010.html
levy and co would move to stratford in a blink of an eye as people say all the new infrastructure makes it a no brainer for a business man,
the pikeys and the no football here brigrade will make a noise but in the end money talks
its a bit irresponsible of sullivan to go citing riots though,someone needs to have a word with him we have the goons on our doorstep and everything is alright
personally if we can’t afford the big i am,i don’t see why we can’t justredevelop a stand at a time the east and west for starters make them huge,i’d rather stay on the high road at all costs