Spurs News: Stadium Construction Delayed
Spurs say there's little chance of new ground being ready by 2017-18.
Further to the Secretary of State confirming the Compulsory Purchase Order in respect of the last remaining land to be acquired for the stadium site, the Club can confirm that the landowners, Archway Sheet Metal Works Ltd and the Josif Family have exercised their right to seek to challenge the Secretary of State's decision in the High Court. The challenge proceedings will now commence and we await notification of the earliest possible date for the High Court Hearing. We have already successfully and amicably relocated more than 70 businesses in the area to the satisfaction of all parties concerned and a number of these organisations continue to reside in the borough. Whilst we were able to accommodate all these other businesses' requests, in the instance of Archway, we have been unable to reach agreement over the period of the last seven years. That said, we remain committed to finding the earliest possible resolution and shall continue to engage with Archway regarding a possible agreement reached by private treaty. Given the lengthy period of time taken to reach the CPO decision in the first place, we should like to advise supporters that it is highly unlikely we shall be able to open the new Stadium at the start of the 2017/2018 season. The Club has revised its construction programme in order to take the shortest possible time to construct. This now therefore involves the Club moving away from the Lane during construction for a period of one season, to start at the beginning of a season in order to comply with Premier League rules. We are currently undertaking due diligence on alternative stadium options. Consideration needs to be given to several factors, including planning and policing and, importantly, our fans and the impact it may have on the Team itself. Clearly all possible options have pros and cons and we are aware that we shall not be able to find one which will please all parties. We shall however seek to find the optimum solution for the Club and our supporters and we shall be sharing our deliberations with our supporters at an appropriate time. We shall continue to provide updates as matters progress.Spurs will now have to search for a new "home" during the transition period between leaving White Hart Lane and playing at the new ground, with ideas ranging from Championship side Ipswich Town's Portman Road to Spurs' own deadly North London rivals Arsenal's Emirates Stadium (can you imagine?). It's an inconvenient situation for Spurs to say the least and one that will undoubtedly have gone down very badly with club chairman Daniel Levy - as it has with the club's fans - and it's one that everyone concerned will be hoping will be rectified as soon as possible. What do you make of this situation? How will this effect Spurs during the period in which they could be using another club's ground for home games? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. And please feel free to follow me on Twitter!