Much has been written and indeed said about us spending a season at the national stadium. Many fans are concerned by our form there and also have gone as far saying we wont only drop from the top four but could struggle for top Europa places. A somewhat negative perspective me thinks however we are Spurs fans, we have all been burned before!
The decision to play a season at Wembley has also been discussed at length and I think its important therefore to remind people the events, briefly as possible, that has led to us spending a season there.
Once it became clear the club would have no choice but to play a season away from the Lane while construction took place inquiries began into what they could and could not do. Initially the club asked the Premier League if they could play home games at multiple venues, almost like going out on tour for a season so fans all around the country could have a Spurs “home” game near them. This was rejected due to Premier League rules on having ONE home venue per season.
The club then asked if that rule could bend slightly to allow for ‘some choice fixtures’ to be played at Wembley in London but one other venue used for all others – games against Chelsea, Arsenal etc. This again was rejected for the same reason.
It was at this point the club had discussions with the company who own MK Dons and Stadium MK in Milton Keynes and an agreement was reached however as plans were leaked there was a large fan backlash and the club decided they would write to all of their members to gauge opinion. The results were clear. Fans did NOT want to leave London and as such the club abandoned the MK deal and began looking for a home in London.
Not surprisingly there were obvious issues with asking local rivals for ground shares, let alone Policing and stewarding questions but also many clubs in the champions and league one were quoting massive prices for the season as they knew Spurs HAD to find a new home and it HAD to be in London.
Finally…. a solutions was found…. Wembley.
The national stadium ended up being the perfect choice and in the 2016/17 season the club were even able to agree to play Champions League games there to further assist the club in adjusting to the new temporary home.
Sadly, performances and results at the national stadium have continued to be poor with arguably our best performance there being the 4-2 FA Cup Semi final defeat to Chelsea.
So why is it, given our most recent run of results there am I actually feeling good about the move? Well to explain that I want to use a quote from Alex Ferguson about signing players for Manchester United. “….. when you sign a player for us (Manchester United) they need to not only be a top player but they need to understand the pressure of playing every game against opposition who raise their game. We are some clubs cup final and we are the team every club wants to beat. That is pressure….”
For us, as Spurs, we need to understand that next season every team that comes to Wembley will treat it like a cup final. Our young squad has to learn and develop a mentality where we play every game like that and that is why I am delighted by our move to the national stadium.
I want titles and I want trophies but I accept we cannot just splash the cash and buy these things like other clubs, we have to develop and this is going to be great for our teams development and if we can master that mentality, that attitude of every game being big and every game a final then I am confident we can have a great season in 2017/18 and then head into our new stadium the following year in great shape!
-SJ
