White Hart Lane is a stadium that is the home arena of London Tottenham Football Club . It was built in the late nineteenth century and is located in the northern part of the British capital. Currently, the arena seats a little more than 36 thousand spectators. It should be noted that this is one of the oldest existing football fields in the world.
Appearance story
Like many other famous football stadiums in the world, White Hart Lane was founded in the late nineteenth century. And it all started quite unpretentiously. Then the owner of one of the London breweries, being a big fan of football, decided to earn more money with his favorite game. To do this, he built on his own plot of land a small stadium for football. It happened in 1899. After the construction work was completed, the tycoon convinced the representatives of Tottenham to move here from Northumberland Park.
First matches
The debut match in the new field, the size of which was 100 x 67 meters, the London football club held September 4, 1899. Then the team of Notts County came to visit Tottenham for a friendly match. The game, which ended with a score of 4-1 in favor of the hosts, was visited by about five thousand fans. Despite the friendly status of the match, the owner of the White Hart Lane stadium earned £ 115 on ticket sales, which was a pretty impressive amount. The first official game, held here as part of the Southern League, the “spurs” also won with a score of 1-0. Their opponent then became the Queens Park Rangers team. This time around 11 thousand spectators came to watch the match.
Redemption of the stadium
In the future, the popularity of Tottenham rapidly grew, and therefore in a short time the stadium could no longer accommodate all the fans who wanted to see the game of their favorite team. Within five years, the arena was expanded to 12 thousand standing and 500 seats. Thus, its total capacity increased to 32 thousand spectators. Due to the growing number of fans and the rapid development, in 1905 the football club managed to raise the necessary amount of funds and redeem all rights to the land where the field was located from its owner. Together with the team entering the first English division, this gave a new impetus to the further development of the White Hart Lane.
Reconstruction
After the arena became the property of the club, a decision was made on the need to expand the structure. Then the work began on the construction of the stands. To translate their plans into reality, the management of Tottenham invited the famous architect Archibald Leich. It was according to his design that the stadium became rectangular. Moreover, the East and Central rostrum appeared here. Thus, as of 1909, the arena could accommodate 50 thousand fans. The team got trophies, so it became increasingly popular in London. In this regard, the club continued to invest in the White Hart Lane. Its capacity after reconstruction in 1934 reached the mark of 80 thousand people. Moreover, more than half of them were located under the roof.
Over time, the requirements of safety rules, standing in such arenas were prohibited. In this regard, the owners of Tottenham, in order to be able to participate in the competitions of the highest level, were forced to significantly reduce the capacity. As a result, only 36,240 people can currently accommodate in the four stands of the White Hart Lane.
Over the years of its existence, the arena has experienced more than one modernization. In particular, in the middle of the last century, lighting masts appeared here, which were replaced by more reliable structures. In 1952, a high-quality lawn was laid on the field, which football players spoke very positively of. A few years later, after the construction of the south stand was completed, a huge screen from Sony was installed above it. Three years later, another large display appeared in the arena.
General characteristics today
Currently, White Hart Lane is considered one of the most comfortable stadiums in Britain. There are no treadmills on it, so the audience is in close proximity to the players during the matches. The size of the field, as of today, is 110 x 73 meters, and there is no lawn heating.
Now the reconstruction of the arena has begun, which at the first stage is being conducted without closing it. That is why the Tottenham Hotspur now holds home matches in international competitions at Wembley. The team plans to move here next season. The opening of a new “spurs” arena is scheduled for 2018. According to the project, the capacity of the stadium will be 61461 spectators, and its cost is about 400 million pounds.