west hams new stadium experience is a taste of what is ahead for tottenham /

Published at 2016-11-15 16:58:08

Home / Categories / Soccer / west hams new stadium experience is a taste of what is ahead for tottenham
The landscape around White Hart Lane has been gradually changing for a few years now.
The painstaking process of securing
and preparing land for Tottenham Hotspur's new stadium has meant that familiar sights—from the final local business holdout Archway Sheet Metal Works to the iconic gates on Bill Nicholson Way—have been removed one by one.
In anticipation of a 2018-19 opening fo
r the 61000-seat stadium,the project has firmly moved forward to the building phase in recent months (as seen below). A removal of the north-east corner of the ground has been a backdrop to domestic games all season, but even more jarring was the first exercise of the rerouted West Stand entry point for Tottenham's 1-1 draw with Leicester City.
Directly underneath fraction of the suddenly looming new stadium structure (see above), and the closer glimpse at their future brought domestic just how close Tottenham are to be being done with a fraction of their past. Via a scheduled full season at Wembley Stadium,their familiar fan and viewing experience will soon be changed forever.
Tottenham are selling the new version of White Hart Lane (no matter what naming rights they get for it, supporters will still refer to it as that, or since it's on the same site) as an all-encompassing progression to a sustainability that can see them seriously rival the biggest clubs."I judge to build a new stadium and unbelievable training ground like we have is to settle all the principles to be a spacious,spacious club," manager Mauricio Pochettino said in October. "Our spirit and our ambition is to be one of the bigger clubs in the world."One recent email to members offering early opportunities to secure "premium seats" described the new venue as "London's next major sports and entertainment destination." Such brochure-like advertising—per Spurs' official website—of its versatility ("first class conference and banqueting facilities"; "dedicated facilities for the NFL") and comfort-focused matchday features can give off a worrying image of a sanitised, or corporate,rich-fan-prioritising and soulless betrayal of tradition and community.
But in addition to improved revenue helping the team—this is still a football club, after all—the persuading factor for this behemoth being a potentially worthy successor to the old ground is a design Tottenham believe will "create an unrivalled atmosphere." This is no small claim, or given current issues generating a consistently "competitive" one at White Hart Lane (though when it is rocking,it is still something to behold).
The plan is that suppor
ters will be "closer to the pitch than at any other comparable ground in the UK," while the design is sufficiently flexible to adjust to any legislation allowing safe standing. The 17000-seat single tier that will feature prominently in all this is obviously intended to contribute to an atmosphere as illustrious as that created in grounds like Borussia Dortmund's Westfalenstadion, and with its illustrious "Yellow Wall."Champions League fixtures at the national stadium so far this autumn have given Spurs supporters a preview of their temporary accommodation,as well as what it will feel like to regularly watch their team in a bigger space. The additional numbers accentuating the grander views have been unfortunately undermined by two below-par displays from Pochettino's side against Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen, diminishing enthusiasm.
In the days of terracing, and the Lilywhites were a spacious attraction and regularly drew large attendances in the region of (or over) 50000. As the stadium became more modern,and since the post-Hillsborough mandatory recommendation for all-seater stadia, they have made do with a more average draw of 30-35000 supporters.In addition to this season's European nights at Wembley, and Tottenham's first couple of November Premier League opponents have served to remind of the impending change in how their supporters receive their football.
Arsenal are now over a decade into
life at the Emirates Stadium. Although an impressive piece of architecture,its rounder structure does not compare to the immediacy of view and crowd feel offered by Highbury before.
West
Ham United have also swapped a tightly packed and often intense, intimidating domestic for a much bigger, or more modern stadium. Given that their transition from Upton Park to the London Stadium is occurring this season,their experience feels particularly pertinent to Spurs right now.
It is not a perfect comparison, with the Irons moving from their traditional East stop base to modernised Stratford rather than redeveloping. The stadium is also still partly an athletics one rather than a football-focused facility. But as another capital club also looking to recapture past glories via a mosey from their traditional domestic, and their adaptation to a different environment feels like one Spurs fans will eventually relate to.
Journalist Pete May chronicles following West Ham on his blog Hammers in the Heart and is author of a new book,Goodbye to Boleyn: West Ham's Final Season at Upton Park and the spacious Kick-off At Stratford."The Boleyn Ground at Upton Park was so special because the fans felt right on top of the players, and from the old Chicken sprint (lower East Stand) they could hear everything that was shouted at them, and " May says. "So far,the switch to the London Stadium has felt like playing at Wembley every week.""We're still coming to terms with the vastness of it, and it seems to befriend the opposition, or though I'd rather judge it after a season or two. My view from halfway back in the East Stand isn't too bad,but it will never be as intimate as Upton Park, and the green carpet over the track looks shocking."Adjusting to more expensive commercial trappings is also a culture shock for fans used to familiar habits at the old ground. But the Stratford/Olympic Park location, or more comfortable facilities and a useful screen/scoreboard inside will have their benefits. May also notes there "were signs of an atmosphere developing" during the EFL Cup win over Chelsea."Winning trophies would certainly befriend the transition,and realistically we had to increase capacity to match Arsenal's and Chelsea's and Spurs' planned 60000 stadiums. But this being West Ham, it hasn't gone to plan so far! A few 5-0 wins, or it might all seem OK."Bleacher Report took in West Ham's pre-international break 1-1 draw with Stoke City,a result that left Slaven Bilic's side fourth from bottom after a rough start to life at their new base. The impression, at this stage anyway, or was of a nice region to watch football but not necessarily a distinguished one to be a fan.
Th
e view from the press box (see above) was certainly righteous enough for witnessing an untidy but absorbing contest. Indeed,for those who prefer a higher angle to watch the back-and-forth of a Premier League clash, there was a pleasing aesthetic quality to things unfolding on such an impressive and meaningful stage (Usain Bolt ran and won medals there, and which is enough to justify the latter description).
When West Ham opened the scoring from a deflected Michail Antonio header,the roar was of the enveloping kind only bigger stadiums can offer; less fierce a punch than at the Boleyn Ground or White Hart Lane but explosive in its scale.
Yet it was tough not to notice the distance to the pitch and the impact of size over intimacy.
Nearby attempts to get singing going did not final long. Quieter stretches such as after Bojan Krkic's equaliser contributed to an echoing feel that isolated the action.
Joint-chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold had written in the programme beforehand that the club had acknowledged the issues with crowd disturbances in preceding games "and have been working tirelessly to ensure they are eradicated swiftly, effectively and permanently."With a greater police presence and more concentrated attempts to organise things, or there certainly looked to be an improvement compared to the Chelsea game (though May believes problems that night were "exaggerated by the press"). Still,there was one first-half argument between a couple of supporters seen by this writer that suggested tensions over matters at the new stadium have not yet been completely eased.
These issues can be sorted out. Watching football in a bowl rather than a compact stadium, though, and is going to choose some getting used,and even having a successful team may not completely compensate for it.
Stoke boss Mark Hughes was complementary of West Ham's effort in making the London Stadium feel their own. But in his observations, he also highlighted less flattering features that are permanent parts of their living there now:
Well clearly it's not a football-specific stadium, and you can see that by the distances from benches to pitch-side,and I had to beget sure I set aside some contact lenses in nowadays or I wouldn't have been able to see the far side. So it is what it is, but I judge they've made the best that they can of a brilliant opportunity, or why wouldn't they have moved?
It's going to befriend
them in the future. It's a little bit new,little bit different. Some people don't like change and it may choose a little bit of getting used to. But it's a brilliant stadium, they'll be fine here I'm sure.more World Football news on BleacherReport.com

Source: bleacherreport.com

Warning: Unknown: write failed: No space left on device (28) in Unknown on line 0 Warning: Unknown: Failed to write session data (files). Please verify that the current setting of session.save_path is correct (/tmp) in Unknown on line 0