Tottenham Hotspur’s North London derby against rivals Arsenal was the last at White Hart Lane with the English Premier League football club confirming that it will relocate to Wembley Stadium for the 2017-18 season.
The team is due to move in to its new £800m ($1.03bn/€938m) stadium – adjacent to White Hart Lane – in time for the 2018-19 season. As construction of the facility requires the demolition of its current home, Tottenham will need to relocate while work takes place.
Tottenham have played at White Hart Lane since 1899.
Spurs had agreed a deal to relocate to Wembley for the 2017-18 campaign, but would not officially confirm the move until it had received assurances that its new stadium would be ready in time for the following season.
However, after being given an extended deadline to come to a decision, the club announced on Friday that this season will be its last at White Hart Lane, with a home tie against Manchester United on May 14 to be its final game at the venue.
Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy said: “This marks a momentous day in our club’s history as it is the day we formally agreed the demolition of our beloved White Hart Lane.
“The Lane means a huge amount to each and every one of us and we needed to gain greater certainty on the delivery of the new stadium before we made the final decision to commence with the decommissioning of our iconic, historic home for some 118 years.
“Wembley will be our home for a season and then we shall return to what will be one of the best stadiums of its kind and the most unique in the world playing host to NFL games, too – a stadium that will be key to our future growth and success.”
Spurs marked the announcement in style by beating Arsenal 2-0. The result ensured that Spurs will finish ahead of their local rivals in the league table for the first time in 22 years.
Tottenham recently published new photos of the progress being made on the new 61,000-seat stadium.
Image: Martin Heskteh (Flickr)
