Tottenham Hotspur will finally open its new stadium on Wednesday, April 3 with a Premier League match against Crystal Palace, it has been confirmed.
The club had previously confirmed that either Palace or Brighton & Hove Albion would be the first visitors to the 62,000-seat facility in the first week of April. Following Brighton’s victory over Millwall in the FA Cup quarter-finals yesterday (Sunday), the date and opponent for the stadium’s first fixture has now been confirmed.
The Palace game will then be followed by Tottenham’s UEFA Champions League quarter-final match against Manchester City on Tuesday, April 9.
Spurs will play Brighton at home in the Premier League on either Tuesday, April 23 or Wednesday, April 24.
The announcement brings to an end a long wait for Tottenham supporters. The stadium had initially been scheduled to open last September but problems with its critical safety systems had pushed back the opening date, leading to fears it might not stage a match at all this season.
The first test match at the new stadium will take place this Sunday (March 24) at 3pm when Tottenham’s U18s take on Southampton. The stadium will operate at a capacity of 30,000.
The following Saturday, a Tottenham Hotspur Legends match will be held at 5.30pm, with the stadium to operate at an increased capacity of 45,000.
In other news, it has emerged that the railway station next to the new stadium will be renamed to ‘Tottenham Hotspur’ after the club successfully lobbied London Mayor Sadiq Khan into the change.
The Guardian newspaper reports that Khan had previously insisted Tottenham should pay more than £14.7m (€17.2m/$19.5m) for the station to be renamed, but a memo of understanding has now been agreed with Transport for London whereby this asking price will not need to be reached.
Image: Tottenham Hotspur
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