NFR - Spuds playing away from home?

[WhiteJC]

could this sort of thing happen to us?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/kurtbarling/2011/01/playing_away_from_home.html

Playing away from home?


The controversy continues over which football club will move to the Olympic Stadium
after the 2012 Games

Tottenham Hotspur is on a collision course with its local political representatives.
The football club management has spent much of the past decade trying to pull itself into the elite of global sports clubs.

As well as scoring more goals on the pitch they hoped to convince Haringey, the local authority, to give planning permission for a new 56,000 seat stadium in one of the poorest wards in the country, Northumberland Park.

Into the bargain would come a massive hotel, new homes and business premises and a pump-priming exercise for the depressed locality.

Much of the moving and shaking was about getting planning permission that would enable Spurs to stay in the Tottenham area.

After a lot of hard bargaining, agreement was reached and the redevelopment of White Hart Lane was given planning permission last year by Haringey and the Mayor of London.

It was all reminiscent of the heated discussions between Islington Council and Arsenal when the decision was made to move from Highbury to the Emirates.

All settled then? Not quite. Allegedly encouraged by Boris Johnson, Spurs were invited to throw their hat in the ring to take over the Olympic Stadium.

The ghosts of all those Hotspur greats must have become restless at the talk of Tottenham Hotspur FC, the pride of north London to its fans, moving east?

The local MP David Lammy is seething. He made it clear in Parliament that he believes this proposal is bad for North London. He says that the regeneration of one of the poorest districts in the capital was to be stimulated by the much fought for Northumberland Park Development.

"When I stood in Trafalgar Square on 6 July 2005, never did I imagine that our successful Olympic bid would mean that residents of Tottenham, and those of Enfield, Waltham Forest and the whole of the Upper Lea Valley would have the heart and soul ripped out of their communities. What kind of an Olympic legacy would that be?"

He wants the Government to intervene to ensure the final decision about who is selected as a preferred bidder in March, considers the overall impact of the decision on London.

If you look at the internet chatter amongst die hard Spurs fans you very quickly get the sense that those willing to articulate a view think it's a bad idea. Stratford Hotspur does not have the same ring to it.

Lammy thinks Spurs are fattening up the sacred cow for a more lucrative share price rise with an Olympic Stadium move. In other words they're chasing the money and that's now not in Tottenham.

Sir Keith Mills, a non-executive director at Tottenham, is reported as saying:

"We'll be moving to a part of London that is 100 per cent more accessible; we'll generate more revenue; it's closer to Canary Wharf and to the City; and it'll attract more sponsorship."

There is a strong sense of a clash of cultures. Tottenham Hotspur PLC says they have commercial decisions to make and they want, indeed need, to take fans with them.

Lammy and the local authority who've invested a lot of time in securing the Spurs stay in Tottenham with promises over Northumberland Park feel after a 111 year association, their community is being betrayed.

The first decision on the preferred bidder will be made at the end of January by the Olympic Legacy Company. They will make their recommendations to the Mayor of London, and two Government ministers to make a final decision by the spring.

Finally an Olympic legacy debate seems to have sparked into life.

[stockdale12]

Hmmm. Can't seen it happening unless there's a change in ownership - someone who wants to move us on to the next level. But then we won't get that unless we have a bigger ground... etc, etc... Maybe if there's a multi-billionaire Fulham fan out there... Who does that bloke from Facebook support?  :027:

[Logicalman]

Hmmm. Can't seen it happening unless there's a change in ownership - someone who wants to move us on to the next level. But then we won't get that unless we have a bigger ground... etc, etc... Maybe if there's a multi-billionaire Fulham fan out there... Who does that bloke from Facebook support?  :027:

an ever-burgeoning ego?

[The Equalizer]

A couple of points here:

1. "Northumberland Park is one of the poorest wards in the country". So why the hell do they need a hotel complex? I'd never go there willingly.

2. It looks like Spurs are lumbered as their plans for the Olympic stadium include demolishing it almost entirely and building their own ground. The committee in charge of redevelopment won't be too chuffed about that.