Welcome To The Pleasure Dome........ (White Hart Lane (Tottenham Hotspur FC))

Member Name: funzo

Product:	White Hart Lane (Tottenham Hotspur FC)
Date:	17/11/08 (553 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You get to see the mighty THFC

Disadvantages: Traffic and transport

Tucked away amongst all the reviewable items for me to gush over was this topic for reviewing... The sports location White Hart Lane..... Better known to many in North London and beyond as the Theatre of Dreams or Fortress White Hart Lane (all written with irony I assure you). North London's own Jewish Mecca where 35000 gluttons for punishment go to pray at least 20 odd times a season. I did fear writing a review on White Hart Lane might alienate some of my female readership but seeing as I have endured, I mean enjoyed, literally thousands of reviews on make up and hair products, I'm hoping that this can entertain and inform all readers of any persuasion and maybe, just maybe even persuade those have mistakenly chosen Arsenal as their team to wake up, smell the coffee and make their own spiritually enlightening pilgrimage to N17 and see what all the fuss is really about.

Although there hasn't been a review of White Hart Lane on Dooyoo for some years, this is a subject that has made the news of late with the proposed development of a new 65000 all seater stadium adjacent to and replacing the existing one which has a current capacity of 36310 Before I discuss that little hot potato, in keeping with my review mission to inform as well as entertain here is the history of White Hart Lane.


History


Originally a nursery, the land was rented from Charringtons Brewery in 1899, with the mobile stands taken from the previous playing field of Tottenham Hotspur who were founded in 1882. Although only a capacity of 2500, over 5000 people turned up to watch the spurs lose to Notts County on September 4th 1899. with 11000 turning up for the next home game it was obvious that the fledgling stands were not enough and it took 8 years for the club to raise enough money to buy the freehold of the land and adjacent land in the borough of Edmonton, North London. The Archibald Leitch designed stadium of 1909 had a capacity of 40000, and it was in 1909 that the cockerel perched upon a ball first appeared mounted on top of the west stand. Profits from the 1921 FA Cup win meant further investment in the stadium and capacity was increased to approx 58000. In 1934 Leitch was commissioned again to redesign the East stand and capacity this time was raised to 80000. In 1952 the pitch was renovated and the post war years saw the introduction of partial seating to the stadium, and in 1961 Floodlights were added to the ground, which survived until 1972, when at a cost of 26000 pounds, they were replaced with ones that stayed until 1989. Between 1982 and 1998 there has been a series of renovations and refurbishments that saw the Taylor report bring in the seating stadia rule bringing capacity down to 36310 and also the first ever Jumbotron Giant TV installed in a football ground at a cost of 1.5 million in 1995. On October 30th 2008 it, the new stadium plans was announced, which will see complete rebuilding if approved by the council.


Area and Location

White Hart Lane is situated in the London Borough of Haringey which is in North London. The advent of the railways in the late 1800's changed the area from farm and wood land in the county of Middlesex to being a densely populated overspill of the fast expanding London. The last 70 years have seen an eclectic mix of residents in the area. First came the Irish to work on the railways, then the Jews from Eastern Europe, then Turks Greeks and Cypriots, then from the Carribean and more recent the area has now seen a big influx of more Eastern Europeans and Somalis. In short, its one big melting pot, this is reflected in the support and who actually goes to the games. Around me, and including me, you have a veritable united nations all inextricably linked by our love of Spurs.


Getting There

Getting to and from the ground can be a bloomin' nightmare sometimes. Transport links are not the greatest and was a major reason for looking at relocation. By car you are at the mercy of the North Circular, and anyone who has lived or worked in London will know what I am talking about. If you do not know how bad the North Circular can be, then count your blessings as it can be hell to navigate especially for an evening game. Public transport is plentiful but unreliable and thankfully I have not had to use public transport to get to or from a game too often.

Car
From East or West:
Take A406 North Circular Road to Edmonton and at Fore Street traffic lights follow signs for Tottenham (A1010, High Road) and for White Hart Lane Stadium.
From Waltham Cross or Tottenham Hale:
Use North-South route Meridian Way (A1055) to Tottenham (Northumberland Park area).

Bus: Line 149, 259 & 279

Metro (Underground): Seven Sisters Station on the Victoria line (20 minutes walk or change to bus line 149, 259 or 279) & Tottenham Hale Station on the Victoria Line (20 minutes walk).

Train: White Hart Lane Station (5 minutes walk) & Northumberland Park Station (10 minutes walk).

The lack of a viable transport infrastucture in the area was being mooted as a primary reason for moving away from Tottenham. Worryingly enough the now viable transport infrastructure is being used as a reason to stay. Recently parking restrictions in the area have been introduced for Match Days which makes parking harder and more expensive and has done nothing to ease what can be awful traffic congestion to and from the ground. There is some talk of a Victoria line extension but with todays economic climate this will not happen



White Hart Lane Future.

The ground, not unlike any other Premiership ground, has corporate facilities, club shops, ticket offices, boxes, member's bars and even a trophy room, which has seen more additions than Arsenal over last 3 years (I think I've been very restrained about Arsenal so far). However Arsenal, true to their nomadic soulless history moved (again) to a much larger stadium with a capacity of 65000. With the average ticket price at both clubs being around 30 pound, that means that our rivals are taking nearly a million pounds more each home game on ticket sales alone. In order to remain competitive Spurs announced the building of our own 65000 stadium, by 2012 within its spiritual home, something I am very happy about, as tradition and history are something to be proud of and despite the awful traffic, I feel proud that the club has chosen to stay where it is and keep the fine tradition going. I am disappointed that the club are selling off the naming rights to the new ground, but the sponsored naming generates such a high level of revenue that it cannot be ignored and as long as it isn't sponsored by something ridiculous like The Durex Stadium, then it is only a name and in the same way the West Ham call their ground Upton Park (it is actually the Boleyn Ground), I think whatever name it will be given it will always be The Lane..... The showcase for some of the greatest talent has ever graced the football field, where the atmosphere amongst our notoriously fickle fans CAN be absolutely electric and envied by many a fan. I defy anyone not to leave a home derby against Ar5ena1 without a hoarse throat and upstanding hairs on the back of their necks. So if you haven't experienced London's own coliseum of overpaid gladiators yet, White Hart Lane, The world famous home of the Spurs, I heartily recommend you do.

Contact Details

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club
Bill Nicholson Way
748 High Road
Tottenham
London N17 0AP

Tel: 0844 499 5000

Corporate Hospitality and Tours are available and the club has excellent disabled facilities.

Email customer.care@tottenhamhotspur.com.


Thanks For Reading and Come On You Spurs ! :)

Summary: The world famous home to the spurs