TottenhamGround: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Visits: 1 Date: 10th August 2019 Match: Tottenham - Aston Villa 3-1 (Premier League) Attendance: 60 407 In August 1993 I attended my first ever football match in England. In those days you could only buy tickets at the ground and to my surprise I managed to get tickets for Tottenham v Arsenal at White Hart Lane. That game was played on a Monday evening and I was actually at the ground on Monday afternoon to get tickets for the coming Saturday (when Spurs played Manchester C.) I was back at White Hart Lane three times but when the new ground was (finally) opened in April 2019 I had a new ground to visit in the Premier League. My day started in Glasgow and at 08.40 my train departed Glasgow Central. There had been a lot of heavy rain in the western part of England and Scotland and as we approached Penrith the train was halted as the track was flooded. After a while we were allowed to pass and I later heard train services between Preston and Scotland were suspended for several hours due to the flooding. My train arrived 50 minutes late at London Euston but thankfully I was in London and not in a train waiting for the floodings to be cleared. Staying the night in Milton Keynes I left my bags at the luggage storage at Euston station before having a late lunch at a nearby restaurant. In case you wonder why I stayed in Milton Keynes it might have something to do with the absurd hotel prices, especially considering the standard, in London. Anyway, from Euston I used the Victoria line to get to Seven Sisters station and from there I made it by foot to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It is 20-25 minutes by foot but I don’t mind walking. The new stadium is built more or less on the same site as White Hart Lane. Building works on the new stadium started in 2016 and Tottenham played at White Hart Lane until May 2017 before temporarily moving to Wembley Stadium. The new ground was supposed to open in September 2018 but several delays meant it was not ready until April this year. Capacity is 62,062 making Tottenham Hotspur Stadium the biggest club ground in London. Kick-off was 17.30 and the stadium opened as early as 15.00. I guess Tottenham wants fans to enter early and spend their money inside the ground and not at nearby pubs. To get a ticket for this match I bought a membership at Spurs for the 2019/20 season but still missed out when tickets went on sale. I had a new chance via the Ticket Exchange though and managed to get a ticket for row 8 in the South Stand. This is the Spurs home end and where the most vocal fans are. The legroom was superb and it really is a great stadium when it comes to having a good day out. Everyone in the lower tier was standing throughout the match and so did I. Aston Villa are newly promoted but at half-time they were deservedly 1-0 up. McGinn scored their opening goal right in front of me. The Spurs fans around me were not at all pleased and chants like “Wake up you Spurs” could be heard. In the second half Tottenham attacked the end where I was and 90-95% of the action took place right in front of me. My seat in row 8 turned out to be much better than expected and I had a good view of all the goals. Aston Villa defended heroically but once it was 1-1 there could only be one winner in this game. It ended 3-1 to Tottenham and the Spurs fans could celebrate a great start to the new season. My journey back to Euston went smoothly and I managed to get an earlier train than expected to Milton Keynes and around 21.30 I could finally relax in my room. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Information South Stand, rear West Stand North Stand East Stand South Stand, interior Players and officials entering Justin Edinburgh - RIP West Stand View of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium View of play North Stand Aston Villa fans (lower tier) East Stand South Stand Pano ![]() Pano |