Spurs announce the first Premier League game in their new stadium

Tottenham Hotspur have provisionally confirmed Crystal Palace as the first opponents of their new stadium on April 3.

Spurs held discussions with the Premier League governing body last week to determine the first match at the new 62,000-seater venue, and with Brighton progressing to the FA Cup semi-finals, Crystal Palace will now travel to the new home early next month to kick start a new era in north London.

Why has the first match taken this long? Five key things to know…

1. The £1billion stadium was due to open in September.
2. However, it was delayed as a result of problems with the fire and safety alarms.
3. The club had hoped to move into the stadium by “January or February” but club chairman Daniel Levy further postponed the move.
4. Spurs have had to continue playing their home matches at Wembley.
5. The club have now confirmed a provisional date for their opening match, further safety tests permitting.

The Seagulls were due to play Spurs in the Premier League on April 7 but after beating Millwall in a penalty shoot-out on Sunday, they will now face Manchester City in the penultimate stage of the FA Cup on that same weekend.

Spurs will host the first ever match at the stadium on March 24 with the club’s U-18s set to test drive the venue against Southampton with a capacity of 30,000.

This will be followed by a legends match six days later, with the capacity increasing to 45,000, and then the aforementioned Palace match.

A Spurs statement read: “Following Brighton’s victory against Millwall in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup this afternoon, we can confirm that the first Premier League match in our new stadium will be against Crystal Palace on Wednesday 3 April (kick-off time TBC).

“This will be followed on Tuesday 9 April by the first leg of our UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City, kick-off 8pm.

“We shall now play Brighton in the Premier League at the new stadium on either Tuesday 23 or Wednesday 24 April.”

Subscribe to Squawka’s Youtube channel here.

Levy  denies “Nike Stadium” rumours

Ahead of the unveiling there were rumours club chairman Daniel Levy held discussions with Nike over a proposed rebranding of the stadium.

A video clip of Richard Keys ‘exclusively revealing’ that Spurs’ new home is set to be called ‘The Nike Stadium’ surfaced, but the video was soon taken down.

As such, Spurs have since come out and refuted reports with Levy denying the allegations during a meeting with the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust last week.

When quizzed to deliver an update on naming rights, Levy said none were “in place” while further dismissing links with kit manufacturer Nike as sponsoring stadiums is “not what Nike do as a business.”

The post Spurs announce the first Premier League game in their new stadium appeared first on Squawka News.

From Squawka News https://ift.tt/2HwNJl5