The World Famous Home Of Tottenham Hotspur
A GENERAL RAMBLE ON WHL.
The year was 1899 (NOT ending in ‘one’) when the club purchased a disused allotment behind the White Hart Pub, situated at 750, High Road, London N17. For the last 102 years, our home, the scene of so many memories (mostly pleasant), has been known as White Hart Lane. The place has been subjected to many changes in that time. At the extreme ends of the scale, crowds in excess of 70,000 have packed the terraces. While at the lower end, a mere few hundred sat in the West Stand to watch the reserves play when the first team was on their travels. The reserve games at WHL, used to be included in your season ticket. I’ve got very fond memories of those reserve games. Due to the small crowd, the players could hear every word that was being shouted at them and on a few memorable occasions, players took exception and actually came over to the touch line to ‘debate’ a point or two.
The stadium has existed in it’s current incarnation since 1998. It’s now a 36,000 all-seater, complete with wall to wall goldfish bowls for those who prefer a volume control for their ‘atmosphere’ and they can also eat their prawn sandwiches off of a plate, while us lesser mortals prefer our pre-match snack from the more modest packaging of cardboard and styrene.
As the 2001/2 season commences, there’s very little physical changes to WHL. In fact the only discernible alteration is a couple of bunker style, dugout arrangements for the press photographers at each end. They've presumably been installed to protect them from Steffen Freund's goal attempts. However, hardly any physical changes doesn’t mean ‘no changes.’
For a start, the team will no longer be coming out to that woeful dirge, InSPURation, which, surely, must have been lifted from the sound track of a ‘Rocky’ type film. Or, maybe from an old Skoda advert. Glory, Glory is back – and about time too. Hopefully, the club will also refrain from playing that stupid, bloody music when we score a goal.
Perhaps, the most significant change to take place this season can be found just to the left of the players’ tunnel (unless you’re looking from the West Stand, in which case it’s on your right). There’s a low wall between the dugout and the warm-up track and, upon that wall, you will see our new manager perched there for most of the match. "So what?" That man is Glenn Hoddle, who is arguably, the most respected manager to occupy that spot since the all conquering Billy Nick and the very successful Keith Burkinshaw sat at the side of our pitch and directed first team operations.
Glenn’s return to The Lane inspired another change to the stadium. With the evil, destructive spectre of ‘the man in the overcoat’ exorcised, the WHL faithful have rediscovered their voices and the good old days of the fans getting behind the team, through thick and thin would seem to have returned.
The stadium is the same, pretty much, the fans are the same people, but the spirit is back at The Lane. Long may it continue and may it soon be rewarded with some success.
THE AREA: WHAT IT 1S LIKE & HOW TO GET THERE.
LOCALITY.
Tottenham was bizarrely described in one Fan’s Guide as ‘a leafy suburb, home to wealthy residents’. I’m sure the area’s inhabitants would like to live in such a place, but the reality is somewhat different.
Tottenham is a classic piece of urban sprawl, straddling the border between inner city and outer suburb, north and east London. Six miles from the City as the moth-eaten, claw-missing, pollution-encrusted pigeon flies, the former borough is synonymous with two things: the football club and the riots of 1985 at nearby Broadwater Farm. South Kensington it ain’t and Tottenham admittedly remains an area you wouldn’t exactly want to go on holiday to, but there are certainly worse places to visit for a footballing day out.
There remains the uncomfortable perception, however, that the club wants little to do with the place in which it resides, probably since few locals can afford the high ticket prices and therefore don’t fit into the moneyed types the PLC are after. The contrast with that other club down the Seven Sisters Road is marked in this respect and it pains many a Spurs fan to see local Tottenham kids wearing Gooner shirts. Something must be done to reverse this despicable trend.
HOW TO GET TO WHL.
WHL can be reached by train, tube, bus and if you’re really adventurous, by car. The train is the best way. Overground (ex-BR) services run from Liverpool Street. You’ll need to come off at Seven Sisters, Northumberland Park or White Hart Lane, with the latter providing the shortest walk. The No.73 bus runs from Oxford Street in the West End to Tottenham.
Alternatively catch the tube. Get on the Victoria Line, head northbound, and get off at either Seven Sisters or Tottenham Hale. Either way, you’ve got a long walk to the ground: just follow the hordes of jovial cockneys in their pearly suits singing ‘My Old Man’s a Dustman’ and you’re bound to end up at WHL, eventually.
If you really must drive, and you are not setting off from within London, don’t bother trying to slog it through town. Instead, from whatever direction you are approaching, get on to the M25, come off at junction 25 and take the A10 towards Central London. After about 4 miles you’ll then need to take the left turning onto Church Street (B154) signposted for Edmonton. Carry on to the end of Church Street until you come to a roundabout at Edmonton Green (distinguished by half a dozen massive tower blocks). Take the right turn off and head southbound along the A1010. This will take you right past the ground, though be prepared for a long tailback.
Alternatively, you can attack the journey via The North Circular Road (A406). Like the M25, it’s an orbital route but links directly with Fore Street, which then becomes Tottenham High Road. The junction for Tottenham is well signposted, You just need to be on your toes, because if you miss the sign and don’t get onto the exit slip, you end up in an underpass and with the unhappy prospect of navigating you way back to the correct place.
Parking is a nightmare. Either get there at the crack of dawn and park in one of the side streets or stump up a fair sum (typically, about £8) to park in one of the many privately run car parks. Security isn’t too bad, but observe the obvious: don’t leave valuables on show. Also, make sure you are parked legally as the enthusiastic traffic wardens in these parts give a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘little Hitlers’ and carry out their work with remarkable ‘enthusiasm’.
MORE ON THE GROUND.
Described by Simon Inglis as ‘The Sugar Bowl’, White Hart Lane has seen many changes in the last decade. Unlike other clubs that have moved or completely rebuilt post-Taylor Report, Tottenham’s ‘new’ home is a bit of mish-mash.
Taken at face value, it looks entirely new. Indeed, both the North and South stands are gleaming, freshly built additions while the presence of cantilevered roofs, the absence of floodlight towers, no less than 120 executive boxes and the twin Jumbotron TV screens set into the roof at either end, give the appearance of a mini-Bernabau (if you screw your eyes up and let your imagination run away with you, that is).
The reality is somewhat different. For an outlay of well over £30 million, the capacity is still only 36,400. The main reason for this woefully inadequate figure is that the side stands are not modern. The West Stand, approached from Bill Nicholson Way just off The High Road, was built in 1982 at huge cost. It nearly bankrupted the club, yet for all that trouble, it only holds 6,500. It is also the home of Tottenham’s most wealthy and most complaining supporters who never, ever sing. Here, you’ll find the tunnel, the press box and director’s box. It’s for home fans only, though Gooners always manage to blag a handful of seats for the North London Derby.
Opposite lies the East Stand. When redeveloped at the back end of the 80s, it too, nearly put Spurs out of business. Once a shining example of the unique skill of the great stadium architect Archibald Leitch, it’s now an uninspiring bank of three tiers of seats, the ubiquitous executive boxes, a couple of massive roof uprights and the TV gantry.
It used to be the home of the Shelf, an elevated section that provided arguably the best terrace view in British football and where WHL’s atmosphere was generated. The East Stand used to hold 30,000 and when the likes of Blanchflower, Greaves, Hoddle, Ardiles and Gascoigne were doing their thing, it was a deafening, thrilling stand to watch your football from.
The bulk of Tottenham1s vocal support has now been transplanted to the Paxton Road end (North Stand). This is for home season ticket holders and members only, so if you’re an away fan don’t even try to get a ticket.
Visiting supporters are seated at the other end in the western, two-tiered corner of the Park Lane (South) stand). It provides a decent view, but fans are charged accordingly: £28/£24 a pop, no concessions. This has quite rightly angered many an away fan and is symptomatic of the club1s attitude towards supporters in general, but to put it in context, home season ticket holders in the East Stand upper tier are charged nearly £700 for their seat - and that’s far from being the most expensive.
Facilities for away fans are ‘functional’: the usual overpriced food and drink, reasonably efficient stewarding and the regulation lack of leg room once seated. Sit in the upper tier and you’ll also see the bizarre construction that houses the police operations centre. It looks like a flying saucer that’s got stuck on the roof and gives the distinct impression of ‘big brother’ watching over you – Which, of course, is exactly what it is.
Visitors’ allocation is a maximum of 4,000. There are facilities for disabled fans: contact the club on 020 8365 5050
AGGRO FACTOR.
Tottenham used to have a bad and deserved reputation for hooliganism, though such activity was never as organised as at some other clubs. Violence was more of an impromptu thing at White Hart Lane, set against a general antipathy towards visiting supporters, especially against London rivals and for teams from the north.
Thankfully, the days of high-profile mass punch-ups are almost non-existent, but there can still be a nasty streak to Tottenham’s support. Trouble within the walls of WHL is all but dead and gone (Praise be to the Gods of Footie), but in the surrounding streets, particularly after a match, minor flare ups have been know to occur.
The best advice is to be sensible. If you’re wearing colours you should be okay unless you’re an Arsenal, Chelsea or Man U fan. Have your wits about you if you are making the walk between the High Road from Seven Sisters station, particularly at night, and don’t get tickets for areas reserved for home fans.
Certainly, you shouldn’t repeat the performance of a group of idiotic Sunderland fans a while back, who started racially abusing some locals as they neared the ground and got a pasting in return.
PUBS (By the Egon Ronay of the tipple world, Ad Powley).
There are dozens of pubs in the area, mostly Victorian boozers offering varying degrees of hospitality.
My personal favourites are ‘The Railway’ next to White Hart Lane station, ‘The Bell and Hare’ which is a few yards walk from the South East corner of the ground on the High Road (its where Jimmy Greaves used to get regularly tanked up, incidentally) and ‘The Park’ next to Northumberland Park station. The latter welcomes well-behaved away fans as I’m told does ‘The Milford Tavern’ on Park Lane.
If you are an away fan the best advice is not to wear colours if you’re going to a pub and, once again, be sensible. All obvious, really, but worth repeating. You won’t get into places like ‘The Corner Pin’ (a tiny, charming pub on the corner of Park Lane and the High Road which shuts its doors even to Spurs fans a couple of hours before kick off) and ‘The Bell and Hare’ at which you’ll have to show your Spurs season ticket or membership card to get in. You should especially give ‘The Cockerel’ on the High Road a miss unless you want to observe lots of hardcore Tottenham fans singing Chas’n’Dave ditties.
FOOD.
You can’t walk along the High Road for a few yards without going past somewhere to get some nosh. All culinary London is here, from traditional fish’n’chips to kebab houses, burger and chicken chains, greasy spoons, cafes, Indian, Chinese, Turkish, Greek, Caribbean, Kosher etc. etc.
Highly recommended are the fish and chip shop almost next to ‘The Railway’ on White Hart Lane, ‘The Tasty Tater’ and ‘Chick-King’ round the corner on the High Road, and the outstanding ‘Tottenham Biegel Bakery’ (note the correct spelling) further up towards Seven Sisters and opposite the Police station. Resist the temptation to make some cheap jibe about Tottenham’s traditional Jewish support, go inside and try the latkas – it’s making my mouth water just thinking about them.
Around the ground are the familiar burger stands: not exactly Blue Riband, but they provide a better fare then the half-cooked mush you get inside the stadium. As my 38", and fast growing girth will attest, the best burgers and hot dogs can be found at the stand at the South East corner of the ground (Corner of Park Lane and Worcester Avenue).
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9 May 08 
Liverpool Football Club