Spurs will play Arsenal at their new home
London Mayor Sadiq Khan had raised concerns about the north London derby
Thursday, 11th June 2020 — By Dan Carrier
Tottenham’s new 62,000 seater stadium
THE North London derby – originally due to take place at the end of March – will still go ahead at Tottenham’s new White Hart Lane stadium, it was confirmed yesterday (Wednesday).
Spurs and Arsenal, as well as the Premier League, gave the crunch match the green light to go ahead on July 11. No fans will be inside the 62,000 seater ground and streets around the venue will be cordoned off. Last week Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, said he had concerns about safety at the fixture.
The Premier League is due to restart next week after its coronavirus shutdown. Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust chairwoman Cat Law said their members accepted why the season needed to be completed – and behind closed doors.
She told the New Journal: “Football without fans is nothing, but this is a unique set of circumstances.”
She said the over-reliance on TV income had been laid bare by the pandemic – and that broadcast contracts were a key reason for the interrupted season being completed rather than written off.
“The income is that important,” she said. “We have to be pragmatic – and playing the games with no fans is the least-worst option.”
The Trust is in regular contact with the club, Haringey Council and the police – and Ms Law believes fears that rival fans will congregate outside White Hart Lane on the day of the Derby are unfounded.
She said: “The discussions around having neutral venues took place when death and infection rates were higher. The police are now comfortable with games being played home and away.”
Cordons will be in place to stop fans gathering – but she believes such measures will not be needed.
Ms Law said: “Fans are part of the general public. We are people who have been observing lockdown, we are key workers, we work in the NHS. We are not some separate mass group who would ignore guidance. I felt insulted by the ideas that fans are still thought as stupid enough to congregate when told not to and are automatically seen as part of a problem, like in the past.”
She added: “The message about not going to the Derby should be heard from a public health point of view, not a public order one.”
She said she would be “gobsmacked” if any fans “bothered” going to the stadium on the day.
