On the corner of Tottenham High Road and the famous Park Lane, there is a tiny building which is the current home of Tottenham Hotspur’s ticket office.
Usually, very quiet with very few visitors, the house stands calmly facing the brand new South stand with the golden cockerel watching over Spurs’ new ground.
However, there are days when that tiny area inside is full of desperate and very often frustrated Spurs supporters trying to get match tickets.
This was exactly the case yesterday morning and will also probably be the case today, as the loyal Lilywhites attempt to get their hands on tickets for the match against West Ham United.
The queue started to build up from eight o’clock in the morning. Standing in the freezing cold, some fans waited for more than three hours just to make sure that they see their team play.
One supporter, who was standing at the very front of the queue looked particularly tired.
He was from Milton Keynes, a life-long Spurs fan who does not trust, what he called, the “circle of death” which appears on the club’s website when tickets go on sale.
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He wished to remain anonymous but shared his experiences with the ticketing system implemented by the north London club.
“I tried to get tickets for Crystal Palace. I waited for two hours staring at the circle for nothing,” he said.
“When I finally got through, the tickets were sold out.
“I said to myself that I won’t risk it again for any other home game, and here I am.
“I got on a train from Milton Keynes at 4:30 in the morning, just to make sure I get the tickets.”
The way in which the tickets for the opening game of the new stadium were sold left many supporters in shock.
According to some fans, the tickets were sold in a “free-for-all” where those supporters who signed up to a membership very recently had the same chance of getting a ticket as members with hundreds of loyalty points.
Fans were also left waiting for up to two hours online without being told that tickets have sold out.
After waiting for more than two years to see Tottenham back at home, some of the loyal Lilywhites were so desperate to see the Crystal Palace game that they decided to use resale websites.
Ticket prices on those forums were going for as much as £1000.
Another supporter who wished to remain anonymous said: “I was forced to buy a ticket from one of the resale websites.
“I paid £250 for a ticket which costs less than £50 at face value.
“When I found my seat at the stadium, it turned out that a number of people had the same spot as I did.
“It was very frustrating and nerve-wracking, because we couldn’t get to the stewards as we would have got kicked out of the stadium.
“Something has to be done about this.”
The frustration of the fans is understandable. Supporters who watched their team week in, week out at Wembley with some attendances below 30,000 are unable to buy tickets for the new ground.
The ticketing system does not seem to work, as it does not prioritise those who should be.
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