Tottenham Hotspur Stadium: First Test Event – the view of fans who were there

Walking up Tottenham High Road, seeing the magnificent, state of the art Tottenham Hotspur Stadium emerging from behind buildings and trees had our fans’ hearts rushing, tears flowing and breathlessness taking over. The golden cockerel proudly standing over the south stand was bathing in the sunshine as emotional Lilywhite supporters headed towards the gloriously looking stadium. For all of us the wait has finally come to an end.

Excitement and joy were in the air as nearly 30,000 Tottenham fans made their way on a beautiful, sunny spring day towards, what for many is the best stadium in Europe. The sheer happiness was visible on everyone’s face, as they skipped to watch the very first game at our new home.

Fans travelled from all over the world to see the kick-off of Tottenham U18 vs Southampton U18, which marked a historic moment for the club by being the first official game played at the new stadium. Many of them were overcome with emotions. Standing just in front of the stadium, taking pictures many of the Tottenham’s loyal supporters were trying to hide their tears. That, however, was almost impossible considering the importance of the event that they were taking part in.

Some felt an immense sense of pride. After a two-year absence from home, they finally got a place back which they can call home again. “It brings back a lot of memories. Coming here and just getting on the train from Enfield reinvigorated those. It brought them back to life”, said Olivier, a season ticket holder of 30 years.

He continued: “It feels good to be back. It feels like I’m coming back to an old friend. I’ve been away for a while and I just came to visit them again. It makes me feel proud. It looks impressive.”

Chris Griffiths, a Tottenham fan since 1964 added: “Great thing are going to happen. It’s the best stadium in Britain. We can do great things with it. Everyone is feeling so positive about being back home. The white wall at one end of the stadium and a much bigger capacity can only help the team.”

That positivity was definitely transferred from the outside to the inside of the stadium. Spurs made a positive start to the game with J’Neil Bennet taking credit for the first goal scored at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. We managed to double our lead inside the first-half with Harvey White making no mistake from the spot. The visitors were left hoping for a comeback after Kornelius Hansen’s effort found its way to the back of the net half way through the second half. Fortunately, Dilan Markanday’s finish from close range sealed all three points for Spurs.

The inside of the stadium turned out to be as impressive as the outside. The navy-blue seats, and the golden cockerel proudly sitting on top of the south stand made the experience incredibly hard to forget.

Admiring the sheer size of the stands, Niall, a season ticket holder since 1967 , said: “It’s so great to be here, to see our new home. It takes your breath away coming up the stairs and looking at the stands. It’s incredible. I’m now more looking forward towards the future than thinking back about the past, because it’s just so wonderful.”

Many supporters also felt relief. Not only because we have a place that we can proudly call home, but also because we don’t have to travel to Wembley. Rob King, a life-long Tottenham fan from Essex said: “There is a sense of pride, a big sense of pride. I remember what the old White Hart Lane looked like and there is no comparison. It’s really exciting to get inside now and see what everything is like. But mostly, I feel relief of not having to go to Wembley every other week now”, he chuckled.

The sun laden north London was full of happiness as fans made their way home. There was, however, one very important question which had to be answered. With a big amount of hugely important games coming up, especially the quarter-final of the Champions League against Manchester City, the loyal Lilywhites had their say as to whether our new home will be a boost or maybe a hindrance.

Olivier from Enfield said: “The stadium is going to be a huge boost. You could tell that the players were getting a bit leggy in the past few weeks, but hopefully the stadium will provide the impetus that they need in order to push on and hopefully get into the semi-final of the Champions League.”

Paul Gillins, a Lilywhite since the early 1980s, added: “Everyone wants to be here. The manager wants to be here, the players want to be here, the fans want to be here, so I can only see positive things happening.”

It is very clear that the fans are extremely excited about this new chapter in the club’s history. The stadium looks incredible and will hopefully provide a huge boost to the team for the rest of the season. The future is certainly looking bright.

The next test event at our new home will take place on Saturday March 30^th, when Spurs Legends will be taking on Inter Forever in what should be a very sentimental and emotional game of football. Kick-off at 5:30 p.m.