"White Hart Lane" - one of the oldest football stadiums in the world

который является домашней ареной лондонского футбольного клуба «Тоттенхэм». White Hart Lane is a stadium that is home to the London football club Tottenham. It was built in the late nineteenth century and is located in the northern part of the British capital. Currently, the arena holds just over 36,000 spectators. It should be noted that this is one of the oldest existing football grounds in the world.

History of appearance

Like many other famous football stadiums in the world, White Hart Lane was founded in the late nineteenth century. And it all started quite simply. Then the owner of one of the London breweries, being a big fan of football, decided to make more money with his favorite game. For this he built a small football stadium on his own plot of land. It happened in 1899. After the construction work was completed, the tycoon convinced the representatives of "Tottenham" to move here from the Northumberland Park.

First matches

The debut duel in the new field, which was 100 x 67 meters in size, was held on September 4, 1899 by the London Football Club. Then on a visit to "Tottenham" for a friendly match came the team "Notts County". The game, which ended with a score of 4-1 in favor of the hosts, was visited by about five thousand fans. на продаже билетов тогда заработал 115 фунтов, что было довольно внушительной суммой. Despite the friendly status of the match, the owner of the White Hart Lane Stadium on ticket sales then earned 115 pounds, which was quite an impressive amount. The first official game, held here in the South League, "spurs" also won with a score of 1-0. Their opponent then was the team "Queens Park Rangers". This time the match came to watch about 11 thousand spectators.

Redemption of the stadium

In the future, the popularity of "Tottenham" was growing rapidly, in connection with which in a short time the stadium could no longer accommodate all the fans who want to look at the game of your favorite team. Within five years, the arena was expanded to 12,000 standing and 500 seats. Thus, the total capacity of it increased to 32 thousand spectators. In connection with the growing number of fans and rapid development, in 1905 the football club managed to collect the necessary amount of money and buy out all the rights to the land where the field was located, from its owner. In conjunction with the team's release in the first English division, this gave a new impetus to the further development of the White Hart Lane.

Reconstruction

After the transfer of the arena to the ownership of the club, it was decided to expand the structure. Then the construction of the stands began. To implement the reality of their plans, the leadership of "Tottenham" invited the famous architect Archibald Leich. It was for his project that the stadium became rectangular. Moreover, there appeared the Eastern and Central Stand. Thus, as of 1909, the arena could accommodate already 50,000 fans. The team produced trophies, so it became more popular in London. In this regard, the club continued to invest in the "White Hart Lane" stadium. Its capacity after the reconstruction in 1934 reached the mark of 80 thousand people. At the same time, more than half of them were located under the roof.

Over time, the requirements of safety rules, standing places in such arenas were banned. In this regard, the owners of "Tottenham" for the possibility of taking part in the competitions of the highest level were forced to significantly reduce the capacity. As a result, at present, only 36,240 people can be accommodated in the four stands of the White Hart Lane.

Over the years of its existence, the arena has experienced not one modernization. In particular, in the middle of the last century, lighting masts appeared here, which were replaced by more reliable designs. In 1952, a high-quality lawn was laid on the pitch, which was very positively answered by the players. A few years later, after the construction of the South Stand was completed, a huge screen from Sony was installed over it. Three years later, another large display appeared on the arena.

General characteristic in our days

» считается одним из самых уютных стадионов в Британии. Currently, " White Hart Lane " is considered one of the most comfortable stadiums in Britain. On it there are no racetracks, therefore spectators are in immediate proximity from players during matches. The size of the field, as of today, is 110 x 73 meters, and there is no heating of the lawn.

Now work began on the reconstruction of the arena, which at the first stage are conducted without its closure. That's why Tottenham are now holding home matches in international competitions at Wembley. Here the team plans to move to the next season. The opening of the new "Spurs" arena is planned for 2018. According to the project, the capacity of the stadium will be 61461 spectators, and its cost is about 400 million pounds.