London Football News

Decision delayed on whether Tottenham will return to Wembley

Tottenham now have until Friday to decide whether to return to Wembley next season while work on their new stadium is completed.

The deadline, which has been extended from Wednesday by the Football Association, is now 24 hours after the 2018-19 Premier League fixtures are announced on Thursday.

Spurs played the entire 2017-18 campaign at the national stadium, but were due move back to their rebuilt home on the site of White Hart Lane for the new season.

However, it was clear early in the new year that work would overrun and it would not be ready for the start of the term, despite workers currently being on site 24 hours a day.

There are test events at the 62,000-seater stadium scheduled in August but with the new Premier League campaign starting on August 11, the London club are leaving the option of a return to Wembley on a short-term basis open until they see the fixtures on Thursday.

If Spurs decide against renewing their tenancy their alternative is to play all of their early games away from home, though Press Association Sport understands that the Premier League have not been asked for that to be the case ahead of Thursday’s release.

That means Spurs will have to apply to the Premier League board for permission to reverse their scheduled home games and can only do so after the new fixtures are released.

This happened with both Liverpool and West Ham in recent years, when Anfield was being redeveloped and the World Championships were being held at the London Stadium, and would be unlikely to face any opposition.

If Spurs choose to go back to Wembley, details of the tenancy – how long it is for and whether it can be extended – will emerge on Friday.




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