August 21 – In a further blow to supporters who were hoping to welcome the cream of Europe to their spanking new stadium, Tottenham Hotspur will have to play at least their first home Champions League match this season at the national stadium at Wembley as a result of delays in opening their £800 million state-of-the-art ground because of ongoing security and safety issues.
The new stadium was due to open for the league game against Liverpool on September 15, but that has already been moved to Wembley – where Spurs played home games last season – as was last week’s Premier League opener against Fulham and another fixture on October 6.
Tottenham’s first Champions League home match this season will either be on September 18/19 or October 2/3 and a club statement read: “We have agreed with UEFA that the first home matchday of this season’s Champions League group stage, scheduled on either matchday one [week commencing September 17] or matchday two [week commencing October 1], will be staged at Wembley Stadium.
“Both matchdays are due to take place between our two Premier League home fixtures against Liverpool [Saturday 15 September] and Cardiff City [Saturday, October 6], which we confirmed last week had been switched to Wembley.
“As a further update, should we be drawn at home in round three of the Carabao Cup [week commencing September 24], then we can apply for special dispensation from the EFL board to reverse the fixture or play at a neutral venue as both our new stadium and Wembley are unavailable during this week.”
To make matters worse for Spurs fans, the club are also having to play second fiddle to American Football. Wembley has already been earmarked for an NFL game on October 28, meaning Tottenham’s high-profile fixture against champions Manchester City, scheduled for the same day, will now have to move to yet another venue or be rescheduled if the new ground is still not ready.
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