Tottenham Hotspur cleared the "final legal hurdle on Friday to build a 56,000 capacity stadium" when a High Court judge granted the club the right to buy a piece of land that had been "preventing construction," according to Aliya Ram of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Justice Dove rejected an appeal by Archway Sheet Metal Works, "the owners of the disputed site, against a compulsory purchase order, which had been backed by the government." Archway claimed Community Secretary Eric Pickles was not "fully appraised of the club's plan when he issued the CPO." Dove rejected Archway's in-court application to "appeal against his decision, bringing an end to the decade-long battle between the team and the family-run business." The club has planning permission for the £400M ($616M) stadium and "hopes it will open" for the '18-19 season (FT, 2/20). In London, Sam Cunningham reported Archway was fighting a CPO making it give up its land "for Spurs to build a new 56,000-seat ground next to White Hart Lane." Archway has 21 days to appeal, but Dove "told them they have no reasonable chance of success." It is "anticipated that once work starts on the new stadium it will take three years to complete" (DAILY MAIL, 2/21).
LONDON'S BIGGEST: Also in London, Neil Moxley wrote in a column Spurs "were the biggest team in London for years on years, but the new stadium can propel the Lilywhites back to their prestigious status of yesteryear." I "always thought there were a few golden rules." First, that referees were "biased in favour of the big teams." And, second, that "any player who wore Puma King boots was the dog’s wotsits." While those two remain true, "I was to discover that the third pillar of truth turned out to be nothing of the sort." Namely that Spurs were the "biggest club in London." From afar, "I could see that they enjoyed massive support, great history, and fans who demanded a certain style of football -- i.e, the game played with a swagger." I labored under this misapprehension for "quite a few years until a colleague (a West Ham supporter) told me in no uncertain terms that I had got it wrong." It turns out that Arsenal is "bigger (of course, Chelsea are now galloping up on the rails)." So, news this week that the final obstacle to the redevelopment of
White Hart Lane has been removed "should lift everyone down Bill
Nicholson Way." Spurs "have it within them to eclipse anything any other club in the
capital can produce." Not only that, "they can fix those in the north west
in their sights as well" (DAILY MIRROR, 2/22).
