Tottenham’s Farewell to White Hart Lane Begins with Varied Win over Palace

WHITE HART LANE, London — There is a famous quote attributed to Tottenham Hotspur’s successful early-1980s manager Keith Burkinshaw. Although he would end his tenure winning the 1983-84 UEFA Cup, the coach’s disagreement with the club’s off-field direction had led to his resignation and saying, “There used to be a football club over there.”

Tottenham’s 2016 equivalent stride forward into a perceived vital modernity would cause anyone obliviously unfamiliar with the circumstances to remark similarly but more literally. Turn up at White Hart Lane this season and you will see a big chunk of its north-east corner missing (see below), not to mention almost all of the old surrounding infrastructure demolished as the first stages of the stadium’s redevelopment project gets firmly underway.

Back at White Hart Lane for the new season. Stadium looking a bit different this year. #TOTCRY @br_uk pic.twitter.com/RxNoFnWamn

— Thomas Cooper (@Thomas__Cooper) August 20, 2016

While part of the ground and some previously familiar sights are gone, there is still very much a football team there. The more content current boss Mauricio Pochettino’s side beat Crystal Palace 1-0 in their first home match of their last season playing at this version of White Hart Lane, an 82nd-minute header from new signing Victor Wanyama sealing the victory.

Unlike capital rivals West Ham United, who vacated their historic Upton Park ground permanently to move into the Olympic Stadium this summer (that title wasted with its rechristening as the London Stadium), Spurs’ project requires they only temporarily leave home. They will play Champions League games at Wembley to fulfill UEFA requirements before spending the whole of 2017-18 there.

The club is well aware just how momentous it is to be playing for the last time here before the enforced interruption, the first of their own volition. Or rather, their last before they return and move into the 61,000-capacity, much fancier new model.

Like most in football, history and tradition is hugely important to the the north Londoners.

Before every game, they still play a video package on the Lane’s big screens showcasing some of the club’s most famous names and moments soundtracked with a stirring narration by the late-actor and Spurs fan Roger Lloyd-Pack. These days, the montage-ending comparison with the current, talented and ambitious squad feels a lot kinder.

More often than not, an ex-player will be interviewed at half-time too, perhaps to commemorate an anniversary of a previous success or just to talk Tottenham. (On Saturday it was former captain Ledley King discussing the recent tour of Australia.) Meanwhile, the matchday programme’s usual delving into the club’s mostly storied and certainly well-documented past this week contained the first of a series of features exploring the story of the Lilywhites’ longtime venue—an association that dates back to the turn of the 20th century.

Additionally for this home opener, there was a supplemental publication entitled Passionate About Tottenham (a #TogetherTHFC hashtag added on front and back covers to reinforce its message for the Twitter generation).

The booklet was a 40-page advert (or being cruel, piece of propaganda) for the club and how they view themselves and what they hope to be moving forward. Chairman Daniel Levy described the transition to the new stadium as “building what we believe to be the foundation …

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