Thanks to the revelations late last week, we now know that Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium WILL open in early April and will host Spurs’ last five home matches of the season. What we don’t yet know is who the long-term stadium sponsor is or what the final name of what is now known as the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will be. But maybe we do now! Check out this tweet from @lilywhite_rose: To be clear, we have absolutely zero context for what this image is, or where it came from. It certainly looks legitimate, but we obviously won’t know for sure until the club makes an official announcement. Nike was the rumored stadium sponsor last week after Richard Keys (ugh) apparently made an EXCLUSIVE announcement on BT Sport about it, prior to the network deleting the tweet and the video. Nike North London Stadium at White Hart Lane is kinda long, but it’s also super fan-servicey and could be a lot, lot, LOT worse, if that truly is the new name of the ground. It would allow fans to continue to refer to it as “The Lane” while giving Nike prominent branding. I like the North London Stadium part too. Don’t take this as gospel yet, as we really don’t know, but that’s some serious circumstantial evidence, and if this is legitimate, it’s a pretty good outcome. I just wonder what’s up with the two different letter As.<doc-sep>Sign up to FREE email alerts from Football London - Spurs Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Tottenham Hotspur are preparing their new stadium for its first matches and football.london paid a visit to check on that progress. We now know that the stadium will host its first match on March 24 - an U18s match against Southampton with a capacity of around 30,000, kicking off at 3pm. Then six days later on March 30, around 45,000 people will be allowed to enter Tottenham's new 62,062-seater stadium for a Legends match, kicking off at 5.30pm. football.london understands that Spurs will be looking to get some famous, big name former players from the recent past out on the pitch for the showpiece match at the new stadium. The mooted opponents for the legends match are Inter Milan. Bayern Munich were originally meant to be lining up at the stadium when the first set of test events were initially announced last summer. Here are 55 photos from the stadium site today as the club put the finishing touches on various areas, plus photos of the improvement work taking place at White Hart Lane and Northumberland Park stations. The video at the top of the page also shows our Spurs reporter Alasdair Gold taking a walk around the new ground while answer questions about those 'Nike Stadium' naming rights rumours and the claimed issues with the space around the corners of the pitch. Work is still taking place on the landscaping around the site, as well as completing the last few panels on the underneath of the veil on the north east corner of the site. Finishing touches and snagging is still being undertaken inside the stadium to ready it for the first test event in just 12 days' time. The aim of the two test events is to gain the required safety certificates for the stadium to open fully. UEFA wanted Tottenham to play at least one Premier League match before they can hold their Champions League quarter-final there. That means discussions took place with both Brighton and Crystal Palace to ensure, if the safety certificates are gained, then one of those two sides will be the first Premier League side to open the stadium. What it means is that if Chris Hughton's men win their FA Cup quarter-final match on Sunday March 17 Tottenham will instead play Crystal Palace on Wednesday April 3 for a midweek opener for the stadium and then Brighton on the April 23rd/24th. However, if Brighton lose their FA Cup quarter-final match on March 17 then former Spurs legend Hughton will be the first opposition manager for a senior competitive game at the new stadium on April 6/7 (subject to Champions League scheduling) and then it will be Palace who play on April 23/24. Keep up to date with the latest Tottenham Hotspur news, features and exclusives from football.london via our free WhatsApp service. Text NEWS to 07776197989 and then add the number to your phone contacts book as spurs dot london (case sensitive, with spaces) to receive daily updates and breaking news from Alasdair Gold and the team on Spurs. Your phone number won't be shared with any other members of the group. Click here for more information on the service.<doc-sep>Unless something catastrophic happens, Tottenham Hotspur have played their final match at Wembley Stadium as a temporary home. Remember that article from this morning that was full of speculation, possible scenarios and a freight train derailing at the end of it? Throw it out the window except for the part about the U-18s playing, because that’s still happening. Tottenham have ended the speculation and confirmed that an agreement has been reached between the club, the Premier League and all necessary parties that the next home match will be at the new stadium. In respect of our opening game, this is subject to both a safety certificate and the outcome of Brighton & Hove Albion’s FA Cup match on Sunday 17 March. We have held discussions with the Premier League and UEFA. The following has been agreed with the Premier League, Brighton and Crystal Palace to ensure that our first game is a Premier League match prior to a UEFA Champions League quarter-final match: If Brighton win their FA Cup quarter-final match on Sunday 17th March we shall play Crystal Palace on Wednesday 3rd April and Brighton on 23rd/24th April. If Brighton lose their FA Cup quarter-final match on Sunday 17th March we shall play Brighton on 6th/7th April (subject to Champions League scheduling) and Crystal Palace on 23rd/24th April. So that settles that. Tottenham Hotspur’s next home match, barring any issues with the test events, will play at their new home. Yes, there have been so many delays that we’ve lost count and the stadium probably costs the GDP of a small nation but all of that will be forgotten when the team takes the pitch for the first time in front of 62,062 supporters in their gorgeous new home. Spurs have just one match before this happens, and that’s a date with Liverpool up at Anfield after the international break. We’ve been this patient so far. Another month and the wait will finally be over.<doc-sep>
Tottenham’s first competitive match at their new 62,000-capacity stadium will be against either Brighton or Crystal Palace in the first week of April. The eagerly anticipated news came as the club announced they would host two test matches at the end of March to satisfy the requirements for a safety certificate. The new stadium will then stage a Premier League match between Spurs and Palace on 3 April or against Brighton on the weekend of 6-7 April, subject to Chris Hughton’s side’s progress in the FA Cup. Brighton have been drawn away to Millwall in the sixth round on 17 March. Tottenham’s preference for their opening match at the new stadium was always to avoid a midweek date and the first match against the former Spurs defender Hughton would add to the occasion for many supporters. The news means Spurs’ Champions League quarter-final will also take place at the new ground. Uefa officials conducted a site visit on Friday. The manager, Mauricio Pochettino, had previously stated he expected to play the last-eight tie at the venue on 9-10 or 16-17 April, following the draw on 15 March. A Tottenham statement read: “We have held discussions with the Premier League and Uefa. The following has been agreed with the Premier League, Brighton and Crystal Palace to ensure that our first game is a Premier League match prior to a Uefa Champions League quarter-final match. “If Brighton win their FA Cup quarter-final match on Sunday 17 March we shall play Crystal Palace on Wednesday 3 April and Brighton on 23 or 24 April. “If Brighton lose their FA Cup quarter-final match on Sunday 17 March we shall play Brighton on 6 or 7 April (subject to Champions League scheduling) and Crystal Palace on 23 or 24 April.” The test events at the new stadium will feature a Spurs Under-18s match against Southampton on 24 March before a Legends match on 30 March. The stadium will operate with a capacity of 30,000 for the under-18s match and 45,000 for the Legends match. Spurs had been scheduled to move to the new stadium – built on the site of the old White Hart Lane – at the start of the season but construction has been delayed. Instead the club have been forced to play home games at Wembley for a second consecutive season. The Tottenham chairman, Daniel Levy, has endured a challenging time during the disruption and ongoing delays to the stadium and apologised to supporters. The new ground is expected to cost around £750m and will also stage NFL games, with the chairman boasting it would “redefine sports and entertainment experiences”. Levy said: “We are delighted that we shall be able to welcome our supporters to the stadium and our players of the past and the future to take to the pitch on what will be momentous occasions for our club. Please do come and see your new stadium and share these moments. “Thank you all once again. Your support has been much appreciated during a challenging but exciting time.”