If Stratford Hotspur happens, it ends there...
Saturday, January 8, 2011 at 7:10PM Guest blog by Jack aka tehTrunk.
Yes hello, you may remember me, I was the bloke what done them little cartoon things with the voices and stuff. I'm here today in a different capacity, to share my thoughts on the eerily quiet new stadium goings on at Stra...Tottenham Hotspur. I say quiet, but thankfully Karen Brady's constant barking does serve some purpose, if only in reminding us of the fact that we could well, genuinely, be leaving not just White Hart Lane but Tottenham itself.
Yeah, this could actually happen. WTF OMG?!!1! (I'm writing on the internet, it's allowed (lol))
Now, I'm not from Tottenham, I don't even live in North London. My allegiance with Spurs is the age old father son connection familiar with many football fans. You know, when dad creeps into your bedroom at night, gagging you with an Arsenal scarf in order to play hide the magic banana? Since those days, anything bearing the cannon of them lot down the road turns my stomach and reminds me of those mornings where I'd have to swagger into school like a cowboy. This then reminds me of cowboys which I also hate (I always preferred Indians). Suffice to say that sitting through Brokeback Mountain was a nightmare.
Alas, I digress.
Where was I?
Oh yes, I support Tottenham but I'm not from Tottenham, there we go.
These recent mutterings that we could be leaving Tottenham to take up residence in the Millennium Dome (er Olympic Stadium mate?!)have created a strange and uncomfortable conflict within my thoughts, much like when I catch a glimpse of Niko Kranjcar. As I've already covered but will tell you again, Tottenham isn't my home, the team Tottenham Hotspur isn't my local team so why should I care where the team plies it's trade? I don't know really, but I do.
History has always been an important part of this club, given that during the years I've supported them there has been little success, but it's been instilled into me that this is a club with heritage, with tradition. I'm sure most clubs think this way, but we support Spurs, we don't care what myths other clubs supporters perpetuate amongst themselves. We're onto a new chapter now, who knows where it goes. I'm enjoying, while it lasts, us grabbing headlines and having a squad filled with world class players, but this isn't why I support Spurs.
We all know about our cup runs, and double heroics and European glory glory nights so I'll save the maudlin mush.
Football is a business (no sheet Sherlock). It's easy to say, but it's hard to grasp what this actually means. Business' exist to make money. The chairmen, the board, they don't care about you, they don't care about me (they should care about me, I'm awesome. Not you though. D*ckhead) Does the CEO of McDonalds care that your burger doesn't look like it does in the picture on the board?
Daniel Levy is a business man. Don't ever forget that. For all his 'Spurs fan' talk, he's a business man. He's not big Dan from down the pub who wears a Spurs shirt on match days and gets asked to leave the pub when he's had a few too many and is getting loud sweary cross and scaring the couple who just popped in for an ale and glass of house white after finishing shopping, whilst he watches Spurs lose to Wolves at home (all in 3D mind). Levy, and the people surrounding him want to make money. This isn't all a bad thing, money has allowed us to assemble the squad we see before us today. Moving to the Olympic Stadium makes perfect business sense.
It's cheaper than building an entirely new stadium. It has a massive capacity. It looks well nice so will entice new fans. Having a massive, well nice stadium increases the club's prestige both at home and abroad. This will see a rise in the attendance, fan base and the type of investors and players we can attract to the club. Maybe it'll even see us become a more attractive option to a super mega rich foreign owner, who'll buy us Messi and we can win everything and be the best team in the world and even make it onto Sky Sports montages and have our players pictured on the front of the packets of football stickers found on the newsagent's counter.
Spurs, nay, football in general is entering into a dangerously vacuous and shallow era. This potential move to Stratford is a perfect example of that. Forget the history, forget about the locals, forget the name, we're going to move. We'll be Stratford Hotspur, it'll be just the same just we'll make more money and maybe win more stuff and then football will be more better, honest. Yeah, worked well for Wimbledon.
You can scream at me until you're blue faced, the endless clichés that 'we have to do it to compete', 'we want to win stuff what with City getting better now', 'Liverpool will bounce back sooner or later'. I don't care. I didn't support Spurs because they competed, because they were amazing, I support Spurs because they're Spurs. Sacrificing what we are in order to get to what we perceive is a higher level is like the bloke who ditches all his ugly best mates because he wants to be more popular with women. He's a lonely, boring, desperate tool and everyone can see it but him.
I know my thoughts don't represent those of all Spurs fans, and I don't look down on anyone for feeling differently (I really do to be honest). I just see this as one of many examples of how appalling our society is now. It's like saying that I think my mum is fat and ugly and I want a new one with less droopy wangers that way it'll reflect better on me and then I'll be happier. I don't think you're fat and ugly by the way Mummy, Trunky wuvs woo.
If Stratford Hotspur happens, it ends there for me. FC Hotspur of Tottenham or whoever else likely pops up it'll be. You can take your Gareth Bales, VDVs and whoever else and shove them. Along with your reality TV, IKEA furniture, tabloid newspapers, celebrities, Thomas Cook holidays and most of all your Sky Sports.
If all of you told Levy where he could stick his plan, it wouldn't happen, fact. But you won't.
Think on.
Be sure to visit We are N17 for your anti-Stratford fix and latest news. You can also find them on Twitter and Facebook.
Previous Stratford/N17 articles by Spooky:
N17: Home is where the heart is
A nail in the coffin of Stratford?
For some, it's a brutal interrogation...
Reader Comments (559)
Bit special that. But the problem is many fans want to support the best team and most want silverware and bragging rights. It's no longer about the football much like footballers are no longer about loyalty and very much about the money.
Really good piece though. Does touch a nerve.
My allegiance comes via the cousin-cousin route *In headlock from my cousin,* "if you support one club, it must be Tottenham Hotspur." He lived around there before moving back to Sri Lanka.
Regardless, this article sums up perfectly how I feel as well. I live in the states, have never had the chance to visit Tottenham, but I know it wouldn't be the same if we moved to Stratford. It just wouldn't. Great post.
Teh Trunk?? Where you at? Say no to Stratford in the form of a protest or something like the above won't help. We are losing the battle because the decision has more or less been made. it's a case of how the club and Levy go about their business with slowly washing over the controversy with plenty of PR and bribes (probably move the gates to Stratford and build a statue). We should not move but thanks to the fact West Ham are so shit the owners would rather give us the stadium than them. Hence Brady in the papers every other day mouthing off.
Jack, good with videos, good with words. Nice to see you team up with DML.
Article is on the money (and funny).
To be honest, out of all the fans the club would lose, I'd be pretty glad for it to lose you.
I hope we do move there just so fucking idiots like you can fuck off from claiming to support the team. "IF" you support them then you support them forever.
Nailed it. But then most bloggers and online articles seem to be pro-N17 and very much anti-Stratford.
Im all for the move and cant wait to get there!! i'll be able to take the kids more regularly, hopefully see some silverware, big name signings and all the rest that goes with modern day football. It's a sign of the times, it aint gonna change for little old you so embrace and enjoy!!
I will tell Danny L. I have told the mayor of London and the minister for sports.
It will make no difference.
I will not go to Stratford.
Bye bye Tottenham, 2nd love of my life.
Love your cartoony things tehTrunk
If Stratford happens something inside me will die..... You know the father son thing you talk about, I have so many fond memories of sitting in the back of my dads car going to WHL to see my beloved spurs... Dave Mackay Jimmy greaves Cliff jones all hero's... I also don't live in tottenham but it's where my team come from and I love the place for that reason.... We need to start a major protest to nip this in the bud before it becomes a reality.
I can honestly say as a die hard spurs fan if this move happens I will never go and watch them again !!
Truefan - if we moved outside of London say if Stratford wasn't an option and the club still wanted to move, you'd be happy with that right? Get up and leave for money and prawn sandwiches. No questions asked. No emotions tested. Just asking.
N17 is a sh1thole....not a family friendly place to take the wife and kids. Quicker Totts leave that crackhole the better. ....looking forward to a Stadium that after the 2012 Olympics WILL be the most recognised Stadium on the planet!! Spurs have around 80 acres to develop in Stratford, as opposed to the 20 acres of sh!thole in N17. More room in Stratford means more money my boy....think of the money, think of the money. We not doin this for fun you know, think of the money.....time is up for N17, its time to move on to bigger and better things in Totts history. This move will be much better for anyone travelling by public transport. Time to move! #:)
old pirate, you more or less touch upon the crux of it that has Spurs fans up in arms against each other over this. Football has changed and I guess for people like me, Jack and others, those non-significant non-profit making emotional/romantic attachments and notions associated with being in N17 are the only remaining anchors to what football use to be and should be all about.
I'd hate it if we got bought out by Arabs, for example. Same difference here. There is a sudden massive shift of thinking towards having to make millions or fall behind others. Is there a guarantee that comes with that? I doubt it.
So yes, football has changed and the people who go to the game are also changing, a little. But I'm hoping that's a fallacy and the majority still see football for what it is.
Moments.
Football is about moments.
This is going to get tasty.
Its time for those of us who are happy to move to start to.admit it - its nothing to be ashamed of. Olympic Tottenham here we go. Also beware two of my mates both West Ham fans have both started to support the N17 campaign - must tell us something!
If we moved, then I wouldn't go near the Franchise Football Club that would move to Stratford. It's all about money, and football in general is heading down a slippery path with the likes of City spanking their money around like someone who's just won the lottery.
And think about it - wouldn't be a right old laugh to own a new football club? I'm thinking of the positives should we ever move. Seeing my beloved Tottenham Hotspur die would be an absolute atrocity, but the club that could emerge from the ashes could be something truly special. Proper supporters running their own club upon which they have shares. You only have to look at AFC Wimbledon and see how much can be done in such a short space of time.
Still, I want us to stay at the Lane. Let's all do out utmost to ensure that this happens.
What I'll miss are the dodgy old boozers that will undoubtedly disappear overnight, no more mixing with the away fans at the Olive Branch, watching pole dancer on the bar at The Bill Nicholson or drinking cans of beer in 'garden' of the Bell & Hare - it will be all rip off trailer bars or expensive plastic pints in the ground like at Wembley. No thanks.
Having said that I wont be going to support Haringey Borough FC, just match day will be less fun...
For many people, Spurs and other "EPL" clubsfans, it is becoming a choice between history / football or money. I know a lot of Citeh fans who are actually not happy - and I have always said that my relationship with Spurs ends if the same happens to us.
I don't want it, it is not what I signed up for all those decades ago.
But, it is all too late.
Sky own football, World Cups in January, money talks.
Keep Tottenham in Tottenham, or they are not Tottenham but a different club
Simples as that fecking meerkat says.
Some suggestion in the press today that Beckham coming to Spurs has little to do with his current playing ability and everything to do with helping us get the OS.
I would prefer we stay in N17, but would support the team wherever they played.
Interesting atricle but I cannot help but feel that anyone who can drop their allegiance that easily and at the drop of a hat is not much of a supporter.
Agreed with the first comment, that did touch a nerve, i've been trying to forget those nights with daddy for years.
The only problem that bothers me with the original option of the stadium at WHL is the capacity. Today a 56.000 capacity I think isn't big enough to accommodate a club that has as target to be antagonistic to MU, Arse and other top European clubs.
hahaha
Newsflash! Stratford is a shit hole too. And if anyone frequents the Central Line - welcome to a new world of pain.
'I'd hate it if we got bought out by Arabs' my name is Spooky, and I'm... a racist.
The first match I saw was Spurs v Hull City in the then 2nd Div in 1950! when I was 13, and have supported them ever since. My Dad took me and there was no other club for him.
I would be heartbroken if we moved from Tottenham, but my son, naturally a Spurs fan is not that bothered.
David,
I sit shelfside every week and sing my heart out - "we are Tottenham..super Tottenham from the Lane"
Drop of a hat? No I'll support Tottenham forever, Stratford - different matter. Ask wimbledon fans.
Tottenham, N17, is a shit hole of an area. I know first hand. Dirty, overcrowded and riddled with crime...yet I still don't want to go to Stratford.
where do you get all this stratford hotspur stuff from. I dont want to move either as big a shit hole as the area of tottenham is. The premier league have already stated we will not have to change our name if we move to stratford. The thing i cannot get my head round is by moving we give the woolwich south london pikey scum sole rights to north london! And that fuckin hurts.
SHELFY... it's the same team, same club, same players, same manager playing 6 miles down the road.
I don't understand how anyone who supports the club can just turn that support off overnight.
Better if we stay in N17 but if we can't, I am not going to pretend the club I have supported for 50 years no longer exists.
You said I support SPURS because they are SPURS. They will still be 'Spurs'. No-one is going to change the name of the club to Stratford Hotspur, current popular choice is making the official name of the club 'SPURS'. You'll still be a Spurs fan.
So, identity-crisis over!
But when the Enfield support (sophisticated bunch, they'll really be missed... a lot) start up FC Spurs of Tottenham, I think I'll make the trip to watch them - it'll be a great laugh as a one-off, when the Messi-inspired Spurs are away to Sunderland or something :-)
Yes, stay in tottenham, we neeeeeeeed you and mr levy's money to regenerate the shithole that is tottenham! If you move to Stratford, all of your fans will leave you too.
Well, about 3,000 of them anyway. I bet most that have joined no to N17 campaign are West Ham.
This is difficult for me, I love the walk down to the lane, the real feeling of history, the atmosphere, specially on some of the European night games. Spurs belongs to Tottenham.
BUT then, if you're looking for an elephant in the room, the difference between being in Tottenham and Stratford is between £200-£250m. That's not a small difference, it's worth more than the individual value of what? 5-6 of the clubs in the Premier League?
My head rules my heart just a bit here and I admit feelings of guilt this because I love the lane. As fans the benefits just seem to win over, it will be so much easier to get in and out of there, ticket availability will be much improved, we will not be massively in debt the future which has got to mean we won't be able to make signings when we need it, do you think with a £450m millstone around our neck we'll be able to buy in the quality when we need it? Would we be so happy if, say half way through the season when things were going bad and we desperately needed to sign a defender and there was no cash in the bank?
If the difference between the options was small fry I would be right behind 'No to Stratford' but the numbers being talked about are sadly in a different stratosphere. I might be in the minority here, sorry!!
'Interesting atricle but I cannot help but feel that anyone who can drop their allegiance that easily and at the drop of a hat is not much of a supporter'.
Sorry but DAVID, that's a load of bollocks. I got to about 25 games each season home and away, yet the soul of the club would disappear should we move to Stratford. Our club has a massive emphasis on tradition, history and roots - well wouldn't we be abandoning that if we moved to East London for pure moentry gain?
I've never lived in Tottenham let alone Tottenham, but it just wouldn't feel right watching games in a new stadium in East London.
Franchise FC. Ask Wimbledon supporters. They deserted their 'patch' for the dollar signs, but I certainly won't follow the money myself.
I'd be gutted if we moved to Stratford but at the end of the day if we want to compete every year with Man Ure and the lesser London teams then we need a bigger stadium.
I've followed them all over Europe so i'd follow them to Stratford if i had to.
COYS
what about tomorrow a little chorus of
you can stick fuckin stratford up your arse!
you can stick fuckin stratford up your arse!
you can stick fuckin stratford! stick fuckin stratford!
stick fuckin stratford up your arse!!!
teh trunk youre a dinosaur son, oh yeh and 78`s are much better than cd`s....ADAPT WITH THE TIMES OR DIE IN HISTORY..
PARK LANE JAMES... So explain to me how you just stop supporting the club. I cannot do it.
And try keeping the debate abuse free.
tottenham is a shithole but its my fuckin shithole our shithole!One my favourite ever memories after the birth of my son was the very first time i walked down seven sisters a fourteen year old boy with two of my pals beautiful sunshine beating down on my new spurs kit and then it appeared out of nowhere, my teams home i was going to watch my hero's for the first time, magical is what it was, i want my son to do that the excitment of walking down that road or walking round the corner from the station and seeing the stadium appear,its not just about our history its just like spooky said moments and i just feel it would never be the same
Great blog Jack. Agree with the lot but I wouldn't stop supporting them. I'd just love football a little less.
Spooky - yes football is about moments, so if we were stuck in Stratford and beat Arsenal 3-2 in the final minute, that moment would far out weigh where the stadium sits. All that will matter is the Lilywhite shirt.
What's more important? Heart and soul or cold, hard cash. Stevenage offered us a nice little reminder tonight.
Machine - yeah I know. Unlike Jack, I wouldn't give up but will hardly be skipping into the brave new world outside of N17 that some people seem to think is the pot at the end of the rainbow.
THFC till I die and all that.
There's a lot being made that if we don't move now or soon then we'll never progress. This seems to be the pro-Stratford argument. Let's all move into West Ham territory because it's a tad prettier than N17. If I'm backwards for being so attached to stuff that isn't tangible, then soz. Can't help the way I feel.
David,
I have to beg to differ - if you know your history!
It will not be the same club, the heart will have been transplanted solely for the big £s.
Most, if not all Spurs fans are true (North London inhabitants or not). If we sell out, deny our heritage and rip the soul from N17 we'll become another sky club.
I've been a st holder for donkeys years, my heart will break, but I WILL go watch Barnet instead. A random plastic can have my ticket in East London.
Shame
SpursSimon, what's the problem with World Cups in January?
Many leagues around the world have their programmes interrupted by the World Cup, because their seasons run from March to October.
It is only fair that just once, European leagues can accommodate the competition. It is fair, if you think that World Cup is important.
Personally, I couldn't give a toss about the World Cup, all I care about is Spurs - but I think that if you have to have it, it's only fair to have it in Winter one time.
Besides which, the fashion on Sky and so forth is for saying that Qatar 'can reach over 40 degrees' as if it were Spain.
The truth is that its ALWAYS over 40 in June and July - it CAN reach over 50 degrees.
The very fact we are all arguing amongst ourselves tells you everything you need to know about the ever changing face of corporate family orientated football.
Question to all:
What do you prefer? Standing and terraces? Or sitting in seats and boxes?
If you prefer to stand does that mean you live in the past? Of course it fucking doesn't. If you prefer standing because its more tribal are you living in the past? Just because football is changing doesn't mean we can't make a stand and fight against it.
Take Tottenham Hotspur out of Tottenham and it's not Tottenham.
There, summed it up in one sentence without the funnies.
Hear hear,I am from Belfast and go over as much as I can but will never be back if we move never.it is a shithole but it can be saved.If levy gets this move he will sell and he would have made cnuts out of all the fans that buy into HIS dreams. Anyone want to buy my car reg it is n17 yid cos it will mean fuck all soon
moving away from our roots, rings alarm bells. Sound like the ARSE anyone?
Stick with N17, have our own, brand new stadium. Hopfully all this stratford talk is to pressure hackney council into do all it can to keep Tottenham in tottenham
....irony..........It almost feels as though its our destiny, after all we are a club of firsts, and it would be announced when the year end in one...
DAVID
I wouldn't be giving up supporting the club. For me, it wouldn't exist anymore. TOTTENHAM Hotspur would be no more and in its place a new club would be formed to preserve the traditions and history our our beloved Spurs. It's not just about Spurs either. Premier League football as a whole is going down the same route. I'm training to become a football coach, and I want to preserve the ethic and tradition of our beautiful game. Spurs moving to East London would go right against that, just like how City are trying to buy the league.
And I'm not sure why everybody is talking about the idea of 'Stratford or North London Development Project'. What about re-developing the current stadium? If the cost differences are so vast then surely that is a very viable option.
I really wonder how much of our match-going support we would lose should we move to Stratford.
westbelfast - I'll have it :-)
Worth £s at the moment, worthless post 2012