FA Chairman confirms Spurs "quite close" to Wembley deal in 2017-18

The deal that will take Tottenham Hotspur across town to Wembley Stadium in the 2017-18 season seems to be inching closer to completion. Today, the Mirror printed quotes from FA Chairman Greg Dyke that suggested that Spurs are "quite close" to a deal that will have them play all of their home matches... and possibly any Champions League matches as well... in England's national stadium.

“We are certainly in discussions with Spurs that they should come in for a full season when they are rebuilding their stadium and we are along way down the path to reaching an agreement.

"And there are some discussions about them playing their Champions League games at Wembley next year but I don't know much about that. On the full season I think we are quite close to a deal.”

There isn't a whole lot new here that we didn't already know. What is new is that we have actual quotes from the FA Chairman, which takes it out of the realm of here-say and "sources report" and into the realm of actual possibility. I suspect Dyke wouldn't be talking about it if he didn't feel extremely confident that a deal could be worked out.

I think if you'd ask most London Tottenham fans if they'd prefer a year at Wembley or a year at stadium:MK, the other supposed option, they'd pick Wembley. You can certainly grumble a little about Wembley's stadium atmosphere, especially considering that they would likely only use the bottom two tiers for "home" games. Those two bottom tiers can hold about 50k supporters, which is significantly more than White Hart Lane can accommodate, even if the crowd noise will be a little less than what Spurs fans are used to.

Of course we wait for the official word from the club before saying that this is a thing that's going to happen. But it sure does look likely! Whether it's used for league matches only or Champions League matches as well, it's looking like Spurs won't have to move too far away from their old home while they build their new home.