Tottenham planning “fitting finale” for White Hart Lane

It’s official now: this will be the last season at White Hart Lane for Tottenham Hotspur. Yesterday, the club announced that it had invoked its option to play all of its home fixtures in the 2017-18 season at Wembley Stadium while it finishes construction on its currently unnamed new ground.

But, as with any ground with that amount of history, Spurs aren’t letting it go quietly into that good night. On the heels of the Wembley announcement, the club submitted a release outlining a basic plan to send the Lane off with what they call a “fitting finale.”

First, the club released details of a commemorative Tottenham Hotspur crest that celebrates the end of White Hart Lane.

It’s not clear yet in what capacity this crest will be used, but it will certainly be available on select Spurs merchandise and on club branding ahead of the final home game against Manchester United on Sunday, May 14.

Other White Hart Lane tributes include the following:

• A digital timeline and docu-film that will collect and collate supporter stories about White Hart Lane and its importance to the Tottenham community
• A commemorative match-day programme produced for the final home match against Manchester United
• A custom-made time capsule that will be buried at the point where the old footprint of White Hart Lane overlaps with the new stadium

There will no doubt be numerous other tributes paid to the Lane announced by the club in forthcoming days; the release made it clear that this was but a teaser of what was planned. We’ll be sure and keep you updated as we learn more.

Spurs supporters have known this has been coming for a long time now, but with the club dragging its feet on the Wembley option there was always just a tiny bit of ambiguity of when the end would be coming. Now we know for sure. While it will be sad to say goodbye to the Lane, the club seem determined to send her off with a very fond farewell, even as it then turns its gaze to the future.