Can you feel nostalgia for a place that you've only visited once? While I only went to White Hart Lane one time, I've seen it numerous times since on television, and have the entire stadium burned into my memory.
Tomorrow will be the last home game for Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, which has served as their home since 1899. Too small now for the modern game, it is an absolutely amazing place to watch a match. I went there in 2003 for a pre-season game against PSV Eindoven, and immediately fell in love with the place. It was odd we couldn't bring a beer or food to our seats, which perplexed the Yanks going to a match for our first time. However, the grass was green, the fans were in full song, and the game was fast paced and incredible. I had to look the score up the other day, and it seems we lost that match. Sadly, during that time in our history, losing wasn't that rare an occurrence. But the passion, even during pre-season, made me smile. It was that season, when I started to feel a little bit of something whenever I heard the scores for Tottenham, that I realized I was becoming a fan.
The loss of White Hart Lane to a new stadium, scheduled to open for the 2018-2019 season, is very sad for the modern game. Nowadays in order to compete you need a larger stadium with Executive Suites which will bring in more revenue and allow the team to buy more players, making them competitive immediately. I think it's draining the soul out of the game. Tottenham are just doing what they need to do to remain competitive in the modern game, but that doesn't mean you can't miss the old times as well.
So many memories at the Lane for long time Spurs fans. Winning the double in 1961, the first team to do it in the 20th Century; Winning the Cup Winner's Cup in 1963, the first English team to do so; 8 FA Cup wins; 4 League Cups; 2 First Division Championships. While we haven't won anything recently, we haven't done too badly either. All of it was centered around The Lane. (Not to be confused with The Lane in Sheffield, that's another old and grand football ground.) Of course the win against Anderlecht to win the UEFA Cup was one of the best nights at the Lane, but so many others as well. Watching Kane score to ensure we beat Arsenal in the last North London Derby at WHL was special too.
The fact is we're losing a lot of these places all over the world now due to the economics of sports. Tigers Stadium in Detroit is gone, and while I'm sure Comerica Park is nice, it won't compare. Guaranteed Rate Field just isn't the same as Comiskey Park. While the new Cowboys Stadium looks great, it doesn't compare with the old one. I think we lose a little of the past when we leave these old stadiums, and the new ones just become disposable. Look in Atlanta! They got a new field in 1997, and now they built another one! Where does it end?
I do wish I'd gotten a chance to go one more time with Crazy Little Man. It would have been a great time, and he would've gotten to see it first hand. Either way, tomorrow night my time I'll be sitting on my couch and watching the final home match at White Hart Lane. One of the good things about the new Stadium, though, is that they aren't leaving the area that they've been in since 1899. The new stadium is being re-developed on the same grounds, and so while the stadium won't be there, the echos of the past will still be heard in the area surrounding the Stadium. We will remain N17, no matter what. Bill Nicholson would've wanted it that way.
As always, Come On You Spurs!
Update:
I did indeed watch the game last night on TV, and watched as we beat Man United (something that when I first started watching Spurs didn't happen at all). Afterwards, it rained on the crowd, but as the ceremony continued on the field (after clearing the fans from it first) a giant rainbow appeared over The Lane. Strangely, as everyone at the ground sang Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur, I accidentally hit the play button on my iPhone, and it started playing "Hallelujah" written by Leonard Cohen, but this version was Rufus Wainwright and a choir from Toronto and it seemed perfect.
