"You'll have one of finest stadiums in Europe" Levy tells Spurs fans as Pele backs their bid

By Andrew Warshaw

January 21 – Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy (pictured) has urged the club’s fans to understand the motives for moving to the Olympic Stadium after the London 2012 Games, assuring them they would have one of the finest football venues in Europe.

Spurs and West Ham United both delivered their final bids to the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) today and Levy made a point of outlining exactly why the North London club were keen to move east into a 60,000-seater ground at Stratford.

Levy has had to deal with an increasingly passionate campaign by supporters against the club abandoning its traditional roots but insists they will not regret switching from White Hart Lane.

In an impassioned open letter on the Tottenham website updating fans on the thinking behind the OPLC bid, Levy tried to explain why the Olympic venue was becoming a more viable option than expanding the existing site and turning White Hart Lane into a 56,000-seater as part of the so-called Northumberland Development Project (NDP).

The Olympic Stadium, he promised, would be designed along the same lines as a rebuilt White Hart Lane and would deliver “one of the best fan experiences anywhere in Europe”.

Levy was at pains to identify a string of benefits and non-football activities, stressing how much easier it would be to get to Stratford by public transport compared to White Hart Lane.

As part of the all-important legacy debate, he repeated Tottenham’s much-publicised plan to modernise the Crystal Palace athletics stadium so that it can once again stage top class track and field.

Whether Levy’s remarks will wash with Spurs fans remains to be seen.

Although he detailed exactly why the athletics track would have to be removed to give fans a proper match-day experience, nothing he wrote was new in the sense of appeasing those fundamentally opposed to a move.

Except one thing possibly.

Levy hinted that Spurs could end up with no other option – other than staying where they are at 36,000 — if the NDP fails to get full planning agreement or becomes too expensive to implement.

“I must once again repeat the concerns we have about the viability and deliverability of the NDP,” wrote Levy.

“The cost of consent has been high.

“This is not attributable to any one stakeholder, but is rather the result of the cumulative nature of the various obligations.

“We have worked well in partnership with Haringey Council and I should like to thank them for their support in reaching this stage in the process.

“No progress has been made with the remaining land owners and this is a potentially costly issue.

“As such, we have yet to conclude the site assembly.

“Compulsory Purchase Orders are of course one route to resolving this, but that process is uncertain and can take years to conclude.

“So, in some ways much has happened, and in others we are still determining new stadium plans.”

The all-important principle, said Levy, was taking Spurs to the next level – in other words, a bigger and more commercially viable ground.

“We have to seek a stadium solution which does not undermine the financial stability of the club or its ability to continue to invest in the first team,” said Levy.

“If you look at the stadium capacities of the top 20 clubs in Europe, they all exceed ours.

“The new UEFA Financial Fair Play rules will mean that we shall only be able to outlay income generated through the activities of the club – increased match day revenues play a major role in a club’s finances and we need to ensure that we are in a position to thrive and to continue to compete at the highest level.

“Perhaps more importantly, we now have over 35,000 fans on the paid-for waiting list for season tickets.

“It is an astonishing figure and a real reminder of the strength of support for this club and the hunger there is to come and see the team playing some of the most attractive and exciting football in the Premier League and in European competition.

“I am ever-conscious of the feelings of our fans – on all fronts.

“I have never made any secret of the fact that I am ambitious on behalf of this club and our fans.

“You could say that the one choice we do have is the choice between standing still or moving forward.

“I know what my choice is and, judging from the emails we receive at the club, you join me in wanting to see our club progress.

“A new stadium is critical to our continued success.”

Even Brazilian football legend Pele has added his voice to those backing Spurs’ plans to take over the Stadium.

Spurs have managed to get Pele onside, with the world’s most famous footballer backing the club’s plan to remove the athletics track if its bid is successful.

“I really don’t understand wanting to play with a track around the pitch,” said Pele.

“The players won’t like it and it probably won’t last.

“There is a big difference when a track separates you from the fans and them from you.

“You want connection with the fans – their excitement is your excitement.”

In a dispatch to OPLC boss Andrew Altman, Pele added: “As a player I need to feel the passion and the intensity of the fans.

“The best stadiums connect the fans to the pitch and if you lose that you lose something that really matters and eventually you lose the fans.”

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