- Jan 6, 2013
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http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/football/clubs/westham/article4233453.ece
West Ham United could be willing to allow Tottenham Hotspur to share the Olympic Stadium while White Hart Lane is being redeveloped into a 56,250-seat stadium.
The east London club will move into their new home for the start of the 2016-17 season and are not prepared to share the limelight with another club after their hard work in securing the venue. However, they might allow Tottenham to rent the stadium for 2017-18, in what would be arguably the most high-profile ground-share in English football. Spurs would then kick off at their newly expanded home the next season.
The possibility of using the Olympic Stadium would be a boost for Tottenham, after they were told this week by the FA that Wembley was not a plausible destination because of its existing calendar of events and the FA’s plan to attract more American football matches to the venue.
Wembley was overwhelmingly the favoured destination in a poll of the Tottenham Supporters’ Trust taken last month, and the group had “serious issues” with the club’s other option in Milton Keynes. They have complained about its distance from London and the 22,000 capacity of stadium:mk being lower than the number of season ticket-holders at White Hart Lane.
Joe Lewis, Tottenham’s principal owner, will not fund a new stadium and the club appointed Rothschild, the merchant bank, to help to finance the redevelopment project, which is likely to cost between £350 million and £400 million.
Tottenham later concluded that it is cheaper, quicker and would reduce construction issues if they vacate the present site while work is carried out. They secured planning permission for a new stadium nearly three years ago, but have been bogged down in politics, funding and planning problems.
The club still needs to secure one piece of land but Archway Metals, a family-run business, has appealed against a compulsory purchase order on its property in the adjacent Paxton Road. There remain local issues about land purchase for other property developments required to fund the project.