By Holly Allison
It has been a long wait for the opening of Tottenham Hotspurs new stadium. But with the success of fan presence in Women’s Football, have Tottenham missed an opportunity by not involving them in the test events?
Last Sunday saw the first game to be played at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. This match acted as the stadium’s first official test event. It involved the North London side’s under-18 team, which beat Southampton under-18’s, 3-1.
LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 24: A general view of the action during the U18 Premier League between Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on March 24, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)
There has been recent success with hosting women’s football at the main stadium. Recently Juventus and Atletico Madrid have held matches at their main stadiums, which both sold out. This shows an increase of support for the women’s game. So why didn’t Tottenham put one of their women’s game there?
Tottenham Hotspur ladies play in the FA women’s championship and are currently second in the table with 39 points, a point behind leaders Manchester United who have a game in hand. They play their games at Cheshunt FC, a nine mile drive away from the men’s stadium. With Spurs due to play Manchester United Women on the 31stMarch, this would have been a great opportunity to show some quality women’s football in what could be the title decider.
They also had a home game planned on the same day as the first test event at the new stadium. Losing 2-1 to Sheffield United in a shock defeat to the league’s basement side.
CHESHUNT, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 17: Tottenham Hotspur team to face Manchester City during the SSE Women’s FA Cup match between Tottenham Hotspur Ladies and Manchester City Women at Cheshunt Football Ground on February 17, 2019 in Cheshunt, England. (Photo by Alex Morton/Getty Images)
By putting one of their women’s games on at the new stadium, it would have been a great opportunity to show how well supported the sport is in England and put the sport right into the spotlight. It would have supported the recent success abroad in Spain and Italy where women’s league games at the main stadium sold out.
So the question is, why wouldn’t the North London club want to grant the women the opportunity to play at such an incredible stadium? There might have been concerned that they wouldn’t have sold enough tickets, however this unlikely. Under-18 games don’t usually permit spectators and the older under-23 youth team only average 552 fans a game.
Earlier in the season they had teased the idea of the women’s side playing at White Hart Lane. The club with Nike Football released a video of ladies striker Ronnell Humes on the new pitch playing football in which she says, “first time here, and certainly not the last. Trust me.” Maybe next season because this season is looking unlikely.
Tottenham Hotspur have missed a big opportunity here to be a leader in the promotion of women’s football in the UK. With the announcement of Barclays agreeing a new multi-million partnership with the Women’s Super League from next season. They could live to regret this in the near future.
Leave a Reply