‘It wasn’t White Hart Lane… but it was suitably Spurs’– A fan’s take on Tottenham’s opening night at Wembley

Big Night: Spurs fans arrive at Wembley
Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images
Chris Miller15 September 2016

When I spoke to my friends and fellow podcasters on The Fighting Cock this week, we wondered how playing at Wembley would affect both the team and the supporters.

Football fans are creatures of habit so playing home Champions League games away from White Hart Lane put a few noses out of joint. Different travel arrangements, different seats, different block-mates. Fans rightly question such decisions.

But Tottenham pulled out all the stops to ensure there was consistency and a ‘home from home’ feeling.

Stepping off the train at Wembley Park station last night, the banners — the famous cockerel, alternating with the ‘To Dare Is To Do’ club motto — were visible on each street light leading up to the stadium. The pre-match call to wear colours had worked, and Wembley was whitewashed.

Inside, there were familiar videos on the screens, Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur blaring from the sound system, and flags; one, a beautifully simple cockerel on white background hanging from the roof, and two others — surfers — doing the rounds of the lower tier.

After a lump-in-throat moment as the Champions League music played, there was a roar when the referee blew his whistle.

A traditional, animalistic, Spursy roar, as if to say ‘we’re not at our real home but we’re here with you’.

Photo: Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty
Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images

A spine-tingling rendition of ‘Oh When The Spurs…’ seemed to stay largely in synch — a common problem at such a vast stadium — and it was only when Monaco made it 2-0 that the noise dipped.

With Spurs scoring just before the break, the volume rose again, and the second half started off with terrific intensity. It wasn’t White Hart Lane but there was a buzz; it was an exciting place to be. The result was deflating and I walked away with an overwhelming feeling of ‘what if’; what if we’d defended properly, what if we’d taken our chances, what if I’d taken an escalator rather than the stairs (So. Many. Steps).

Our last dalliance with the Champions League involved some of the best atmospheres in the club’s modern history and it was always going to be impossible to replicate those, particularly away from our spiritual home. But this was a lot of fun and suitably Spurs.

In Pictures: Tottenham vs AS Monaco

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There have always been concerns that when Spurs build the new stadium they will only half fill it. This was reassuring; we really can turn up in the numbers that Daniel Levy will have you believe.

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