I was in London this morning after an overnight stay due to a concert at the Lafayette last night and had some time to fill so took his opportunity to do a tour of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, an experience I had not had so far. It was a really interesting tour starting off with a video showing some of the biggest Tottenham moments and plenty of goals scored from over the years, similar to something that would be shown to 62,000 on a matchday. We then walked to the West Atrium to see the trophies we have won (no, they are not gathering dust – contrary to popular belief) and learnt some interesting facts about the history of the football club. Did you know that Tottenham were the first club to put club coloured ribbons on the FA Cup Trophy back in 1901, and that started the yearly tradition of having club coloured ribbons on the trophy? Probably not. Neither did I until this morning.
After learning these facts and seeing replica trophies and match balls from iconic moments in Tottenham Hotspur history, it was time for a quick nosey around the premium suites and the expensive hospitality experiences that I could only dream of actually participating in outside of a stadium tour. The views were amazing of the pitch from these suites, and the chairs were very comfortable and the interior was sublime to match the premium pricing – it all looked very luxurious. If that wasn’t enough, there was a further closed off room with safes in it to keep prestigious alcohol bottles safe, highlighting how expensive they must be if the usual premium experience isn’t premium enough.
It was a self guided tour so you could wander round at your own leisure with headphones on to hear the commentary from a familiar voice in Ben Haines, who does lots of Tottenham content for the club.
The tour then took me to where the journalists and other media sources sit on a matchday, and they also have a great view alongside large desks and USB sockets so they can work comfortably. I must say I am very jealous of their jobs, as the media room where Ange Postecoglou is questioned pre and post match is also sublime.
After witnessing the media areas, it was time to visit the dressing rooms, both away and home. The away dressing room was luxurious and had masses of space and comfort throughout. Ben Haines explained that many clubs have poorer away dressing rooms to try and give them any disadvantage, but insisted Tottenham are a classy club and have good sportsmanship and hence the away changing room is luxurious. The home changing room felt unreal to be in as it is shown in videos on YouTube and other platforms including that Amazon All or Nothing documentary from the Jose Mourinho era. After having my photo taken in front of the Son, Kulusevski and Pedro Porro shirts, I looked into the gym and the physio before it was time to go pitchside and sit in the seat Ange Postecoglou does for all the home games. It was great to be so close to the pitch in a front row seat just looking on.
You could take as long as you like on the tour as it was self guided as I mentioned earlier, but I felt that 1 hour and 15 minutes was a good length in order to see everything and pick up all of the details you’d want to to make the most of the experience.