It's been a long time since my first knowledge of White Hart Lane and many hurdles have been leaped. I saw myself at the ground, on what was "Match of the Day", when television was in black and white in the 1960s. I had been lifted over the wall around the pitch and plonked on the red gras path, in front of Letter "O" which was painted on the white surrounding wall for half time results.
White Hart Lane was also the scene for my retirement party, when I left my teaching job at Charterhouse, an employment that lasted 44 years. My good friend and colleague Bob Noble sorted out a party at the ground, using the hospitality lounge behind what would have been the right hand goal as you walked onto the pitch from the dressing rooms.
David Howells, a Spurs' legend, helped with the arrangements, which involved the pitch and we played a Present School v Old Carthusians match on May 22nd 2013, when the pitch was no longer needed and was ready for repair and rejuvenation.
So I have a bit of history with WHL and have seen a good number of games there.
Today one of two test matches was played at the New £1billion Stadium, with Tottenham U18s taking on Southampton U18s. J'Neil Bennett scored Spurs' first goal at the new stadium, mimicking Tom Pratt's goal at White Hart Lane in 1899 v Notts County. It has taken at least 4 years to get to this "almost finished" point, which includes 17,500 seats in the South Stand, the largest single tiered stand in the UK, reaching up to 34 metres high. The Premier League has "signed off" the stadium which will hold 62,062.
The next test match is a Legends game and then.......
The first official PL match will be against Crystal Palace on April 3rd.
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