Nearly half of Tottenham Hotspur supporters were unhappy with the atmosphere during games at Wembley last season, providing the club with another challenge when they return to the national stadium this month.
Tottenham have lost seven of their past nine games at the stadium, where the team were knocked out of the Europa League and FA Cup last season. Some 44 per cent of 3,208 fans who responded expressed “dissatisfaction” with the atmosphere at Wembley in the survey conducted by the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust (THST).
“That’s an area that needs attention,” THST said. “There have, over the last few years, been many opinions expressed about flags, banners and other visual elements of support, but 61 per cent of respondents still see them as helping to lift the crowd.”
Tottenham played European matches at the ground last season but will stage all home games at the venue in this campaign while it continues building work on their new stadium. Tottenham will host Chelsea in their first league game at home, a week on Sunday.
Mauricio Pochettino has said his Tottenham players have “no excuse” and need to quickly make Wembley feel like home whenever he was challenged about whether the team could reproduce their league results of the past two seasons. Tottenham finished third and second in the past two seasons respectively.
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Almost half of Tottenham fans also expressed concern that it would cost more to travel to Wembley than White Hart Lane.
When Tottenham return to the redeveloped White Hart Lane, which is expected to be next season, the supporters have suggested that the stands are named after some of its great players.
“Perhaps unsurprisingly, 85 per cent thought retaining tradition and heritage in a modern ground was important, with 63 per cent wanting to see the stands named after players and managers,” the report said. “Bill Nicholson, Jimmy Greaves, Danny Blanchflower and Ledley King topped the polls for names for stands.”
A little more than half of fans said they were satisfied with the club’s transfer policy and nearly everyone who responded was in favour of their emphasis on developing homegrown players.
“Looking ahead, 90 per cent think the Premier League should be the priority next season followed by the Champions League, then the FA Cup and League Cup,” THST said. “Asked about ENIC’s stewardship over the past five years, 83 per cent felt that had improved, the highest rating yet returned in a survey. And 79 per cent had confidence in ENIC’s long-term strategy for the Club — again, the highest rating yet returned.”
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Tottenham had attendances of around 85,000 in Champions League matches at Wembley last season, helped by the club selling a package for all home group games. Nearly all supporters approved that decision.
The club will benefit from the increased capacity of 61,559 at the new stadium, which is up from 36,284 at White Hart Lane, and will generate around £100 million in match-day income. Corporate fans are expected to occupy 7,000 seats as the club try to part fund the stadium, which is expected to cost between £700 million and £800 million.
There will be 104 corporate seats behind the manager and his dugout, which will have separate access to a glass-walled restaurant adjacent to where the players walk out of the tunnel. The seats will cost £9,500 each but must be bought in pairs — in addition to a one-off membership fee of £30,000 for the two tickets.
Although the cost of the ordinary season ticket has not been announced, price will be the biggest factor for three quarters of supporters deciding whether to renew their seat, according to the survey. Fans felt that the increased capacity at the new ground should provide the club with a way to reduce ticket prices.
“On pricing policy, 49 per cent felt the purpose should be to use the greater capacity to bring down the cost of all tickets, with just 7 per cent believing it should be to increase revenue,” THST said.
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“The majority of Season Ticket holders are willing to consider multi-year deal in the new ground, but only if a significant incentive is offered. At White Hart Lane 39 per cent said they were happy, with 26 per cent saying they were not happy with ticket pricing for games.”
Kieran Trippier will have a scan on his ankle today. The right back limped off against Juventus on Saturday.
