White Hart Lane

Ground Profile

Tottenham have called White Hart Lane home since 1899 when the ground was rented from a local brewery. The first competitive game saw QPR visit in a Southern League fixture watched by 11,000. Archibald Leitch drew up plans for a new main stand which seated 5,300 with standing for more than 6,000. By the end of that season a copper cockerel and ball adorned the apex of the mock-Tudor gable.

The whole of the East Stand was also covered in 1909 and enlarged two years later when the wooden terracing made way for concrete, increasing the ground holding to 50,000. By this time the ground was frequently being referred to as White Hart Lane, previously it was recorded as the High Road ground or White Hart grounds. The East Stand development was completed in 1934, costing £60,000 and again it was designed by Leitch and holding 5,100 seats and 18,700 terrace spaces increasing the ground capacity to nearly 80,000.

A new floodlighting system was introduced in 1972 at a cost of £26,000. A year later the West and South Stands were linked with an additional 700 seats. The old West Stand was demolished in November 1980 and replaced 15 months later by the present structure, officially opened on February 6, 1982 for the match against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

During the summer of 1989 the East Stand was refurbished to its current format signalling the disappearance of the floodlight pylons, to be replaced by spotlights on the East and West stands. The stand was re-opened on October 19, for the visit of Arsenal.

In 1992, seats replaced the lower terrace in both the East and South stands and, a year later, the lower North Terrace was also converted to an all-seater area. The roof of the North Stand was built to link up with the East and West stands. The South Stand re-development was completed in March 1995 and included the first giant Sony Jumbotron TV screen for live game coverage and away match screenings. The capacity of the stadium increased to just over 33,000.

Following a rights issue in 1996, capital was raised to build a new upper tier on the Paxton Road Members Stand that was completed at the end of the 1997/8 season. This also incorporated the second Jumbotron screen and has increased ground capacity to approximately 36,211.