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Coming out of Seven Sisters tube station, it doesn’t take long to see it. That futuristic marble, that sublime golden cockerel. As fans filtered out of the station and made their way down a well-trodden path, the gasps upon glimpsing the stadium were audible. Tottenham Hotspur, finally, are home.
After flinging the doors open last week, with an Under-18 game that saw Spurs defeat Southampton 3-1, this was a far more jovial encounter, a Legends game taking place in a carnival atmosphere.
Seeing the likes of Paul Gascoigne, Rafael van der Vaart and David Ginola all take to the pitch to face an Inter side boasting Javier Zanetti, Juan Sebastian Veron and Dejan Stankovic was slightly surreal, but the supporters basked in a no-lose atmosphere. Spurs lost 5-4 but it didn’t really matter.
The noise in this, the most futuristic stadium in England, really is something else. The South Stand, the largest of its kind in the country, will be rocking when Manchester City come to visit in the Champions League and this Wednesday, when Crystal Palace become the first official visitors in the Premier League.
There have been a number of new stadiums built across the years in the Premier League; the Etihad Stadium for Manchester City, the Emirates for Arsenal. West Ham United, too, moved across the city from Upton Park to the London Stadium after repurposing it for use as a football stadium.
None of those three live up to what Tottenham have done. The stadium is more imposing than those three – all categorised by a lack of noise and genuine passion – with the fans so close to the pitch they can almost touch it. Ripples of noise cascade around the stands and become roars. One can feel the seats vibrate at times.
Saturday was a trip down memory lane for many, remembering the days when Spurs had perhaps the most entertaining flair players in the league. But then, they didn’t quite have the steel to go with it.
Now, with Mauricio Pochettino at the helm, they do, but there are challenges even still. A recent run of poor form has put even Champions League qualification into question.
But with this glorious stadium now built and ready, one feels they are on a precipice, set to break through into a glorious new era.
Of course, there are worries. Fans are concerned that there may not be the money required to furnish the playing squad with the best players after seeing the Gunners struggle for so long.
But it feels as though that has been taken into consideration. The likes of Harry Kane and Dele Alli have already signed new contracts and this is a glimpse into what Spurs want to become. They want to become the very best in the world.
As Darren Anderton put it, “who wouldn’t want to play here every week?”
It is a fair question and, while the likes of Christian Eriksen and Toby Alderweireld may leave, one cannot ever fault the board’s ambition again.
No, they haven’t signed a new player since 2018, but the money is saved, surely ready to be spent this summer. New signings will see this stadium, a “landmark”, as Football.London correspondent Alasdair Gold put it, and surely be entranced.
There is pressure, of course, between now and May.
Spurs have to finish in the Champions League qualification places; nobody wants to see them playing Astra Giurgiu on a Thursday night here, and they may well need the financial boost that qualification offers them.
Achieve that, and there’s every chance that Spurs can go from strength to strength.
They have challenged for the title twice under Pochettino; this season, that challenge came at Wembley, a soul-less corporate bowl that actively turned fans off watching their beloved club. It petered out, eventually, with Manchester City and Liverpool setting an almost impossible pace.
But they stayed in contention for so long that Spurs were seen as genuine contenders.
In this new stadium, with the fans behind them from the first game, with new stars and with the backing of the board, next season will be different.
It cannot possibly be worse than this campaign, such have been the fluctuations in form at home. Remember, the final season at White Hart Lane saw Spurs go unbeaten before it was knocked down to make way for this glistening behemoth in the centre of Tottenham.
Perhaps it will prove the catalyst that Spurs have needed for so long, and they will finally break through the glass ceiling and win silverware.
Looking around the place, one has to feel that this stadium deserves it.
