The title race for the English Premier League is coming down to the wire, and the excitement is translating to massive attendance rates for some of England’s biggest games. For the first time in more than a decade, we’re looking at the possibility of a new team taking home the title.
One of the biggest surprises has been the success of Leicester City, and Tottenham Hotspur is within spitting distance of its first Premier League title as well. When you add in Arsenal’s first opportunity to win the trophy in more than a decade, everyone is turning in to see who will prevail in this wild battle royale.
The league is typically dominated by the same crew of four or five teams in a world where money tends to be the only thing that matters when it comes to finishing first. With Chelsea and Manchester United standing outside the top four looking in for the first time in what seems like forever, even casual fans are eagerly eyeing every game for the opportunity to see someone not wearing red or blue hoist the Premier League trophy.
This level of fan involvement could be seen earlier in February when there was record attendance at the Etihad Stadium for Manchester City’s drubbing at the feet of Leicester. The match reached near-capacity numbers with a crowd of 54,693 showing up to watch their home team get waxed by the unlikely Premier League leaders.
Typically, the three teams that are promoted from the Championship are the favourites for relegation, but Leicester is bucking the trend. The club was only promoted last season after a more than a decade out of the top flight and were nearly relegated last year. The fact that the team is sitting on top of the heap has come as shock to pretty much everyone.
As of this writing, Tottenham Hotspur sits only two points behind the league leaders and could very well find themselves winning it all for the first time since the beginning of the Premier League era. Considering the team’s success, it makes more sense that the club is currently in the construction process of a new 61,000 seat stadium next door to their current digs at White Hart Lane. Tottenham’s present stadium was built in 1898, and we’re inclined to agree that the team deserves an upgrade after 118 years in the same house
With a current capacity of 36,284, that’s not a lot of wiggle room. If the club finishes with silverware at the end of the season, you can bet they’ll need some more room. The club plans to move into its new home at the beginning of the 2018-19 season, which leaves a few questions as to where the Spurs will play for the 2017-18 season. It has been suggested that the team’s 19 home league matches will be played at Wembley Stadium with its European and domestic tournament matches to be played at the Stadium mk, home of Milton Keynes Dons.
We personally can’t wait for construction to finish on the new stadium as it’s sure to be something of a technological marvel. We can only hope that we’ll still be able to afford tickets when the doors open in 2018. In the meantime, we’ll be looking to attend every match we can while there’s still time to pay our respects to the institution that is White Hart Lane.