I'd read somewhere that the Paxton would be first to come down, but it looks like they're digging into the West Stand first. Here are my West Stand memories ... - Anton Ferdinand heading in a corner with literally the last touch of the game to give West Ham a thoroughly underserved 1-1 draw in 2005. That sucked. - Shaking hands with Chripy (he has hands) before the Qarabag Europa League game last season. That didn't suck - but it wasn't that great. admittedly, my West Stand memories aren't particularly stirring.
If they don't put it up on the roof at Wembley, or the new stadium for that matter, then they should put it outside the locker room. That way it becomes our version of the "This is Anfield" sign.
Hard to see. I'll be glad when this is done and there isn't really any recognizable old stadium left, and we can look forward to the new one.
this is like a hideous car crash for me. it's ghastly to see ... but I just can't look away. it's like 20 or so years back, when St Mary's Catholic Church - a beautiful structure with extraordinary woodwork of 19th century German craftsmanship - was struck by lightning and caught fire. I stood out in the pissing rain watching for two hours as it burned to nothing but brick and stone. geez, now that I think about it, I stood outside on Washington Avenue at 3am (I had just happened to be driving by) and watched for an hour or so as the cranes started pulling down the old St Pauls, a lovely old Romanesque building in a very poor parish. it's like walking away from a loved one on their death bed. I can't leave before they're gone. ok, that probably came off all melodramatic and weepy, which wasn't intended. it's not like that. but it fascinates me for some odd reason.
wow. West Stand completely gone. it's interesting how they've pulled everything out of the Paxton lower but the supports, but left the upper more-or-less intact (minus the jumbotron). just the best bits left now - the East Stand and the Park Lane.
the pitch will be a bit wider, as I understand it. but the seats will be farther from the pitch on the sides than they were in WHL. it is on the ends where the seats will be much closer to the pitch than most of the big newer grounds.
The last time I went was in October 2005 when we beat Everton 2-0 on a marvelous Saturday afternoon. It was my wife's first trip to London, so between sightseeing and visiting the family, my cousin got us tickets in the second tier behind the goal in the Park Lane end (35 quid each - I remember paying 13 pound to sit behind the goal in the old configuration back in 1992 - the terraces were still there), wonder what they charge now? We were staying at my uncle's boutique hotel near Paddington Station and my cousin recommended we stroll down to Knotting Hill before leaving for the match from the hotel. He took care of everytthing, from providing us with replica shirts (mine had the old Holsten sponsor on the front!) and he had even called a mate of his who runs a kebab joint so we could pick up lunch on the way. I don't know what was more entertaining, the game or my cousin weaving through London traffic (his girlfriend was turning whiter and whiter with each near miss). My favourite moment was when another driver was cursing a rather well-to-do woman who simply rolled down her window and commented in that sarcastic British manner: "Oh, you are sooo common!" and drove off - no reply to that one! Well it turns out our kebab connection blew our order - my cousin spent the rest of the drive to WHL curisng his name, so we ended up grabbing our kebabs on the Tottenham High Road. Ah, it felt great to be back in my old stomping grounds (my grandmother's house was just a 10-minute walk from the ground). As for the game, we won 2-0 on 2nd half goals from Jenas and Defoe and had great fun teasing the Everton support to our left, the usual "Same old scousers, always stealing" song was a popular choice. You could see then though that Spurs would need a revamped facility for the future as the concourse and concessions were nowhere near the creature comforts we are used to in North America. So as much as I hate to see the Lane demolished, we do need a better facility and at least we are not moving from our spiritual home.
incidentally, 'nutter, I recall a post on SC from someone in the know a week or so back stating that all the debris was being taken offsite to be sorted through for recycling, as A) there are facilities that specialize in it, and B) getting it offsite keeps it from holding up the construction process. so it's all under control.
I'm pretty sure I almost went to that game. the next home fixture was a NLD, which was my preference; but I was not 100% confident that I'd get a ticket (which would've been bad, as I had to book my airfare before match tickets went on sale). so I dithered until Everton was no longer an option, still didn't have the guts to get airfare without a NLD ticket, and I ended up opting for the next home match ... which was the West Ham draw that I mentioned earlier in the thread. I really regretted not going to the Everton game. as it turned out, I almost didn't get a ticket for West Ham, either (that's why I ended up in the West Stand). It was after this episode that I realized that I was going to need a membership if I ever wanted to see any ties more savory than Blackburn or Charlton. And I've had one every year since.
First game for me at WHL was Spurs v Newcastle when Gazza was playing. For Newcastle. We won 3-1. Last one was the game against Hull the season before last, I think. We won 2-0. Enjoyed a good few of the CL games there, watching Bale, VdV and Modric being awesome. One of my all time faves was when some guy called Pookspur couldn't make it over as planes were grounded due to an Icelandic volcano, so he gave me his ticket to the game against Chelsea and Spurs won against them for the first time in about 25 years. I've never watched a competitive match live that Spurs lost at WHL.
well, look who's stumbled across the ol' BS Spurs forum. how you been, jum? some sobering days for you and your colleagues, I'd guess. I hope all are coping well. ... as to Chelsea at the Lane in '10 ... I remember watching it grumpily from my regular barstool at the Acme - the atmosphere sounded incredible - and thinking, 'he'd better damn well be enjoying this'.