Tottenham to Spend 1 Year Away as New Stadium Opening Delayed Past 2017-18

Tottenham Hotspur will have to spend one season playing home matches at another stadium after plans for a new ground hit a legal obstacle, as the club's official website confirmed.

The Premier League club had hoped to be able to open their new home—on land adjacent to their current White Hart Lane stadium—for the 2017-18 campaign.

However, a legal challenge by some landowners on the new site will delay the process, meaning the move is "highly unlikely" to happen at the scheduled time, according to the club's statement.

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In July, Tottenham's plans were given a major boost when the government approved a compulsory purchase order which allowed building work to start.

However, landowners Archway Sheet Metal Workers Ltd. and the Josif Family have challenged the CPO, meaning the club must find an alternative stadium to play their home matches.

The Tottenham Hotspur statement said:

"

Given the lengthy period of time taken to reach the CPO (Compulsory Purchase Order) decision in the first place, we should like to advise supporters that it is highly unlikely we shall be able to open the new stadium at the start of the 2017/2018 season.

The club has revised its construction programme in order to take the shortest possible time to construct. This now therefore involves the club moving away from the Lane during construction for a period of one season, to start at the beginning of a season in order to comply with Premier League rules.

We are currently undertaking due diligence on alternative stadium options. Consideration needs to be given to several factors, including planning and policing and, importantly, our fans and the impact it may have on the team itself.

Clearly all possible options have pros and cons and we are aware that we shall not be able to find one which will please all parties. We shall however seek to find the optimum solution for the club and our supporters and we shall be sharing our deliberations with our supporters at an appropriate time.

"

Such a legal challenge was not unexpected, but it does leave a question mark over the club's temporary home for the 2017-18 season as they wait for the new stadium to be completed.

Tottenham missed out on a move to the Olympic Stadium in east London to West Ham United, as BBC Sport reported, but a potential groundshare for one season could be a plausible option.

Wembley Stadium would keep the team in north London during the completion of the new stadium, subject to agreement with the Football Association.

The possibility of sharing stadiummk with MK Dons has also been reported by Colin Harvey of the Daily Star.

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The League One club are placed 50 miles north of the English capital, and their stadium currently has a capacity of 22,000, although that figure will be increased to 32,000 in time for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, as John Drayton of the Daily Mail reported.

Drayton claimed in his article that Tottenham could alternate their home stadium for specific matches depending on the size of the opposition.

Leaving White Hart Lane will bring an end to over a century of history for Spurs, who started playing at the ground in 1899.

Its capacity reached a peak of 75,038 for an FA Cup tie against Sunderland in March 1938 and was the scene of the club's 1984 UEFA Cup triumph.