Richard Scudamore Says Spurs Can Use Emirates During White Hart Lane Renovation

As Tottenham Hotspur continue their search for a temporary home during the 2017-18 season, Richard Scudamore, the Premier League's chief executive, has posed an intriguing possibility: Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.

Spurs are in need of a venue to use during the aforementioned term as the club redevelop White Hart Lane, with Wembley and Milton Keynes being touted as potential destinations. But as noted by Tim Rich of the Independent, the Premier League do not want the club to have two bases in 2017-18.

Scudamore suggested the most logical solution would be for the north Londoners to temporarily shack up with their local rivals, per Rich’s piece:

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Premier League fixtures are paired so Liverpool and Everton, Tottenham and Arsenal and Manchester United and Manchester City do not play at home on the same weekend.

So it is perfectly possible to have two teams playing in one stadium. You might very well argue that in some circumstances that would be desirable but I do know the reasons why it would be difficult.

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Bebeto Matthews/Associated Press

According to Rich, in a poll conducted by the club's supporters trust, only 48 per cent of Tottenham match-goers said they would make the trip to Milton Keynes should Spurs temporarily relocate there. But despite the geographical convenience of the Emirates, you suspect even fewer would turn up should the men in white emerge from Arsenal’s tunnel as the home side.

After all, the two teams boast one of the fiercest rivalries in the Premier League. Matches between the sides are usually extremely bitter affairs, and even when they aren’t playing each other, derogatory chants about their local enemies are commonplace from the supporters in attendance.

Even some of the players have got involved and been consequently punished, as CaughtOffside reported earlier in the year:

It wouldn’t be the first time in England a team has utilised the home of their fiercest rivals. Indeed, in 1971, a Manchester United side, banned from playing their first two matches of the season at Old Trafford, used Anfield for an isolated match against Arsenal, per Gregg Roughley of the Guardian.

Utilising the venue for an entire season is another matter entirely, though.

Alastair Grant/Associated Press

From Scudamore’s executive position, using the Emirates would be an ideal solution to what could be a prolonged problem for both Spurs and the Premier League.

But the prospect of Tottenham turning out as the home side at the Emirates for a campaign will grate on the tribal instincts in every football supporter. It may make business sense, and on the face of things is the most convenient potential solution, but anyone with a shred of footballing intellect will tell you it’s a move that should never happen.