Tottenham Hotspur to play Champions League games at Wembley next season
Tottenham will play their Champions League fixtures at Wembley next season and have the option to use the stadium for all game in the following campaign after the club struck a deal with the Football Association.
All home fixtures in Spurs' first Champions League campaign for six years will take place at the 90,000 capacity stadium next season and the club have the option to hire it out again for the entirety of the 2017/18 campaign while their new £400m stadium is built.
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The FA could still reach an agreement with Chelsea for rental of the stadium in 2017/18 should they require, although the Blues are not expected to be ready to move out of Stamford Bridge by next summer.
Tottenham's move into Wembley for Champions League games allows them to meet Uefa requirements for access for officials, safety and rights delivery, after initial stadium works involving the removal of 4,000 seats from White Hart Lane threatened their capacity to do so and was likely to leave some season ticket holders unable to attend.
"Given the current reduction in capacity at White Hart Lane for next season and the ticketing requirements for Champions League, playing at Wembley will mean that we can continue to accommodate all of our existing season ticket holders," said Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy.
"Our season ticket waiting list is over 50,000 so this now also offers us a great opportunity to provide more of our supporters with our chance to see the team play live during our Champions League campaign.
"Importantly, as we know it was our fans' preference, it means that we can continue to play our home matches in London during our season away."
A deal to bring Tottenham to Wembley for a season is expected to earn the FA at least £20m in revenue and chief executive Martin Glenn said it would help the organisation meet its revenue targets and reinvest in the grassroots of the game.
The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust welcomed the move. It said in a statement: "It’s [Wembley] the venue we campaigned for as a temporary home during the rebuilding of our stadium, it meets UEFA requirements and, most importantly, it offers even more fans the chance to see our Club play Champions League football. Not only season ticket holders, but members and younger fans who have not had the opportunity to see games before."