Tottenham’s journey to the east end, Liverpool’s descent into the land of mirth « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News, supporting the club, the players and the manager

By Tony Attwood & the research team of the 10th best blog in Northamptonshire (and other places).

Tottenham’s new stadium plans have been accepted by Haringey council’s planning committee.

But…

While the committee in fact got quite excited, bubbling over with enthusiasm for what it calls “an overhaul of north Tottenham”, in a £400m project there were other issues circling around.

The council’s leader, Claire Kober, was positively orgasimic as she said, “The Spuddish development has the potential to make a huge impact, not just on the potato crop, but also on the success of the football club, and indeed  on the whole of Tottenham – delivering job opportunities, regenerating the area and boosting the local economy.

“We’re proud of the Spuds’ rich history in Haringey and excited that the club has committed its future to the area. We look forward to seeing the development unfold and are confident that it will deliver fantastic improvements to this part of the borough.”

So after such an excitable outpouring you might expect the Honourable Claire and co to be a bit miffed that on the same day as they got the Planning Perm, the Tinies also put in a bid to take over the east end Olympic Stadium which West Ham are quite interested in turning into the footballing equivalent of the top shelf of a Stepney newsagent.

Maybe the clubs could ground share?

Tottenham Olympic – and West Ham Pornographic, ah well, changes happen and people move.  I seem to recall a fair amount of Tiny chit chat in which they have repeatedly called the contemporary Arsenal, Woolwich Arsenal, pointing out (wrongly) that we were originally a south London team.  We were in fact a Kent team while Tottenham (at the time Arsenal moved to north London) were a Middlesex team.

Lots and lots of criticism has emanated from the oh so pure Tinyland, just because Arsenal picked up their ground and moving, what was it, via the AA routefinder map.  12 miles more or less.  And for Tottenham this journey out to the badlands of the east?  Well something around 7.5 miles.

So 7.5 miles is ok for the Tinies, but the 12 miles Arsenal moved is really bad.  Is that it?

The fact is, clubs sometimes need to move, and taking the Tinies off to the east end where they can be near neighbours or ground sharers of West Ham Pornographers seems just about right to me.  They would be around 3 miles from West Ham if WHU stay put – pretty much as close as we are to Tiny Land at the moment – and I am sure the clubs could have lots of jolly collisions in the Championship.

But (I hear you ask) what’s it really all about? I mean, Untold Arsenal is now in the top ten of footballing blogs, and so surely should be giving us answers and solutions, not just sniping and silly jokes.

Well, I don’t want to change the habit of a lifetime, but here’s a clue

A statement from the Haringey council said: “The plans will now be referred to English Heritage, the mayor of London and the Secretary of State for a final decision.”

So, maybe it is a spot of the old pressure on the Secretary of State.  I wouldn’t put that past the upper echelons of the Tiny Board Room. Give us the final ok on turning the old mud heap into a new mud heap or else we are going to tot-trot away and take the athletics stadium and turn it into a midden.   We will call it Tinyville, and our address will be Marshgate Lane, London E15 (turn left after the pornographers).

Yes it has a certain ring about it I think.

Meanwhile of course our old pals in Liverpool would be turning into a laughing stock if they were not already a laughing stock.

Here we have a club that is 10 days away from being owned by the People (ie UK taxpayers, not supporters of Rangers FC).  Hicks and Gillett have that much time to lay their hands on £237m to pay RBS.  If they can’t my guess would be that even their attempt to have the members of the board who are against them, removed from the board, will be pointless.   RBS will take over the club on one day, and sell it to the Americans for a knock down price the next.   (They’ve even had the EPL agree not to dock 9 points for the administration – a clever move.)  Hicks and Gillett walk away with nothing having lost £114m that they put into the club.

What then?  A bunch of Americans who may not have much interest in investing in football, get an old club at a knock down price and then… what?   They need to invest in a new team, or at least part of a new team.  They need to sort out their reserves and youth team.  And they need a new stadium.

The moment the deal is done the chairman of Liverpool FC returns to his duties as a Chelsea season ticket holder, quietly smirking perhaps that he has sold the club to people who have no intention in spending not just £300m on a club, but another £300m on building the club and stopping them being relegated.  Are they Hicks and co in disguise?

According to the Guardian today, “No serious commentator included Liverpool among their relegation tips this season”, so that puts me in my place.  Liverpool fans have been in denial for years about the collapse of their team, as have the “serious commentators” who have utterly failed, until this week, to note that this is the 21st anniversary of the last Liverpool league championship.

So the Tinies play games with the stadium, and Liverpool play games with, well the stadium, and the whole club.

Just be thankful it ain’t us being laughed at.

Today’s featured article

The final farewell to Woolwich – what was it like when Arsenal moved out?