By the time Tottenham were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Chelsea on Wednesday, there was just a smattering of supporters left inside the ground – but the sight of empty seats at the 62,850 is not an unfamiliar one this season.
Like every club up and down the country, Spurs have continued to be hit by Covid long after the turnstiles reopened. Cautious fans have stayed away as Omicron cases rose from November onwards.
Yet low attendances are of particular concern in this corner of north London, where it is not yet three years since they unveiled the £1bn Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The defeat to Chelsea was taken in by 45,603 supporters, including those in the away end. It was the first time since 19 December, for the 2-2 draw with Liverpool, that the size of the crowd had risen above 41,000.
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When Daniel Levy surmised that “you can’t be a big club in a 36,000 stadium but you can be in a 62,000 stadium,” this can’t have been what he envisaged.
There is no denying that the new ground is spectacular and in more normal times, it is estimated that the new stadium can rake in up to £1m every matchday from food and drink. But in June 2021, the club announced match receipts of just £1.9m, down from £94.5m in 2020, due to so many games taking place behind closed doors.
Tottenham have been the victims of rotten timing. Nobody could possibly have foreseen Covid. Their fans joke there is something inherently “Spursy” about this outcome, that no other club would be so unfortunate as to open their historic new ground a year before the onset of a major pandemic.
That said, crowds are not so low elsewhere. Since the turn of the year the attendance at West Ham’s London Stadium, where the maximum capacity is 62,500, has not fallen below 54,403. Admittedly, that was for the FA Cup victory over Leeds, a Premier League team, while on the same weekend Spurs were playing third-tier Morecambe.
For West Ham’s league match against Norwich, which took place on the same night as Spurs’ second leg against Chelsea, their attendance was 59,775. Down the road at Arsenal, for their two most recent home league games, they have registered attendances of 59,777 (against West Ham) and 59,757 (against Manchester City).
Tottenham’s attendances 2021-22
- Tottenham 1-0 Manchester City – 58,262
- Tottenham 3-0 Pacos de Ferreira – 30,215
- Tottenham 1-0 Watford – 57,672
- Tottenham 0-3 Chelsea – 60,059
- Tottenham 5-1 NS Mura – 25,121
- Tottenham 2-1 Aston Villa – 53,076
- Tottenham 0-3 Manchester United – 60,356
- Tottenham 2-0 Brentford – 54,202
- Tottenham 3-0 Norwich – 57,088
- Tottenham 2-2 Liverpool – 45,421
- Tottenham 2-1 West Ham – 40,031
- Tottenham 3-0 Crystal Palace – 40,539
- Tottenham 3-0 Morecambe – 40,310
- Tottenham 0-1 Chelsea – 45,603
Of course, official statistics are not always a true reflection on the numbers inside the stadium. Arsenal’s self-professed figures have become a common meme; cameras will pan to thousands of empty seats, before an announcer dutifully confirms an attendance of 60,260, the full capacity of the Emirates.
Why, then, do the gaps at Spurs look so stark compared to other clubs? The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium houses around 41,000 season tickets, though it is not entirely clear where the gaps are coming from. Are the regulars disgruntled, are the casual fans uninterested, or are there other forces at play?
It can’t help that they have the second most expensive season tickets in the country. Large sections of the 17,500 single-tier South Stand go for £1,200 a season. Halfway up that stand are the “1882” category of £2,200 season tickets. In the East Stand, you can pay up to £1,500.
That has a knock-on effect on how individual tickets are priced. Season ticket holders cannot pay more than one-off punters, and so even games against “Category C” opposition can cost up to £80.
Predictably, interest in the Uefa Conference League was low. The upper tiers were closed for several matches, including for Antonio Conte’s first game in charge against Vitesse.
In so many ways, Conte’s arrival has rejuvenated players and fans alike, but he is yet to preside over a home match in front of a sellout crowd. The last time Spurs welcomed more than 60,000 through the gates, it was for Nuno Espirito Santo’s final game in charge, a 3-0 loss to Manchester United. At the time of writing, even Sunday’s north London derby against Arsenal was not sold out.
The Italian’s appointment promised exhilarating football, but it will take time. “The people deserve much more than this,” he admitted on Friday.
The stadium project was supposed to transport Spurs to another level. Instead, it has coincided with two years of chaos post-Pochettino. Part of that is down to a pandemic. Part of it is down to Spurs. Whatever the reason, it means the new ground will not start paying dividends just yet.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3fqg4rX
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