TOTTENHAM opened their incredible stadium in April 2019.
But many fans still don’t know about several of the £1bn structure’s remarkable features.
During the latest episode of The Overlap, brought to you by SkyBet, chairman Daniel Levy showed Gary Neville around Spurs’ plush home.
Neville, 50, was left in awe several times by the ingenious stadium.
From a micro-brewery on site to links with Tottenham’s famous past, no stone was left unturned as the Lilywhites built their new home.
Here, SunSport takes a look around arguably the Premier League’s best stadium.
Kane’s mega-box
During his conversation with Neville, Levy was keen to show off Tottenham’s plush VIP lounges.
And where better to start than the one previously occupied by the club’s all-time leading goalscorer prior to his £100million switch to Bayern Munich two years ago – complete with stunning kitchen, comfortable seats and an incredible view.
Levy said: “This used to be Harry Kane’s box.”
To which Neville exclaimed: “Jeez Harry! My mum and dad would have been happy if they were watching me at United and I gave them a box like this every week!
“I just got them a couple of seats in the main stand, wow! Harry’s got a bigger kitchen than I’ve got at home in his box.
“I’ve never been in one of these before and it’s absolutely incredible.”
Levy’s biggest regret
During Neville’s tour of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the former Manchester United star realised just what a hands on approach Levy had taken in the project.
While standing in the 17,500-capacity South Stand, Neville couldn’t help but cheekily ask if there was anything Levy would have liked to have done differently, with hindsight.
Levy, 63, beamed as he said: “There’s a couple of pillars that I wish weren’t there at the moment.
“Pillars when you drive in under the stadium, it’s a bit tight.”
Retractable pitch
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is not just used for football.
Since opening, the venue has also been used for NFL games, rugby matches and several concerts, including the likes of Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga.
Asked about how the surface “transforms” for different events, Levy revealed: “Underneath all the protective measures on the pitch is actually the NFL pitch.
“There’s an artificial pitch there. Then above this would be the grass pitch, and when we’re in concert mode or NFL mode, the grass pitch goes under the famous South Stand.
“It can stay there for up to 10-14 days. It has ventilation, irrigation, special mowers – so it’s pretty unique piece of kit.”
Hidden F1 track
In addition to the NFL, Tottenham have also partnered with Formula 1.
Located beneath the South Stand is an F1-branded go-karting track.
The nifty feature has become a popular attraction within London.
Levy said: “When the grass pitch is here, that’s a Formula 1 track, for go-karting.”
Amazing art gallery
Tottenham boast the largest club shop in Europe, standing at 23,000 square feet.
Within it is a 400-year-old listed building, which the club have restored and turned into an art gallery.
Showing Neville around, Levy said: “There’s a very old building called Warmington House. It’s about 400 years old. Yep [it’s listed].
“We had to keep it, we restored it… and it’s now an art gallery. It’s a beautiful building that we’ve completely restored.”
Neville was left in awe of the structure, replying: “It’s brilliant. I love the integration of the old brick with the modern glass look.”
Pieces of history
At the very start of Neville’s tour, Levy proudly showed off a link with Tottenham’s past.
The Spurs chairman said: “Do you know about this floor? This is the old stadium.”
As Neville said “Oh wow,” Levy continued: “All crushed. We wanted to have a link with the old, White Hart Lane and the history.
“It’s literally crushed concrete and smoothed afterwards.”
Within the South Stand concourse, there is also a plaque on the floor, marking where the centre spot within the old White Hart Lane used to be.
Borussia Dortmund-inspired stand
The 17,500-capacity South Stand is Tottenham Hotspur Stadium’s most obvious landmark.
Levy takes great pride in the uniqueness of Tottenham’s home – but does give credit to another club for the brilliant single-tiered stand.
On inspiration for the new stadium, Levy said: “I wouldn’t say there was one stadium that we said ‘we need it to be like this’.
“I think Dortmund in terms of our South Stand, the Yellow Wall. That’s where we got the South Stand idea from.”
Incredible dressing room
In contract to White Hart Lane’s more old school dressing rooms, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium features huge, plush modern changing areas.
In awe, Neville said: “Dressing rooms never cease to amaze me now, how good they are.
“Wow. I remember the old White Hart Lane changing rooms.”
When Levy said the new dressing rooms were a “bit different” from the old, Neville laughed as he said: “Just a bit!”
The inner bowels of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium also feature huge NFL dressing rooms.
Much bigger than the football changing areas, due to the size of NFL rosters, the larger dressing rooms came in handy during Covid, giving players an opportunity to social distance on matchday.
Beer brewed on site
Tottenham partnered with Molson Coors last month, confirming that Coors, Madri, Rekorderlig and Cobra will be on the menu at home games next season, as well as Pravha.
Fans will still be able to get Beavertown products, brewed especially on site.
Showing Neville the micro-brewery, located between the South and East Stands, Levy explained: “We’re very conscious with what we do with the local community.
“One of our ideas was to have a craft beer, so we teamed up with a company called Beavertown, which was a craft beer company that was based locally.
“We then said to them that we would like to brew our own beer in the stadium. So this is our brewery, in a joint-venture with Beavertown.”
When Neville asked if Spurs had bought into Beavertown, Levy said: “We didn’t buy into it… unfortunately”
At this point both men laughed as Levy rued the missed opportunity.
The Tottenham chief then added: “But we did a joint-venture, in terms of all the beer sold in the stadium.”
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