Next stop Tottenham Hotspur: Palace confirmed as first match at Spurs new stadium

Tottenham Hotspur’s long-awaited move to their new 62,062-seater stadium has been given the green light.

It was confirmed on Sunday that the first Premier League match to be played there will be the clash against London rivals Crystal Palace on Wednesday 3 April.

The second game at the new home will be the first leg of the Uefa Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City on Tuesday 9 April (8pm kick-off).

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Test events

In advance of the first league match at the new stadium Tottenham will hold a number of test events.

The London Evening Standard reports that Tottenham’s Under-18s team will play the first match at the stadium on Sunday 24 March. Around 30,000 people will attend the youth fixture against Southampton Under-18s.

Then on Saturday 30 March at 5.30pm around 45,000 fans will watch a Spurs legends team take on an Inter Milan legends side.

Club ambassador Gary Mabbutt will manage the legends team featuring former Spurs stars such as Robbie Keane, Rafael van der Vaart, Dimitar Berbatov, Allan Nielsen, David Howells, Stephen Carr, Darren Anderton and goalkeeper Erik Thorstvedt.

Station to be renamed

Meanwhile, The Guardian reports that the White Hart Lane railway station is set to be renamed “Tottenham Hotspur”.

The London Overground station near to the club’s new stadium will get its new title following an apparent U-turn by London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Transport for London.

Khan had insisted that the club should pay £14.7m for the privilege of renaming White Hart Lane for a ten-year period, but that fee would no longer apply under a deal now being worked out.