West Ham fans arriving in Tottenham will be green with envy. So they should be.

Right next to White Hart Lane, the giant cranes which dominate the north-east London skyline are at work and the new 61,000-seater stadium is rising from the ground.

It will be exactly what the Hammers don’t have – a sparkling new home purpose-built for football. Ironically and perhaps painfully, it will also make it starkly plain why they had to leave their much-loved Upton Park and move to the unloved Olympic site at Stratford which has been rather clunkily re-named as the London Stadium - and which has been plagued by controversy and crowd problems

What happens on the pitch in the evening game derby – West Ham’s last visit to the old ground barring an FA Cup draw - might not be so dramatic as all these grand and epic new developments shaping the future of London football. Both teams are becalmed in mediocrity at present.

But judging by the thrilling new future which lies ahead for Spurs within sight of their ancestral home and the problems besetting West Ham in their new ground, it will appear to their supporters that they dodged a huge bullet when their plan to move to the Olympic site was thwarted.

There is a huge contrast between the excitement felt by Spurs fans about their new home – which will be ready for the 2018-19 campaign - and the disgruntlement of many West Ham supporters, who are having extreme trouble adjusting to their new very much not purpose-built surroundings.

Here’s the tricky point, though, about it all for those in claret-and blue as they witness the bulldozers already getting to work along Green Street.

The very fact that Spurs superb new arena – which will have one single 17,000-seater stand, the largest in the UK – is now a reality meant that the Hammers had to leave the old Boleyn Ground or be left miles behind their nearest major London rivals in terms of capacity, revenue, prestige. Ambition and size.

John Dillon's classic Tottenham vs West Ham matches at the Lane 6 show all John Dillon's classic Tottenham vs West Ham matches at the Lane 1/6 Spurs 2 West Ham 2 | 15/08/1970 The first match I ever attended, with Alan Gilzean scoring twice for Spurs before a crowd of 53,640. Jimmy Greaves and Peter Bennett scored for West Ham. Popperfoto/Getty Images 2/6 Spurs 4 West Ham 1 | 22/11/2015 Kyle Walker scored the pick of the bunch as Spurs stormed to victory at the Lane last season. Shaun Botterill/Getty Images 3/6 Spurs 0 West Ham 3 | 6/10/2013 Ravel Morrison scored a world-class goal as West Ham record a memorable triumph, with other gaols from Winston Reid and Ricardo Vaz Te in front of 35,977. AFP/Getty Images 4/6 Spurs 0 West Ham 4 | 2/9/1981 David Cross scored all four Hammers goals on an evening still talked about by their fans, with a crowd of 41,200. Rex 5/6 Spurs 5 West Ham 1 | 26/08/1967 An attendance of 55, 831 watches Jimmy Greaves hit two, with Alan Mullery, Frank Saul and Cliff Jones also on the score-sheet for Tottenham. John Sissons got the Hammers’ consolation goal. Ed Lacey/Popperfoto/Getty Images) 6/6 Spurs 3 West Ham 3 | 03/03/1956 A rip-roaring old-style FA Cup quarter final watched by a whopping 69,118. Tommy Harmer, Len Duquemin and George Robb score for Spurs, who won the replay 2-1. Scotsman Johnny Dick scored a hat-trick for West Ham in the first game. (Picture from replay) Rex 1/6 Spurs 2 West Ham 2 | 15/08/1970 The first match I ever attended, with Alan Gilzean scoring twice for Spurs before a crowd of 53,640. Jimmy Greaves and Peter Bennett scored for West Ham. Popperfoto/Getty Images 2/6 Spurs 4 West Ham 1 | 22/11/2015 Kyle Walker scored the pick of the bunch as Spurs stormed to victory at the Lane last season. Shaun Botterill/Getty Images 3/6 Spurs 0 West Ham 3 | 6/10/2013 Ravel Morrison scored a world-class goal as West Ham record a memorable triumph, with other gaols from Winston Reid and Ricardo Vaz Te in front of 35,977. AFP/Getty Images 4/6 Spurs 0 West Ham 4 | 2/9/1981 David Cross scored all four Hammers goals on an evening still talked about by their fans, with a crowd of 41,200. Rex 5/6 Spurs 5 West Ham 1 | 26/08/1967 An attendance of 55, 831 watches Jimmy Greaves hit two, with Alan Mullery, Frank Saul and Cliff Jones also on the score-sheet for Tottenham. John Sissons got the Hammers’ consolation goal. Ed Lacey/Popperfoto/Getty Images) 6/6 Spurs 3 West Ham 3 | 03/03/1956 A rip-roaring old-style FA Cup quarter final watched by a whopping 69,118. Tommy Harmer, Len Duquemin and George Robb score for Spurs, who won the replay 2-1. Scotsman Johnny Dick scored a hat-trick for West Ham in the first game. (Picture from replay) Rex

The same is true of their relationship with Chelsea, who plan a 60,000-seat new ground at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal had already made the point by moving to the Emirates in 2006 and if they were already much bigger than West Ham then, the gap has only increased since.

Dare this idea be discussed even now? Should, perhaps, West Ham and Spurs have shared a newly-built ground on the Olympic site after demolishing the present arena, as Tottenham wished to do at one point.

Could the rival fans have accepted that? The two boards don’t get along, either. But ground-sharing is good enough in Milan and Rome. In crowded London, it might have been supremely logical. Which is why it didn’t happen, of course – or was never even considered. Football isn’t often logical. So we’ll never know, will we.

Meanwhile, the Hammers may never rise above their fourth place in the capital’s pecking order, anyway. And in some ways, many supporters think so what – that’s who we are.

But if the club had remained at beloved but tired and hemmed in Upton Park, they would not only have been settling for the status quo – it would also have meant a profligate failure to capitalise on the massive regeneration and re-development taking place in Stratford which, whether its welcomed by locals or not, represents massive economic leap forward. It would have been profligate of the directors not to take advantage.

In modern football, simply standing still, as West Ham would have done in E13, actually means going backwards. It wasn’t really an option.

It’s my guess that there will not be half so much media attention when Spurs quit White Hart Lane as there was when West Ham left Upton Park.

This will be the case because Tottenham are only moving half-way into next door. Some people currently refer to the new ground as Northumberland Park but surely, for the sake of tradition as well as for branding and marketing purposes, they will keep the old name of White Hart Lane, wont they? It is world famous. It should not be buried or given away, even though, as is often the quirky way of football ground names, the actual White Hart Lane is on the opposite side of Tottenham High Road.

Tottenham's new stadium - In Pictures 6 show all Tottenham's new stadium - In Pictures 1/6 Capital gains Spurs hope to create a thriving and exceptional sports, leisure and entertainment destination in Tottenham Tottenham Hotspur FC 2/6 World class arena The stadium will be the finest anywhere in the world, pledge Spurs Tottenham Hotspur FC 3/6 Top of the world A 'Sky walk' will allow visitors access to stadium roof Tottenham Hotspur FC 4/6 Job creation Once complete Tottenham will go from supporting 1,800 jobs to supporting 3,500 in the area Tottenham Hotspur FC 5/6 A whole new ball game The new venue will host at least two money-spinning NFL games a year for a decade Tottenham Hotspur FC 6/6 Ground force The new stadium will include the largest single tier stand in the UK, now increased to 17,000 seats. Tottenham Hotspur FC 1/6 Capital gains Spurs hope to create a thriving and exceptional sports, leisure and entertainment destination in Tottenham Tottenham Hotspur FC 2/6 World class arena The stadium will be the finest anywhere in the world, pledge Spurs Tottenham Hotspur FC 3/6 Top of the world A 'Sky walk' will allow visitors access to stadium roof Tottenham Hotspur FC 4/6 Job creation Once complete Tottenham will go from supporting 1,800 jobs to supporting 3,500 in the area Tottenham Hotspur FC 5/6 A whole new ball game The new venue will host at least two money-spinning NFL games a year for a decade Tottenham Hotspur FC 6/6 Ground force The new stadium will include the largest single tier stand in the UK, now increased to 17,000 seats. Tottenham Hotspur FC

The world also knows what Tottenham are getting in exchange. They are getting a fabulous new home with nearly double the capacity of the current ground, which is so smart it will also very lucratively stage NFL games. By contrast, West Ham’s move to Stratford was a leap into the unknown which has been beset by major troubles caused in part by the fact that the ground simply isn’t well suited to football and looks awkwardly bolted together out of expediency.

West Ham’s attendances have leaped to a Premier League average around 56,000 this season and the move will bring big, global economic benefits.

If they overcome the current troubles -perhaps by finding a way around the complexities of their tenancy agreement to spend a bit of their own cash on the place to make it feel more like home – then the club will be well set up for the rest of the 21st century.

But Spurs will be enriched even more by their move. And unlike Arsenal, whose move to the Emirates hampered their spending plans for many years, Tottenham are shifting at a time when there is a seemingly never ending stream of revenue from Premier League TV deals to keep the tills ringing.

The huge size of that simple 17,000-seat stand should ensure there is no loss of atmosphere, either.

Even so, both sets of fans should savour the flavour of the last derby between them at the current ground on Saturday. Once the clocks go back, Saturday evenings often serve up the most crackling live TV games. Spurs have scored just four times in a seven-game winless run since they beat Manchester City on October 2. West Ham have scored just four times in the last six Premier League games.

Let’s hope they can put this right for the sake of the old place this weekend.



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