Tottenham Hotspur apologise and issue refund to fans after stadium delay

They quite badly misjudged how long it would take to finish

Tottenham Hotspur have issued an apology to their fans and informed them of after plans to open their new stadium had to be delayed. The original plan was for Spurs to play their first game at the new ground against Liverpool on 15th September, but due to safety concerns, they have had to postpone its launch. As it stands, at least three Premier League matches that were due to take place at Tottenham's new ground will take place at Wembley, where Spurs played their home matches last season. An NFL match will also be moved to Wembley, and more fixtures could be moved to the national stadium too. No date has been set for the launch of the Tottenham Hotspur stadium. "Yesterday the club received a report from [the contractor] Mace which highlighted the extent of the issues with critical safety systems,” Spurs said in a statement. “As a result, a decision was taken to defer the opening of the stadium and to move two further games to Wembley. “Delays are common, certainly for builds of this size and complexity, however we are hugely frustrated that this has occurred with these systems at such a late stage. Whilst we would have been able to mitigate other areas, we simply cannot compromise safety.” “We should like to apologise to supporters for this delay,” the club added. “We are acutely aware of the disappointment this may cause supporters and shall now look to ensure that we minimise any inconvenience.” Martin Cloake, the co-chair of the Tottenham Supporters' Trust said: “We want the club to be as transparent as possible and talk to us as early as possible. We are in discussion with the club on the pricing of cup games, the mechanism by which money will be refunded and the possible outcome for Champions League games. These discussions are ongoing.” There is a possibility that Spurs will open their new stadium for their match against Manchester City on 28th October, when an NFL fixture is already scheduled to take place at Wembley.