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Tottenham need 'greater certainty' over new stadium before confirming club's final season at White Hart Lane, says Daniel Levy

Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images
Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images

Daniel Levy today admitted he is unsure whether this will be Tottenham’s final year at White Hart Lane – less than two months before the end of the season.

Tottenham’s plan is to bid farewell to their current home in May, playing home matches at Wembley next season before moving into their 61,000-seat stadium – a project costing £800million – for the 2018-19 campaign.

Tottenham were due to inform Wembley by Friday whether they would activate their option to use the national stadium for home fixtures in 2017-18. Yet as Standard Sport revealed last week, that deadline is likely to be extended, at least into next month.

In a statement that accompanied Tottenham’s latest financial results, club chairman Levy said: "We continue to focus on ensuring that the future of the club is protected at all times and therefore, whilst everyone is eager to know if this is our last season at White Hart Lane, we shall only make the decision to decommission our [ground] when we have greater certainty on the delivery of the new stadium.

"We have run this club on a financially secure basis for the past 16 years, whilst remaining ambitious and with a vision for its future growth and success."

In another section of the statement, the club write that "the progress of the construction programme and the delivery timetable for the new stadium and associated public sector infrastructure works – both of which are paramount before any decision will be made on the decommissioning of White Hart Lane – are being closely monitored."

The results – which apply to the year that ended June 30, 2016 – show Tottenham made a profit after tax of £33million. Spurs also reported record revenue of nearly £210m.

The lack of clarity about the new stadium will, however, attract the attention of supporters. Last week, an application was granted by Brent Council’s planning committee that could – in theory – allow Spurs to play all home games in front of a full house at Wembley, which holds 90,000.

But the delay to the decision means that players, coaches and fans still do not know where they will play the majority of their matches in 2017-18. The verdict will probably not now be delivered until next month, at the earliest.

If Spurs confirm the Wembley switch this spring, demolition work on White Hart Lane could begin not long after their last home game of the season, against Manchester United over the weekend of May 13-14. The final day of the Premier League campaign is May 21.

If Spurs were happy the ground would be finished soon after the start of that season, they could apply to play consecutive away games in the early weeks, as Liverpool did last August as their new Main Stand was completed.

If Tottenham decide a similar scheme would be insufficient, the most likely outcome is that they spend next season at White Hart Lane. Not once have the club said publicly that this will be their final campaign at this ground, their home since 1899.