The new Tottenham Hotspur stadium is already a world-class venue setup for soccer and American Football, and now it has been announced that it will also host international rugby.
The US$1.1bn, state-of-the-art, 62,062-capacity stadium, which opened in April this year will stage the Heineken Champions Cup and European Rugby Challenge Cup finals in 2021.
This will be the seventh European Cup rugby final to be played in England and the first to be held in London outside of Twickenham Stadium, the home of England’s national rugby union team.
Newcastle United’s St James’ Park hosted the 2019 European rugby club finals, while the Stade Velodrome in Marseille will be the home for the 2020 edition.
Tottenham Hotspur chairman, Daniel Levy, said: “We are excited to have been selected to host this prestigious weekend, the pinnacle of European club rugby, in 2021 and to have this opportunity to welcome EPCR and rugby fans from around the world to Tottenham to experience our new home. These games will add to the portfolio of world-class sporting and entertainment events our multi-use venue will stage in this new leisure destination for London.”
The new Tottenham Hotspur stadium has been specifically built for multi-sport use and features a first-of-its-kind retractable playing surface with an artificial pitch underneath for NFL games.
EPCR chairman, Simon Halliday, said: “We are very excited to be taking the best club rugby in the world to such an innovative and exciting stadium. There is already a real buzz about the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and it will continue the theme of new experiences for our fans in dynamic stadiums that can generate the kind of exceptional atmosphere that has become the hallmark of the Heineken Champions Cup.”
