I’m heading to Spurs tonight, full of optimism, as I’m sure you are if you’re one of the 9,000 strong yellow & green army travelling to North London for this fifth round FA Cup tie.
A place in the quarterfinals awaits the victor and for Norwich, that would be their best run in England’s top cup competition for 30 years.
Yes, 30 years.
I went to the Premier League game at the Tottenham stadium in January and if you didn’t make that trip, I can tell you that you’re in for a treat. It is, without doubt, the best stadium in England and probably the world. Such is it’s newness and it’s vastness that it’s, in my opinion, a better supporter experience than that offered by Wembley Stadium.
That’s a big claim, I know, but you’ll see what I mean when you get there and that’s before you’ve even seen a pint of lager fill from the bottom up!
In terms of team news, the home side will be without injured Captain and goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris, meaning that Paulo Gazzaniga looks likely to step in for this game. They will, of course, be missing Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son, with Moussa Sissoko also out. Ryan Sessegnon has returned to training though, after a hip problem.
Daniel Farke spoke to the assembled media at Colney on Tuesday and he revealed that there will be some changes for the cup, although he told us not to expect eleven changes.
🎙 Daniel Farke is in position at Lotus Training Centre and ready to address the media!
Catch the updates from his pre-Spurs presser 👇 #ncfc #EmiratesFACup https://t.co/58RmaNU0pU
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) March 3, 2020
Christoph Zimmermann is still out and unable to train currently, as Farke explained.
“He has some problems in his tendon, he had another scan and has to see a specialist. It’s a tricky assessment right now. It’s not good news for us.”
Another issue could be that both Alex Tettey and Teemu Pukki have been ill this week, although both felt better on Tuesday.
“Alex Tettey and Teemu Pukki are doubts, they couldn’t train yesterday due to illness, so there’s a question mark behind their appearances. It’s 50/50 with them, they feel better today but we have to see how they react.”
Other than that, there are no other new injury issues to worry about for the Canaries.
I mentioned that the stadium is a real experience to behold but you should be aware that security is very tight. There are “airport style” security scanners for all fans and bags of a certain size are not permissible, basically anything bigger than an A4 piece of paper.
Although security is tight, in these troubled times I’m not complaining and I noticed that there is also a ring of steel bollards all the way around the ground, which is massive and takes a while to walk around. The stadium is also cashless.
There’s more detail below on what you can and can’t bring in.
💼 Bag restrictions at Tottenham
🚄 Travel information
‼️ Restricted itemsImportant supporter information ahead of tomorrow's game ⬇️
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) March 3, 2020
The area that the ground is in is quite down at heel when compared to the steel and glass luxury of this billion pound project and there are very few places to have a pint as an away fan. In fact, all I saw were “Home Fans Only” signs as I walked down the high street towards the ground on my last visit.
As Daniel Farke has spoken about, taking 9,000 fans to this game is quite a show of support for a team at the bottom of the Premier League. Having beaten Leicester last time out, the Canaries are still fighting and still capable of winning a game of football. A quarter final would be great and against an injury ravaged Spurs side, who have lost their last three, there’s no reason why City can’t cause an upset.
If you’re going, I’ll see you there, I won’t be wearing a half & half scarf and I trust you won’t be either? You know it makes sense, Rodney. We also want plenty of noise, let’s turn North London yellow and green.
OTBC
Hope you have a great day out Tuckster.
Good write up but please do not mention the 9000 again : )
I am not going as went in January and was at cricket when the tickets
went on sale and forgot about the date due to being more worried about
beating South Africa at the time but was not really sure about going anyway.
I will save my valuable time for Arsenal, Chelsea and Watford away where the
away support is more important.
As you pointed out the stadium is fantastic and within a deprived area.
The route to away end is strange and will no doubt be very difficult to get into ground quickly.
It appears you are heading for a very low key entrance in a back street setting.
I used to live in the Hornsey / Finsbury Park area and having been to the old ground over 20 times
would not even think about going to local pubs ( as I would not do for any game ) so suggest considering
what our group does and get train into London for about 2 pm and go to central areas and the great
pubs on offer and travel to ground later.
In January we managed to luckily just get 10.30 pm train back but had booked 11.30 ( last ) train as there was not a 11 pm service. The attendance will be the same but maybe more fans trying to get onto train at White Hart Lane Station.
Have a great day out Tuckster but if I had to pick a game to win for this season this would be the
last one on the list. Just hope there is not extra time for team and supporters sake.