ARSENE WENGER has warned London rivals Tottenham and Chelsea about the perils of ground relocation, saying that Arsenal's Champions League experiences at Wembley were a "nightmare".
 |
| Wembley Stadium has hosted sporting events since reopening in 2007 |
Tottenham and Chelsea will have to relocate from the 2017-18 season as redevelopment work begins on White Hart Lane and Stamford Bridge. Both clubs have looked into the possibility of ground-sharing at Wembley for at least one season.
Arsenal played six Champions League matches at the national stadium in the 1998/99 and 1999/2000 seasons. At the time, it made commercial sense to move temporarily away from Highbury for these special midweek European occasions.
Yet in the end it did not exactly help performances as the Gunners won just twice (Panathinaikos and AIK), drew once (Dynamo Kiev) and lost to Lens, Barcelona and Fiorentina.
"It was a bit of a nightmare I must say," said Wenger. "In hindsight it was the wrong decision.
"At the time at Highbury we had to cut 5,000 seats out. We decided to go to Wembley, but we didn't feel at home.
"The pitch was bigger, the ground was different and for the English players as well it was something completely unusual.
"We were used at Highbury to a tight, narrow pitch. And unfortunately we were playing against Dynamo Kiev, who were running everywhere on a very big pitch. It was difficult to control them. It was a disadvantage for sure."
Any possibility of Tottenham or Chelsea grounding-sharing at the Emirates was ruled out by Wenger.
"We suffered a lot to build this stadium and had to be very tight financially to pay it back," he said. "I don't know, but I don't feel it is in our plans to do it. We don't need it and we have not been approached for it as well."
Post a Comment Blogger Facebook Disqus