White Hart Lane 1899 to 2017
A 150 photograph pictorial history
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150 photographs charting the 118 year history of White Hart Lane, from the first game to the last with plenty in between.
White Hart Lane's first ever match: 4 September 1899. The first picture shows the Park Lane/Shelf Side corner. The house will be familiar to most. The second picture is looking towards the Paxton and the third picture is looking across towards the Shelf Side.  1903. The original East Stand viewed from the open Park Lane terrace. Note the wooden crush barriers in the foreground and the houses behind the East Stand. More of those later.  Spurs v Aston Villa during a 3-2 FA Cup quarter final defeat in 1903. We are again looking towards Park Lane/Shelf Side corner  1911 v Blackburn Rovers with the East Stand in the background. 
Spurs v Sunderland 1913. Note the uncovered Paxton end, at this stage considerably larger than the Shelf Side.  The Paxton from our first round FA Cup tie with Bristol Rovers on 8 January 1921. A 6-2 victory at the start of winning FA Cup campaign. 
 Early 1920's. The Shelf Side seems to be ever changing, with a roof running all the way to the Park Lane end in the first picture, but no roof towards the Paxton in the second. The Paxton now has a roof, but remains standing all the way to the back. The third picture shows the West Stand, built in 1909. Again note the wooden crush barriers on the open Park Lane Terrace 
The Park Lane end being redeveloped into the form that we knew until post Taylor report redevelopment in the 90's  1922, and the Park Lane redevelopment is complete, with the exception of the roof! 
This series of aerial photographs was taken in 1923. The first is taken from the east, the second from the south, the third and fourth from the west and the final picture from the north. The Park Lane roof is now complete, and has that familiar curve away from the pitch. The Shelf side remains relatively undeveloped, with the houses still standing in Worcester Avenue (though at the time this was also known as Paxton Road as the join with Worcester Avenue, then a small cul de sac on Northumberland Park, was yet to be made) 
2 December 1925. Ground staff drain the water from the pitch at the Park Lane end before covering it with hay to protect it from frost. Note that upstairs is standing.  1927, opposition unknown. Note the Shelf Side now has no roof at all. 
Early 1930's. Three sides of the ground stayed pretty much the same for the next 50 years. The only changes being seats in the upper tiers behind the goals, and the ends of the West Stand were joined with the Paxton & Park Lane stands. 
1933, just before the development of the East Stand commenced. 
1934, looking towards the Paxton. That's sir Stanley Matthews about to hang a cross up. 
1934. Demolition of houses in what we know as Worcester Avenue (but still named Paxton Road, see above) in preparation for the construction of the new East Stand. Some nice wallpaper in evidence, and not much regard for health & safety! 
Construction of the East Stand 
1930's Park Lane 
4 Dec 1935, England v Germany being played out in front of a packed Shelf. The attendance for this match was 54,164. How would the ground have looked 29 months later when a White Hart Lane record of 75,038 squeezed in? 
1938. Match action in front of the West Stand, and a bit of hill training on the Paxton terraces.  1940. Crowds pour into the West Stand to watch a war time match between Arsenal & Chelsea.  Another wartime match, this time between two sides from Woolwich; Charlton v Arsenal. 
Boxing at The Lane in July 1945. Jack London is fighting Bruce Woodcock. 
Clearing snow from the Park Lane goalmouth in 1948  Team and staff in 1950 with a few photo bombers in the West Stand paddock  1950 
1950 FA Cup semi final (pic 1) and replay (pics 2 & 3) between Arsenal & Chelsea. 67,752 attended the first match whilst a similar crowd of 66,482 were attracted to the Wednesday afternoon replay.  Artists view from the1950's 
1950's, looking towards the Paxton/Shelf Side corner and outside the main entrance 
Team shot in front of the Paxton 
1951, In front of the West Stand 
West Stand/Park Lane corner prior to them being filled in. 
Some great shots from the 50's. Note the small floodlights next to the still all terraced Paxton. 
 1950's against Manchester United, with that stumpy floodlight making another appearance. 
Park Lane/Shelf side corner in 1957 
Late 50's. The Park Lane end seems to have got a full sized pylon, probably the same one that was there until the redevelopment in the mid 80's.  Jayne Mansfield gets some attention at half time in the West Stand during a match against Wolves in Oct 1959.  Park Lane goalmouth. 1961 
Early 60's Worcester Avenue  1962 
Benfica training in front of the West Stand & Paxton corner and outside the main entrance before the 2nd leg of the 1962 European Cup Semi Final  A snowbound White Hart Lane being cleared for matchday in 1963 
View from The Shelf, mid 1960's. Note that the Paxton is now seated upstairs and the corner with the West Stand is filled in. 
Main entrance. 1960's 
An aerial view from the west in 1965
George Best in front of the Paxton & Shelf Side corner in 1965 
Jimmy Greaves emerging from the old West Stand tunnel in the mid 60's 
Late 60's aerial shot and more snow, this time in 1969 
More late 60's 
1970 
1971 
The Park Lane terrace during the 1971 match against Liverpool. 
Coming off the Paxton in 1972 
 1970's 
1974 
Relaxing on the Paxton. 1977 
The old West Stand in its final days 
Late 70's Shelf side. The fences are up. 
 The old West Stand being demolished in the late 70's and the footings of it's replacement being laid. 
Early 80's 
Early 80's. The new West Stand is waiting for it's seats to be fitted. 
The Paxton in the early 80's 
Early 80's from the Paxton and the new West Stand  Park Lane, mid 80's 
1988. The shelf is boarded up and the roof is removed in Scholars horrendous act of vandalism. 
The Paxton during the FA Cup semi final between Wimbledon & Luton in 1988 
September 1990. A full house for the 2-1 defeat of Aston Villa 
 The Park Lane in 1991 and what was left of The Shelf (The Pelmet, as some called it) before the seats went in. 
The Park Lane, now all seated in the early mid 90's 
The first stage of the Paxton redevelopment is complete by 1994 
The new Park Lane stand in 1995 
White Hart Lane in 2011, and the site for the new stadium is already being cleared. 
 10 January 2016 
21 February 2016  17 March 2016 
Towards the end of the 2015/16 season. The last shot of a complete White Hart Lane 
 Summer 2016 
14 Sept 2016 
Early 2017 
 12 March 2017 
 The Finale. 14 May 2017 Some old maps of the stadium area  1894, pre stadium when the area was still a nursery  1913. Note the banking markings for the Park Lane & Paxton ends. You will also notice that Worcester Avenue is called Paxton Road, and doesn't run all the way to Northumberland Park! 
1938. A bit more familiar, but the Shelf Side is still in Paxton Road.
Text and some photos © Ian Mulcahy. The copyright holder of most photos is unknown, but acknowledged. Contact photos@iansapps.co.uk if you are the copyright holder and require credit or removal. |
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