sport news Tottenham fans return home to find a stadium befitting of big ambitions

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Back on familiar territory. Back in the old routine. Back in the queue which snaked out through the door of the ever-popular Chick-King and down the Tottenham High Road, and was longer perhaps than the longest bar in England where the beers were being dispensed at record speed long before kick-off.

Kerbsides were lined with delighted fans, craning their necks, staring skywards in awe, many arching their backs in an attempt to fit the entire stadium into one shot on their cameras and guarding their boxes of deep-fried treats while keeping an eye out for the London buses which rumbled by.

Inside, the crowds were packed around the Naan and Noodle, stacked up on benches beneath the South Stand, belting out choruses of 'When the Spurs go marching in' and holding aloft their beers and smartphones, filming the occasion; while under the West Stand a live band played something by the Eagles, which might have gone down better in the away end.

Everyone found something they liked. The architects are proud of their sliding pitch, with its clever gadgets and moving parts akin to Tracy Island, secret base of the Thunderbirds. Daniel Levy liked the toilets. The Spurs chairman, it transpires, is firmly in the habit of judging any building he enters by the quality of its toilets. He wasn't the only one, because he female fans were delighted to report a considerable increase in the number of toilets available compared to the old place.

The facilities, as we knew from the test events, are impressive. Robbie Keane came out at half-time to tell everyone he had never seen anything like it. The public concourses are broad and welcoming, the stands are steep and tight to the pitch, the design is stylish and the noise gathers as it rolls around

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