New Tottenham stadium: White Hart Lane’s golden cockerel was damaged by Paul Gascoigne with an air rifle

New Tottenham stadium: White Hart Lane’s golden cockerel was damaged by Paul Gascoigne with an air rifle
It took a while, but Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium is finally ready for business.Before it can host it’s first Premier League game – against Crystal Palace on 3 April – two test events are scheduled to take place. First up on 24 March is the U18 game between Spurs and Southampton. Then it’s a legend’s game where the great and the good of Inter will be in London on 30 March.2

Workmen repair the original statue in 1934

And when supporters return home, a familiar sight will greet them in the form of the iconic golden cockerel that stood above the old White Hart Lane.It first appeared in front of fans in 1909 and now sits in thelobby of the the club’s Lilywhite House offices in Tottenham. Spurs have commissioned a scaled up replica to be made and this new version stands at roughly 4.5m tall nearly double the height of the original and will sit above the redeveloped ground’s South Stand. And when the club say it is a replica they mean it has all the bumps and scratches from the original, which club legend Paul Gascoignehas a lot to answer for.Recalling the time the cockerel was removed from the old East Stand for maintenance in 1988, Tottenham historian, John Fennelly, told the club’s official website:The Cockerel was falling apart. It was dented and in pretty poor condition.2

Gascoigne is a Spurs legend, having played for the club between 1988 and 1992 and winning the FA Cup in 1991

The story was the dents had been caused in the Blitz. But the truth was the damage was done by Gazza with an air rifle!He tried to deny it but hed been spotted.Gascoigne joined Tottenham from Newcastle in 1988 and cemented his place as one of the game’s finest midfielders, winning the FA Cup in 1991 and helping England reach the World Cup semi-final a year earlier.

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In joining Spurs he also made an enemy of Sir Alex Ferguson, having told the former United manager he would sign for them before changing his mind and moving to London.A scan through the list of legends set to feature for Tottenham against Inter, throws up Robbie Keane’s name, as well as Darren Anderton and Rafael van der Vaart, but ‘Gazza’ is surprisingly absent. He wants to play, though, and tweeted to say he ‘is up for it.’The 51-year-old actually missed Tottenhams farewell to the old White Hart Lane two years ago, as he was focusing on staying well, rather than travelling to north London for the revelry.

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