Stunning new Tottenham stadium: All the best moments from Spurs’ opening ceremony

Tottenham marked their move into their breathtaking new stadium with a glittering opening ceremony ahead of their game with Crystal Palace.

Twenty-two months after they waved goodbye to White Hart Lane, Spurs finally open the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and held the perfect housewarming party, with a nod to the farewell observance they paid to their former ground.

Preceded by a hailstorm, the opening ceremony began with a video which included interviews with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy and David Lammy, the MP for Tottenham. Supporters were given ‘welcome home’ flags and the first chants to roll down from the single-tier south stand declared the fans were back where they felt they belong.

Adele was touted as a possible performer if the stadium had opened in September, but the Tottenham-born Oscar winner was not available. Instead Spurs fans were treated to X-Factor contestant Lanya Matthews. There was a connection to the local area as Gladesmore Community School performed ‘Everybody Dreams’, which was written and originally performed a year after riots swept the streets outside of where the new stadium proudly sits.

The Spurs and Palace players entered the pitch, flanked by Tottenham academy talent providing a guard of honour and with ‘Oh When the Spurs Go Marching In’ performed by a marching band. In another nod to their previous White Hart Lane home, Wynne Evans – the tenor who performed at the closing ceremony of the former stadium – sang ‘Glory, Glory Tottenham Hotspur’ alongside the other musical acts from earlier in the ceremony.

Fireworks from the roof ended the pre-match event and it was then time for the real business to begin as Palace midfielder James McArthur kicked off the first game at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It was a fine spectacle and was a fitting prelude to the historic occasion.