Ange Postecoglou‘s first Europa League tie as Tottenham boss was delayed as visitors Qarabag were caught up in the gridlocked streets of north London.
The Azeri champions failed to make it to the stadium from their hotel, only a short distance away in Stratford, in time to kick off as scheduled at 8pm.
Rail and road closures for a variety of reasons combined to cause chaos for the visiting team and thousands of fans who had to find alternative routes through relentless rain to reach N17.
The TNT Sports team, including pundits Peter Crouch and Glenn Hoddle were also caught out and had to abandon their vehicle and set out into the rain on foot.
The former Spurs favourites joked about it on air. ‘We gave up with the car,’ said Crouch. ‘We were head down and legging it through.’
‘Peter ran and I limped,’ added Hoddle.
Thursday’s game between Tottenham and Qarabag in the UEFA Europa League was delayed
News of the delayed kick-off was communicated to supporters via the stadium’s giant screens
The nearby A10 was closed and several Greater Anglia trains were cancelled with unconfirmed reports of a fatality on the line.
The Qarabag team bus finally arrived at 7.45pm with long-serving head coach Gurban Gurbanov looking distinctly unimpressed but they agreed to prepare as quickly as possible for a kick off at 8.35pm.
According to UEFA regulations 54.01 both teams are supposed to be there 75 mins before kick-off and those who fail to comply are open to punishment, although a first offence is usually a warning.
Qarabag are not the first to be caught out by the notoriously congested streets around the home of Spurs.
Tottenham’s previous European fixture was delayed by 10 minutes when both teams arrived late due to bad traffic.
That was against Milan in the second leg of a last 16 Champions League tie in 2023, when Antonio Conte’s team were unable to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg and crashed out.
They did not qualify for European competition last season for only the second time in 18 years.
Manchester United were also late for a 4pm fixture at the old White Hart Lane stadium in 2016, forcing the kick-off back by 30 minutes.
Tottenham’s players arrived at the stadium much earlier than the opposition on Thursday
There was a lot of rain in the air as Peter Crouch (right) interviewed Ange Postecoglou (left)
Spurs updated fans about travel issues at 5.16pm with a tweet that read: ‘Please note, the A10 is currently closed in both directions north of the Great Cambridge roundabout. We advise fans attending tonight to plan their travel accordingly.’
A second update 70 minutes later added: ‘London Overground services from Cheshunt and Enfield Town to White Hart Lane are currently suspended.’
The delay to kick-off was then confirmed by the club at 7.16pm with ‘severe travel disruption’ given as the reason.
Spurs published their teamsheet at 6.47pm when it was revealed that manager Ange Postecoglou had named a strong starting XI.
Postecoglou made six changes from the side that began Saturday’s 3-1 win over Brentford, but still included the likes of Son Heung-min, Dominic Solanke, Yves Bissouma, Micky van de Ven and Guglielmo Vicario.
Pedro Porro, Destiny Udogie, James Maddison and Rodrigo Bentancur were all included among the substitutes.
A pre-match photo taken inside the home dressing room at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Another Spurs starter was Brennan Johnson, who spoke of his excitement at getting the European campaign underway in a pre-match interview with TNT Sports.
‘Really excited it is something all the players are looking forward to,’ he said. ‘We are looking to get a good start.’
On his recent form, Johnson – who has scored two goals in his last two games for Spurs – added: ‘It is about getting in the the right positions – we have a really creative team.
‘The last two games I have been able to do that. We have had two good performances and we are looking to carry that on.
‘I think it’s a good opportunity for us and we have a great squad. Nights like tonight are a good way of getting the squad going.’
