this stadium in london will switch between soccer and football fields in just 25 minutes

a new stadium in london will be able to host both forms of football after engineering specialists revealed plans for the world’s first dividing retractable pitch. the populous-designed stadium, which will form the new home of english football club tottenham hotspur, was first unveiled in july 2015 and is scheduled to open in august 2018 for the start of the 2018/19 soccer season. the arena will be able to accommodate more than 61,000 spectators, more than any other club side in the UK capital.

the stadium will form the new home of english football club tottenham hotspur
image courtesy of populous / tottenham hotspur | video courtesy of SCX

tottenham hotspur’s new stadium will also host two NFL games each year, with a fully retractable pitch revealing a second playing surface below. sheffield-based engineering firm SCX will produce a grass playing surface that sits directly above an artificial field, making the stadium the first of its kind in the UK to have two pitches inside the same bowl. in order to protect both surfaces, the fully retractable grass surface will be used for soccer while the artificial pitch underneath will be used for NFL games, music concerts, and other events.

the arena will also host two american football games each year
image courtesy of populous / tottenham hotspur

used for spurs’ home games, the real turf football field will sit in three steel trays that run the length of the pitch. the trays will then retract under the the south stand to reveal the artificial playing surface below. it is expected to take approximately 25 minutes to switch between surfaces. the club says that once the grass pitch is returned, the joins will remain ‘invisible and undetectable’. watch the video at the top of the page to see the plans in more detail.

the arena will be able to accommodate more than 61,000 spectators
image courtesy of populous / tottenham hotspur

the stadium is currently under construction and will open in 2018
image courtesy of tottenham hotspur

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