Tottenham Hotspur's first game at new stadium will be held in April

London, March 10: Tottenham Hotspur have finally announced the expected date of their first match at their new stadium and it is to be played in the first week of April, against either Crystal Palace or Brighton & Hove Albion.

Tottenham have not played at White Hart Lane since May 2017 when they bid adieu to the old stadium with a 2-1 victory against Manchester United and since used Wembley as their home since the start of last season. Although ahead of the ongoing season, it was expected that they will move into their refurbished home. But due to construction heavily delayed, the club have been forced to play home games at Wembley for a second consecutive season.

But finally delivering the good news to the fans, Chairman Daniel Levy has addressed the media that their new 62,000-capacity stadium is ready to host games now and is now the only subject of two test events to ensure it is safe and fully functioning, before officially opening the new ground.

The test events at the new stadium will star a Spurs Under-18s match against Southampton on 24 March before a Legends match on 30 March. The arena will operate with a capacity of 30,000 for the under-18s match and 45,000 for the Legends match.

And should everything goes well they are expected to play the first game against Crystal Palace on 3 April or against Brighton on the weekend of 6-7 April, subject to Chris Hughton’s side’s progress in the FA Cup. Brighton have been drawn away to Millwall in the sixth round on 17 March.

The stadium will also host the quarter-final match of Uefa Champions league. Uefa officials administered the site last Friday and have given a clean sheet to the arrangements.

The new ground is expected to cost around £750m and will also stage NFL games to boost further economic terms.

A Tottenham statement read: “We have held discussions with the Premier League and Uefa. The following has been agreed with the Premier League, Brighton and Crystal Palace to ensure that our first game is a Premier League match prior to a Uefa Champions League quarter-final match.

“If Brighton win their FA Cup quarter-final match on Sunday 17 March we shall play Crystal Palace on Wednesday 3 April and Brighton on 23 or 24 April.

“If Brighton lose their FA Cup quarter-final match on Sunday 17 March we shall play Brighton on 6 or 7 April (subject to Champions League scheduling) and Crystal Palace on 23 or 24 April.”

Spurs booked their place in the last eight of Europe's elite competition with a 4-0 aggregate win over Borussia Dortmund this week. However, have faltered in the league in the last four games, collecting just one point out of possible 12 - putting a big concern for next year's Champions League spot.

But with a brand new environment and returning to their old home, the London based side will now surely hope for a change of fortune to put things again back in places.