Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed that their planned stadium move has been delayed by at least another month.
The Lilywhites were due to host Liverpool in the £1bn stadium's curtain-raising fixture on September 15, having been allowed to play their first home match of the season, against Fulham next Saturday, at Wembley Stadium.
A delay in construction means that the Lilywhites will now stage at least three matches at Wembley, however, with the games against Liverpool and Cardiff City also being switched, as well as the NFL clash between Seattle Seahawks and Oakland Raiders.
Spurs announced the news in a statement on their official website on Monday evening following press speculation that they may not move into the 'Tottenham Hotspur Stadium' until early 2019.
"Following the release of the Premier League fixtures for the 2018-19 season, we announced that, barring any significant issues with the final stages of stadium completion, our match against Liverpool on 15 September would be the first match in our new stadium," the statement read. "Recent testing and commissioning has now shown issues with the critical safety systems.
"Urgent follow-up meetings with Mace and the trade contractors are now taking place. We are reviewing the situation and planned timetable to rectify and re-test, after which we shall be in a better position to outline a revised timetable. The delays created by these difficulties mean that we can no longer hold the necessary Test Events on August 27 and September 1.
"These will need to be rescheduled to take place ahead of any first official match at the new stadium in order to achieve the safety licence. In the meantime, therefore, our upcoming Premier League matches against Liverpool (September 15) and Cardiff City (October 6) will be switched to Wembley, as will the NFL match scheduled for 14 October."
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said: "We know this will be disappointing for all our season tickets holders, premium members and our fans worldwide. We appreciate the support our partner the NFL has shown since the extent of this issue became evident today.
"At the start of the project we asked for your support during what we knew would be a complex and challenging build and now we ask for your continued patience and forbearance."
UEFA is also said to have been informed about Tottenham's plans to stage their Champions League group games at Wembley Stadium, which they used for each of their home matches last season.
Daniel Lewis
