The situation surrounding the stadium is looking a bit confused at the moment, so I have outlined three scenarios that may happen, depending on whether there is a delay in finishing construction.
1) Everything goes as planned
The stadium is ready for its first home game in September. We will play any home games scheduled in August away from home with permission from the Premier League.
Test events will be scheduled in August, first with a restricted 30,000 capacity and then with a full house of 61,000 to iron out the kinks before the club move in and take up permanent residence at our new home.
2) Delays cause a temporary switch to Wembley
Construction delays mean it may only be ready in November or December. If that is the case, we will have to decide on whether to play all of our home games at Wembley next season or look for special dispensation from the Premier League.
Currently, as things stand, the rules state that no club can play home fixtures at two different venues during the same season. If the club wants to move in by November, they would have to play home matches at Wembley and get permission to play from Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore and his board of directors.
The FA have given us another two weeks to decide if we want to play at Wembley early next season. If we don’t take this option up, this solution will be off the table.
3) Another season under the arch
We have already left our option to play another season at Wembley to expire, but both the FA and the club refused to comment when asked by Sky Sports about whether we have submitted a request for an extension to the deadline.
This scenario would be a huge setback for Daniel Levy and the club as a whole if we had to admit defeat and stay at Wembley. Hopefully, completion of the stadium is on schedule as the alternatives are certainly not appetising whatsoever.