Tottenham Hotspur made an emotional return to Haringey on Wednesday night as the new 62,062 capacity stadium opened its doors for its first Premier League game.

The club have been playing at Wembley Stadium since May 2017 while the new multi-purpose venue has been built, but they finally returned to their spiritual home in Haringey when they faced Crystal Palace.

The council has been working with the club ahead of the big opening and – following two test events – gave final approval for the stadium to officially open its doors.

Haringey’s building control team presented the stadium’s safety certificate to Spurs chairman Daniel Levy on the pitch before the game.

Council Leader Councillor Joseph Ejiofor attended the match and said: “We are thrilled to welcome Tottenham Hotspur back to their home in Haringey and to see them performing at one of Europe’s biggest and best stadiums.

“The victory on Wednesday night was an outstanding way to mark the opening of the new stadium.

“Spurs keep our borough on the world stage, and we can’t wait to welcome visitors from across the globe for matches, NFL games, concerts and other world class events.

“The stadium will provide hundreds of jobs for residents and provide a major economic boost to local businesses. Our number one priority is that this stadium works for our residents and we will continue to work with the club to ensure people in Haringey feel the benefits of this fantastic destination.”

The new stadium – and development around it – will bring in jobs, housing, and a major economic boost to the area. Through the Northumberland Development Project, the club has built 256 affordable homes elsewhere in North Tottenham and a 400-pupil primary school.

This is part of Haringey Council’s wider vision for North Tottenham aimed at improving the area for people living there.

The council’s 2,500-home High Road West scheme will deliver high-quality council homes at council rent which will be managed by Homes for Haringey, plus affordable homes for local people.

It will also deliver jobs, a new library and learning centres, a civic square for activities and cultural events, green spaces including gardens, a play area and an outdoor gym, plus shops and restaurants.

There will be more than £10million in social and economic support for businesses and residents.

With the new stadium’s increased capacity, there will also be some changes around the stadium when it comes to travel and road traffic management, controlled parking zones and the closure of roads in the build-up to the game.

Cllr Charles Adje, Cabinet Member for Strategic Regeneration, said: “The new stadium – and development around it – will provide jobs, housing, and a major economic boost to the area. Alongside this, the council has committed to delivering thousands of new homes in North Tottenham to meet urgent need, including a large contribution to our pledge of delivering 1,000 new council homes by 2022. Our number one priority is that any change in Tottenham works for our existing residents and businesses – they are at the forefront of all of our plans and always will be.”

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said: “Last month we achieved a safety certificate for Test Events. I should like to thank the Planning and Building Control departments of Haringey Council for the many hours and hard work to get us to this stage.

“We did not just want to build a stadium. We wanted to change the prospects for those that live in this part of London, and for our stadium to be the flagship development that kickstarted its regeneration.

“We see it as bringing hope, prosperity and uplift to Tottenham, embracing the local community, building on the character and talents of the area. Our vision is that our neighbourhood is a prosperous mixed community. If you live here you should be able to study, work and play here.”

An innovative project to get college students involved in women’s futsal is set to be launched by the University of Wolverhampton.

Sports teams from local colleges will be invited to take part in the women’s futsal competitions organised by students and Birmingham FA at the University’s Walsall Campus.

Futsal is played on a hard court which is smaller than a football pitch and is mainly indoors. It is played in more than 170 countries.

The University has secured £1,450 funding from the British Universities and Colleges Sports (BUCS) Women’s Football and Futsal Innovation Fund in partnership with the FA to run the programme.

A taster session will take place in June with the main competitions from September/October.

The events will be run by University students who will be involved in aspects such as refereeing, media and managing the day.

Tracy Nash, Professional and Workforce Sports Manager at the University, said: “We’re delighted to have received funding from BUCS for this project which will see us set up a number of competitions and festivals throughout the year for local colleges linked to football clubs we currently have links with.

“As part of the project University of Wolverhampton students will get involved in the delivery through organising, refereeing, media and managing the day.

“Workshops in coaching and refereeing futsal would also be offered to participants and to the student workforce involved to upskill both college students and University students enabling the game to grow further.”

The University is one of 12 institutions to have received funding from the innovation fund to run projects which aim to provide solutions to participation and workforce challenges in women’s and girls’ football and futsal that can be shared across the sector.

Institutions will upskill a diverse student workforce to deliver the activity and work with both university and local community partners.

Watford FC goalkeeper Ben Foster has become a Patron of blood cancer charity Cure Leukaemia. The 36-year-old former England international shot stopper has been an active supporter of the charity since taking part in Cure Leukaemia’s London 2 Paris bike ride in 2015 to aid his recovery from a knee injury.

Having cycled alongside the charity’s co-founders Professor Charlie Craddock CBE and Graham Silk, CEO James McLaughlin and fellow Patron Geoff Thomas that year, Ben was fully immersed in the charity and has been keen to help ever since.

Ben, who lives near Leamington Spa, has helped raised over £10,000 for Cure Leukaemia through auctioning the match-worn shirts of his Premier League opponents which this season have included Liverpool’s Alisson Becker and Manchester United’s David de Gea.

He has also supported Cure Leukaemia with numerous video messages for patients and supporters, helped the charity launch its £1m Appeal to expand the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s globally significant Centre for Clinical Haematology in early 2017 and he donated a plaque for three years on a special wall that will soon be installed at the Centre in Birmingham.

Speaking at a recent event in Leamington Spa promoting Cure Leukaemia’s cycling events he said: “I am thrilled to be a Patron of Cure Leukaemia. I’ve been involved with the charity for four years now and it has become very close to my heart. I am very fortunate that my family has not been touched by blood cancer but we have seen the football community rocked by Carl Ikeme and Stiliyan Petrov being diagnosed in recent years and of course Geoff Thomas too.

“It is such an indiscriminate disease that affects people from all walks of life, young or old and any level of fitness and Cure Leukaemia is a charity that is fighting back and being proactive in trying to find a cure as quickly as possible.”

Ben met a teenage leukaemia patient called Harrison Price at the launch event in 2017 and he has followed his treatment closely ever since and he was delighted to see him with his family last week.

“It was great to see Harry, I love that kid, he always has a massive smile and I forgive him for being a big Aston Villa fan! I know he has a rare form of blood cancer and it’s another reason why supporting charities like Cure Leukaemia is so important so that more can be done to help people like Harry.

“I know Harry’s mum and dad are cycling the Velo Birmingham and Midlands on 12th May so I’m going to sponsor them with the funds raised from David de Gea’s shirt! I’m so glad the shirt idea has worked so well, I’m really grateful to all the players that have supported this and everyone who has bid to raise funds for the charity.”

Cure Leukaemia Chairman Ian Allen said: “Ben is a fantastic person and typifies the spirit of Cure Leukaemia. We are delighted to have him as a Patron and I know that his involvement will be a huge benefit to our charity for years to come.

We wish him well for the rest of the season and for the FA Cup Semi-Final this weekend.”

A London-based father has posted a request online looking for a hypnotist to make his son switch from supporting Tottenham Hotspur to Arsenal, after trying everything to get his son to back the Gunners. The father says he’s willing to pay £3,000 to the chosen hypnotist, and says that his wife ‘isn’t aware’ he’s doing this.

A UK-based father has posted a request online looking for a hypnotist to make his son switch his allegiance from Tottenham to Arsenal, after trying everything he can to persuade the six-year-old to support the red North London side.

The request was posted on Bark.com last week, but so far has had no responses from hypnotists in London, prompting the father to launch a public appeal.

The request states that the father recently received a ‘bonus from work’ and is willing to pay £3,000 to any hypnotist who can make his son support Arsenal and carry on his family’s tradition. He says that his son is six years old and despite his best efforts, has been swayed towards Spurs by some of his friends at school in the last six months. The ad states that his infatuation with Tottenham started last year after watching Harry Kane win the Golden Boot at the World Cup.

The father explains that his family has always lived in London and have traditionally been passionate supporters of Arsenal until his son decided he wanted to switch to Spurs. The dad also says that he wants his son to find his passion for the Gunners in time for next season, as he wants to take him to the Emirates Stadium for their first Premier League game.

The dad also said that his wife doesn’t know he’s doing this, and says ‘it’ll be easier to ask for forgiveness than permission’.

The Bark app and online platform Bark.com, Europe’s leading local services marketplace, connect customers with local professionals for any project, including accountants, cleaners, DJs, personal trainers, plumbers, web designers and wedding photographers, to name a few. Bark.com’s goal is to revolutionise how people find and sell local services online, get quotes, read reviews, message the professionals and hire - all through the app and website.

Kai Feller, Bark.com co-founder, said: “People love to argue about sport, especially when family members support different teams. We don’t know if it’s even possible to change someone’s loyalty like this, but hopefully someone will be able to help out this father and unite the family in their support of Arsenal!”

There will be a ‘first’ at Brands Hatch this weekend as Reema Juffali will be making her British Formula Four debut – being the first Saudi Arabian female racing driver to do so. The 27-year-old will be racing for reigning F4 champions Double R Racing in the FIA-sanctioned series. She only started racing just under a year ago –after her country lifted the ban on women driving; becoming the first Saudi female license holder to compete in a series at the TRD86 Cup in Abu Dhabi last October.

An excited Reema says: “It’s a good time in Saudi to be doing such a thing and all the support I’ve gotten from friends, family, people I don’t even know, has been fantastic and it’s only been pushing me to do better.”

On the F4 season, she said: "Brands Hatch is the heart of motorsport and this will be such a great thing for me to do and represent my country.

“To be here is quite unbelievable and to have done it in such a short space of time, I’m very grateful and happy about that.”

Talking further – about the coming season – she added: "It's going to be a tough year in such a competitive championship, but I'm ready for the challenge."

Saudi Arabia issued driving licences to women for the first time in decades in June 2018. It hosted a round of the all-electric Formula E series last December, with a number of women drivers testing there afterwards.

On a fantastic day for cross country running in Aarhus, Denmark, the senior women’s team impressed as they placed fourth overall after a stunning set of performances by the British squad, while two juniors placed in the top 25 of their respective races.

The senior women showed great spirit on the 10km course, forming a superb team effort to place fourth overall behind Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.

They were led home by a strong finishing Kate Avery who built into the contest fantastically, running conservatively in the early stages before picking off her opponents over the 10km course.

After coming through in 60^th after lap one of the 2km course, the Shildon athlete found her stride around the undulating Danish course, moving into the top 40 after the second lap. She overtook the fast-starting Jennifer Nesbitt on lap three, staying with a small group hoping to break into the top thirty. As she rounded ‘the berm’ at the bottom of the museum roof downhill section, she had to fight for her 30^th position, holding on for an encouraging result.

Avery commented post-race: “There were certain parts when I thought my legs were going to give way, but when it came to the hills, in my head I kept saying ‘jog, jog, jog’ and it seemed to work because others weren’t. I’m really happy to be the first Brit home, I had the top 30 in my head when I saw the course, so I’m really pleased I did that well.

“My only concern was pacing it right. I’m pleased with how the cross season has gone. I'm still not back up to what I was doing previously so I need to get back to that level.”

52^nd, 41^st, 37^th, 35^th and 32^nd were the positions Mhairi McLennan held after each lap in the contest, the final placing a staggering achievement for the Scottish athlete. It was the great show of strength, moving through the field expertly and working hard on the hills.

She moved passed Nesbitt in the final stages, and it was also a great World Cross debut for the latter, leading the Brits for long periods of the race, before placing as the third counter – 34^th overall - in the best European outfit on the day.

Team captain Jess Piasecki was not too far behind, finishing strongly for 36^th to confirm four Britons inside the top 40 on the world stage.

Piasecki added: “There are no other words to describe that course other than a monster. On the first lap I thought ‘I feel OK here’ even though I told myself not to go too hard. I let some people go through, but you can’t rehearse for a challenge like that.

“I’m happy I came through because normally I die a death and managed to take some positions on the final lap and stuck it out for the team. The girls had storming runs.”

Emily Hosker-Thornhill crossed the line in 48^th, while Amelia Quirk at just 19 years-old and making her senior British debut, came home in 79^th place, battling hard for the team.

As for the senior men, Patrick Dever was the standout performer as he came through the field majestically to seal 37^th place, contributing to the ninth-place finish of the team overall.

Following the Loughborough-based athlete was Mahamed Mahamed who negotiated the course very well, pacing it perfectly as he moved into 44^th place at the end, having come through the first few laps outside the top 70.

Making his first World Cross appearance for 12 years, Adam Hickey was next home in 51^st while Oliver Fox was 58^th, not too far behind the Essex athlete.

Ross Millington and Luke Traynor placed 64^th and 107^th respectively.

Joshua Cheptegei (UGA) won the race, making up for his dramatic finish in Kampala two years previously, when he missed out on a medal in the closing stages.

Trials winner Grace Brock (Cornwall) continued her excellent cross-country season by finishing as the first British finisher in 25^th place in the junior women’s contest. She built into the race fantastically, moving from 59^th on the first lap, into the top 30 after the second lap, and kept on moving up the field.

Placing as the second European behind Italy’s Nadia Battocletti, it was a step-up by Brock who placed 11^th at the European Cross country just four months ago.

An ecstatic Brock spoke afterwards: “It was amazing – and the European champion only overtook me on the last bit. To make that jump from 11th at Europeans and to be second European here is more than I could have asked for. It was an amazing atmosphere all around the course and that really spurred me on in the closing stages.

“I knew the start was going to be fast, so my plan was to hold back a bit and then when it started to stretch out, I would start to move up. That was my plan and I felt like I executed it really well. I maybe didn’t kick quite as well as I would have liked at the end, but I am really pleased. 25th place is a higher placing than I was expecting so I’m over the moon.”

Another debutant, Amelia Samuels, enjoyed her maiden appearance for Great Britain & Northern Ireland, crossing the line in 35^th and the second Brit. Samuels was 57^th after the first lap but continued to pick her rivals off, helping the team on their way to seventh position overall.

Becky Briggs and Charlotte Alexander placed 44^th and 49^th, while Eloise Walker battled well to 51^st position. Olivia Mason admitted she paid the price for a fast start but ran a solid race to place 57^th overall.

The British team finished seventh overall, the top Europeans in the field. Ethiopia took the team title overall with Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet winning the race individually.

There was an eighth-place finish for the British junior men’s team, with Matt Willis (self-coached; Wrexham) matching the 25^th position of his compatriot in the women’s race, similarly the second European finisher behind the prolific Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

It was an excellent result for the Welshman who was the top Briton at the European Cross-Country Championships in Tilburg last year. He certainly played the course to his strengths, battling hard in the downhill sections when his opponents were reeling from the hill climb. It was a demonstration of strength from the youngster, moving from 34^th on lap one to the top 25 after 7km.

Willis spoke afterward: “I’m really happy; I wasn’t expecting to run that well at all. I’m just over the moon to finish in 25th.

“The first lap was ok but then it became a lot harder on the other laps. The sand was particularly hard to run through. The hills were hard, but I adored the downhills; I used my strength wisely to make up for my weaknesses on the uphill sections.”

On finishing as second European in the field, he added: “It gives me hope for Europeans in December and gives me that extra bit of motivation.”

After admitting he didn’t “show his best” at the European last December, Rory Leonard (Morpeth) made amends in Aarhus, fighting his way through the field to claim 37^th place and in doing so, was the second counter for the GB & NI team.

Euan Brennan used his mountain running pedigree to good effect, crossing the line in 50^th, and was one of several athletes to speak about the sheer speed of the race. Debutants Josh Cowperthwaite and Zakariya Mahamed were 62^nd and 66^th respectively, while Ben West unfortunately did not finish.

The race was won overall by Milkasa Mengesha (ETH) with Ethiopia taking the team gold, with GB & NI in eighth overall.