Spurs aiming to create positive fan experience at The Hive says Skinner ahead of NLD | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Rehanne Skinner says that the club are working hard to make visiting The Hive a positive experience for supporters.

The Lilywhites face Arsenal in the first North London derby to be held at the stadium this afternoon. The game falls on Women’s Football Weekend ’21 and the crowd could be swelled by a number of new fans as a result.

When speaking to FAWSL Full-Time ahead of the match, Spurs boss Skinner said that playing a derby at The Hive rather than the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium could help generate atmosphere while she added that the club are aiming to give fans a positive experience at the venue in a bid to grow the long term fanbase.

“We have played them (Arsenal) in big stadiums most of the time and most recently at Boreham Wood,” Skinner said “For us, in and around The Hive, it’s about making it as much of our home as possible and get our fans in to support us to create that atmosphere.

“It’s unbelievable playing at Hotspur Stadium, those games are ones that players really look forward to but for us, we want to make sure that we have got that really positive atmosphere (at The Hive). We are trying to grow what we are doing at The Hive and we are putting in a lot of time and effort to make that experience really positive for our fans.

“There are pros and cons to big stadiums with atmosphere and just the venue at times. It will be a great experience for us (playing a North London derby at The Hive) and I don’t think that it has changed how we go about our preparation and our game plan. It could help us hear our fans more than we do when we play in that big stadium.”

Some Barclays FA Women’s Super League derbies are yet to create that real derby feel like they do in the men’s game. Skinner said that the derby aspect has not really come into Spurs’ thoughts when preparing for the game, although she understands that the occasion is a big one for the fans.

She said “We are trying to evolve the women’s game but it is different to that derby feel in the men’s game at this moment in time internally, I’m not sure that it is from a fans’ perspective because they want to beat their closest rivals.

“I think for us, as the game evolves and the gaps between the teams within the WSL get smaller, then it becomes that bigger event that you can probably quantify the same as men’s games. We will get there with that, we are realistic in that we look at every game and just take every game as it comes and just work as hard as we possibly can to get results out of them.

“That’s where we are in terms of our approach at the moment and who knows where it will go longer term.”

The North London derby between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal is scheduled to kick-off at 1.30pm. Tickets are available to purchase by clicking here.