There’s not much we haven’t seen in the north London Derby down the years — but the next time they clash will represent a first for the fixture.
On July 31, Tottenham and Arsenal will face off at the 50,000-seater Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong, 6,000 miles from London, the first time the game will be played overseas.
“There are few bigger occasions in English football than a north London derby and to play this fixture in Hong Kong will be a huge occasion for our passionate fanbase across Asia, as well as providing ideal preparation for the team ahead of the new season,” Ryan Norys, Tottenham’s chief revenue officer, said in a statement to the club’s website.
“As is tour tradition, the club will be involved in so much more than the match itself when we visit, supporting charitable causes, celebrating local culture, delivering football clinics for young people and engaging with fans and partners. We cannot wait to visit such a beautiful place once again.”
Arsenal’s managing director Richard Garlick described it as a “great experience for both teams and supporters” and that the club “cannot wait to connect with our Hong Kong supporters in this wonderful part of the world”.
Here, The Athletic explains why they’re doing it, and what people think.
Why are Arsenal and Spurs playing in Hong Kong?
Naturally, money is a significant factor in this decision.
Tottenham are regular visitors to Asia in pre-season and spent last summer in South Korea and Japan. It will be Arsenal’s first visit to Hong Kong since 2012, when they drew 2-2 with local side Kitchee SC in the Hong Kong Stadium. Pre-season tours are big money spinners for Europe’s biggest clubs, with the most prominent clubs demanding millions for individual matches.
A source, kept anonymous to protect relationships, told The Athletic in 2022 that Europe’s premier clubs can demand fees of over £2million ($2.6m) per game. Given that this is the first north London derby to take place on foreign soil, it would not be a surprise for Arsenal and Spurs to demand a comparable figure.
Tottenham sit 14th in the Premier League and will likely not qualify for Europe through their league position. They are in the quarter-final of the Europa League and could still enter next season’s Champions League by winning that tournament. But the extra revenue earned through pre-season friendlies may help to make up for the potential lost income.
Arsenal won both of the Premier League meetings between the clubs in 2024-25 (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Spurs released their accounts for 2023-24 on Monday, a season in which they were not in European competition. Their total revenue decreased by four per cent to £528.2million from 2022-23, with the money earned from UEFA competition dropping from £56.2m to £1.3m.
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy noted how a varied “income strategy” will help the club compete in the transfer market in the absence of the added European competition prize money.
“Our capacity to generate recurring revenues determines our spending power,” he said in a statement on the club’s website. “We cannot spend what we do not have, and we will not compromise the financial stability of this club — indeed, our off-pitch revenues have significantly supplemented the lower football revenues this year, testament to our diversified income strategy.”
In contrast, Arsenal posted record revenues of £616.6 million for 2023/24, an increase of around £150m from the season before. Mikel Arteta’s side appears set to qualify for Europe’s premier competition again next season and have a Champions League quarter-final tie against Real Madrid on the horizon.
Long-term, pre-season tours and high-profile spectacle fixtures may help to grow the international fanbase. Which, of course, means more merchandise sold, lucrative broadcast deals and increased revenues for the Premier League and its clubs.
Where is the game being played?
Kai Tak Stadium, which opened officially on March 1, will host the fixture as part of its inaugural Hong Kong football festival.
It opened its doors to the public with the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament last weekend, attracting over 110,000 fans over three days, according to World Rugby. It will also be the venue for several major concerts between now and the pre-season north London derby, including four dates of Coldplay’s ‘Music of the Spheres’ world tour this month.
On July 26, five days before Spurs and Arsenal are scheduled to play, Liverpool and their 2005 and 2007 Champions League final opponents AC Milan will play the first football match in the stadium.
Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Stadium opened officially in March (Vernon Yuen/Getty Images)
According to reports in China, the Kai Tak Sports Park, including the stadium, cost around HK$30billion ($3.8bn; £2.9bn) to build. With a capacity of 50,000 in the main stadium and 10,000 in the indoor arena, it is Hong Kong’s largest sports venue.
If you plan to follow Spurs to Hong Kong, there’s plenty to do around the park. There’s an on-site mall with over 200 stores and a 40-lane 10-pin bowling alley. There are also more than 60 food and drink vendors.
What’s the history of these two playing friendlies?
Arsenal and Tottenham have a long and well-documented history in various competitions, but their first meeting was actually a friendly.
Tottenham hosted the amateur club Royal Arsenal, as they were known then, on November 19 1887, on the Tottenham Marshes. The home side were 2-1 ahead, when the game was abandoned in the 75th minute due to bad light. By then, Tottenham Hotspur were five years old and playing competitively in the London Association Cup. Arsenal, in contrast, were in their second season, playing at the Sportsman Ground on the Plumstead Marshes in south-east London.
While it’s technically a competitive fixture, some may count their 1991 Charity Shield meeting as a friendly. To emphasise the “friendliness” of the occasion, Arsenal and Spurs played out a 0-0 draw with no extra time or penalties to decide the winner, and both sides held the trophy for six months each. It was the last time the Charity Shield trophy was shared, with new regulations brought in the following season to go to extra time and, subsequently, penalties should the scores be level after 90 minutes.
Their most recent friendly match was in August 2021, with Spurs beating Arsenal 1-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Weeks after the Euro 2020 final, the home fans gave an ovation to Bukayo Saka, who missed a penalty in the shootout defeat to Italy, with the England and Arsenal forward acknowledging the support with his own applause.
What do UK-based fans think?
Dom N, Arsenal season ticket holder
“I wasn’t particularly surprised by the news, but I was surprised that we hadn’t played Tottenham in a friendly (abroad) before. I hadn’t thought about it but the environmental point is a little crazy, but we’ve seen Barcelona vs Real Madrid, and Arsenal vs Manchester United and Liverpool abroad, so what’s the big deal? It’s nothing particularly different to what we’ve done with previous friendlies.
“As a match-going fan, everyone deserves the chance to experience Arsenal live. We have a huge worldwide fanbase, so I don’t see any issue with us playing Tottenham in Hong Kong or just abroad. If we are going to make a few million, which means money towards more signings and potentially subsidising costs for members and season ticket holders, it would be interesting to know whether that was something they were thinking about.
“It’s a friendly and we’re playing Tottenham. Maybe that’s not a ‘friendly’ but there will be a needle in that game even if it is a friendly. Arsenal aren’t going to want to lose to Tottenham, regardless of where it is. I personally don’t see any issue with it.”
Arsenal’s players during their trip to Hong Kong in 2013 (Victor Fraile/Getty Images)
Adam N, Tottenham season ticket holder
“It’s obviously not the absolute end of the world, there are plenty of worse things that go on in football, but as a “legacy fan”, as Spurs have dubbed us, it’s sad to see something like this happening.
“Football needs to try and reach new horizons, which is totally understandable, but it does feel like they push and push. It’s a little tweak here and try something else there. You look at Spain, and they have their Super Cup now happening in Saudi Arabia. People are talking about the Champions League final one day happening in America. Things like this friendly don’t directly lead to it, but it feels like they’re trying to push the boundaries and make that sort of thing gradually more acceptable to fans.
“Obviously these kind of prestige friendlies are great for fans across the world, but for the ‘bread and butter’ supporter who has been going for years, it’s not particularly palatable. I don’t think many people who have been born and bred in London and have been going to Spurs forever would be very happy to see this. It kind of feels like a precursor to the 39th game and setting the table for stuff going forward. That does have more of a serious effect on the league and how we support our clubs in competitive games.
“Ultimately, if this revenue gives the club the opportunity to bring in top talent, who are we to argue…?”
What do Hong Kong fan groups think?
Billy Ip, Tottenham Hong Kong supporters’ club committee member
“Regardless of what opponents they are playing, every time Spurs go to Hong Kong, it is meaningful. It means everything to the Spurs fans in Hong Kong and Asia. Fan groups from different parts of southeast Asia, like Singapore, Japan, and Korea, will come and have a great time there.
“The last time Spurs came to Hong Kong was seven or eight years ago. The supporters’ club had a great night with (Mauricio) Pochettino in a bar. It was a great occasion; he sat with us for maybe an hour and a half and answered our questions. After that, we sang together and drank together.
“For every Spurs fan, it’s extra special that it will be a north London Derby. It’s a dream for every fan to watch it in person. It’s a great opportunity for fans in Asia to get to watch it with their own eyes. We expect people from Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, mainland China — even Macau, the Philippines, and Malaysia. We will feel the importance of it, and I hope we take no prisoners. We will go and defeat them. We say Hong Kong is white, not red.
“Hong Kong is not famous in a football sense, but we have a great passion for football. So, with the new stadium, and everything that it brings, and inviting big clubs to play, there will be a big boost to Hong Kong’s prestige in Asia. The people in Hong Kong love football. They may not do so well in football, but we love our teams and the sport.
Dele Alli takes a selfie with fans during Tottenham’s 2017 trip to Hong Kong (Nora Tam/Getty Images)
Adam Ng, Arsenal Hong Kong supporters’ club committee member
“It is our honour to be the first country hosting the north London derby. We are so excited and looking forward as most fans will never have the opportunity to watch this game at the Emirates Stadium or watch Arsenal. I think the last time Arsenal came to Hong Kong was in 2012.
“It is a milestone for our new stadium. The north London derby is a special game; it’s not a normal friendly or exhibition game. We have more than 500 people in our (supporters’) club and, so long as the game is played before midnight, we organise a party for every game to watch together.
“When you talk about international matches, well, the MLB and the NBA started bringing international games over years ago. They get great feedback from the new audience. It’s a very good opportunity to promote the game in different countries — I see the positive side. Most overseas fans expect we will only get exhibition football games, we don’t expect a competitive game like the Champions League final. But if there’s a chance to watch a league game over here, maybe the first game of the season, that would be something else for us.”
But are there environmental ramifications?
Freddie Daley, from the Cool Down Sport for Climate Action Network
“Pre-season tours to far-flung places are becoming the norm in the Premier League. These fixtures create a growing tension between clubs’ attempts to grapple with their emissions and a desire to expand their fanbase. A north London derby, set to take place in Hong Kong, is a glaring example of the contradictions at the heart of football’s sustainability efforts.
“Spurs and Arsenal have publicly pledged to cut their emissions and reach net zero, yet pre-season tours that require vast amounts of air travel are deemed permissible or even necessary. This suggests both a failure to acknowledge the scale of climate challenge for football and a lack of leadership from clubs that are purported pioneers on this issue.
Frank Huisingh from Fossil Free Football
“This is a terrible idea. Players are exhausted from the crazy number of matches already and, at the same time, the climate crisis is getting worse fast and hurting people around the world. More long-haul flights are the opposite of what we need.
“There are so many alternatives: a longer local pre-season tour with amateur clubs, a match in London between the two teams or a small tournament with clubs at train distance, including PSG and Ajax, for example.”
(Top photo: Stuart MacFarlane/Getty Images)
