Tottenham confirm switch to Wembley for next season

LONDON (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur will play home matches at Wembley next season while they finish building a new stadium on the site of their White Hart Lane ground, the club confirmed on Friday.

Premier League Spurs will use the 90,000-capacity national stadium before moving into a new, 800-million-pound ($1.04-billion) home, which will be ready for 2018-19.

"This marks a momentous day in our club's history as it is the day we formally agreed the demolition of our beloved White Hart Lane," chairman Daniel Levy said in a statement on the club website (www.tottenhamhotspur.com) after a board meeting.

“The Lane means a huge amount to... us and we needed to gain greater certainty on the delivery of the new stadium before we made the final decision to commence with the decommissioning of our iconic, historic home for some 118 years.

"We shall ensure that we give the Lane a fitting farewell when we play our last match here on May 14," Levy added.

Second-placed Tottenham, who are four points behind London rivals Chelsea in the race for the title, host Manchester United in their final home league game of the season.

"Wembley will be our home for a season and then we shall return to... one of the best stadiums of its kind and the most unique in the world playing host to NFL games too -– a stadium that will be key to our future growth and success," said Levy.

($1 = 0.7721 pounds)

(Writing by Ken Ferris; Editing by Clare Fallon)