Love it or loathe it, there's logic behind Spurs' controversial post-season friendly
Spurs' plan to jet-off to Australia three days after the season finishes has raised eyebrows
Tottenham would have been aware that releasing the news of a post-season friendly in Australia might not have gone down well with everyone.
The 21,000-mile round-trip to play Newcastle United in Melbourne just three days after the final game of the Premier League season at Sheffield United is not one for the traditionalists and it has been condemned by some climate action groups.
Spurs, who have been named the league's greenest club for the past four years, have defended it by saying that they look to offset their travel emissions across the length of the season.
The club have not embarked on a post-season match since a trip to Hong Kong in 2017 and another in Malaysia in 2015. A post-season friendly is in essence a symbol of another trophyless season for the club have no FA Cup final to take part in and certainly not another Champions League one.
For Tottenham fans, primarily those outside of Australia, the question was simply 'what's the point?, many of them already left frustrated by the woeful defeat at Fulham after the high of the performance at Aston Villa.
The Spurs players were probably similarly unimpressed when they heard of the extra fixture tacked on to the end of their club season, just before many will head off on international duty, some competing at the Euros or Copa America and this game will cut into their brief pre-tournament holiday period.
Although you could argue that had they done their job better with Tottenham, then they would have had finals to play in during this same period.
This trip is essentially about money. It's a money-spinner in the short term with the fees and revenue Spurs will get from the promoters and, in the long term, they will benefit financially from the extra exposure to the Australian market, which existed for the north London club before the arrival of Ange Postecoglou and then exploded with his appointment and impact this season.
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