Tottenham training ground evacuated after World War II bomb false alarm
Tottenham Hotspur’s training facility and the surrounding area were evacuated Friday afternoon after the discovery of what was suspected to be an unexploded World War II-era bomb.
Police eventually determined that the object was merely a piece of metal, but not before bomb disposal specialists had been summoned to Tottenham’s Enfield training ground to deal with what was thought to be an “ordnance.”
It’s unclear if any Spurs players were present at the time, but the entire training center, as well as some nearby homes, were evacuated. Police cordoned off the area and closed surrounding roads. A fire brigade arrived.
The following since-deleted photo appears to show various first responders and emergency vehicles outside the facility.
Local police released a short statement: “Police in Enfield were called at approximately 15:06hrs on Friday, 29 September to Bullmoor Lane, EN1 after a suspected WWII ordnance was uncovered in the Tottenham Hotspur training ground.
“Cordons and road closures have been in place while specialist officers attend and assess the device.”
About an hour and a half later, the “device” was found to be innocuous.
A Tottenham spokesperson also addressed the false alarm: “An unidentified piece of metal was unearthed on the Training Centre site earlier this afternoon and, as a precaution, the Metropolitan Police cordoned off the surrounding area. The incident was cleared shortly after as the object was found to hold no danger.”
A tweet from Tottenham’s official Twitter account pictured players departing for Saturday’s game at Huddersfield, with no mention of the evacuation:
Heading to Huddersfield. #COYS pic.twitter.com/3M11Y5RX1j
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 29, 2017
This type of suspected bomb discovery is more common in England than you’d think. Thousands of bombs were dropped on the U.K. during the Second World War, with London hit particularly hard. There is no way to know how many “ordnances” are below the ground more than 72 years later.
That explains Friday’s scare. Fortunately it was just a scare, and nothing more.
