The latest meeting in one of soccer’s most heated rivalries will be the first ever to be held overseas, some 6,000 miles from its origin in the United Kingdom.
The North London Derby between Premier League teams Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, a matchup stretching back 116 years, will cap off the Hong Kong Football Festival Thursday.
The preseason friendly will take place in the city’s newly built 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. Attendance is projected to break all-time local soccer records.
“Of course, it’s a friendly, but there’s more to it,” new Spurs manager Thomas Frank told CNN in an exclusive interview ahead of the match.
“It’s a great development for a historic fixture. Of course, traditions are hugely important. But I also think the world is developing, and we want to come out here and embrace our fans. It doesn’t get any bigger than playing against Arsenal.”
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who hopes his team’s new star signing Viktor Gyökeres will spearhead them to glory this season, told CNN it was “a brilliant idea to bring all that tradition, history and rivalry to Hong Kong.”
While there has been raucous support for both teams during their pre-season tour around Asia, some diehards still grapple with such a sacred derby being sanctioned overseas.
The fixture has only been played outside of London once, and never beyond the country’s borders.
On one hand, it seems inevitable given that sport is seeing unprecedented spending and global commercialization.
On the other, preserving footballing heritage is fundamental.
“If I put my London hat on, it’s a bit strange,” said Hong Kong-born Myles Pyne, an Arsenal season ticket holder now based in London.
“The derby over the years has seen so many red cards and flashpoints, and players are absolutely pumped up before the game. You’re not going to get that same needle. Of all the teams they could have picked for a pre-season game, this one feels like it’s ruining the sanctity (of the derby) a little bit.”
“But if I put my Hong Kong hat on, it’s awesome,” he said, noting that many fans in the city wouldn’t normally “get the opportunity to see what a North London Derby looks like.”
Billy Ip, who runs Hong Kong’s Tottenham supporters’ club, is similarly torn.
“It’s a bit of both – you want to experience the derby in London, and of course some will want to keep it there,” he said.
“But some of us can’t afford to travel to London to watch any football match at all, let alone the North London Derby. It’s a good chance to experience the vibes of such a high-level match outside of Europe.
“Putting big games on in big cities is a trend to commercialize more. It’s part and parcel of the game now.”
Adam Ng, of the opposing Arsenal supporters’ club, added: “It’s so meaningful to us that they are visiting. This could be once-in-a-lifetime for us overseas supporters.”
The attendance record set to tumble on Thursday was set by Liverpool and AC Milan in the same tournament the previous week.
Should the event be a hit overall, Australia-based organizer TEG Sport is confident this will only be the start for big-name sports outfits visiting Hong Kong and the wider Asia-Pacific region.
“The clubs were very much the drivers of wanting to come – we just needed that world-class stadium worthy of hosting such a historic match,” Rachael Carroll, its managing director, said.
“I can absolutely say that there are a whole other bunch of clubs around the world – top football clubs – that are watching with interest.”
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