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00:01Football.
00:03With four billion fans, it's the biggest sport in the world.
00:08And top clubs are building bigger and more sophisticated stadiums.
00:13I lost in a sea of 62,000 souls in this vast stadium.
00:20Yeah, this is big engineering and I feel small.
00:24Tottenham Hotspur's new London Stadium has more firsts than any other.
00:28These stands are the steepest in the UK.
00:31And then above them, the biggest TV screens in Western Europe.
00:35Inside, it's got the longest bar in Europe.
00:38This is the first stadium to have its own brewery.
00:42It even has the ability to transform its soccer pitch into an American football field.
00:50It's like being in America.
00:52But I've not come here to watch a match.
00:54I'm here to discover what it takes to build and run.
00:58The most advanced sports stadium in the world.
01:02Here I go.
01:04I'm Richard Hammond.
01:06Hello.
01:07And I'm on a mission to explore the really, really big...
01:11Awesome!
01:12Top ten list of the same things I've ever been involved in doing.
01:15This is number one.
01:16And yes, I know, everything seems big to me.
01:19Am I climbing into an engine?
01:20I feel like I've been shrunk.
01:23I'll uncover the incredible ways engineers have supersized our world.
01:28What can I suppose to be this close?
01:30Oh!
01:31I looked over my shoulder.
01:32I shouldn't have done that.
01:34Reveal that sometimes it's the tiny things that make the Titanic possible.
01:39I'm stealing their power!
01:41I could not do this for a job.
01:45And meet the heroes who design, build, and live big.
01:50If I do it wrong, are we all blown to pieces?
01:54Maybe.
02:05Tottenham Hotspur's new billion pound home is the biggest Premier League stadium in the capital.
02:10This massive construction took over 5,000 people three years to build.
02:1772,000 square metres of concrete were poured, and 1,600 doors were installed.
02:24It's an incredible feat of engineering.
02:28But this isn't just the story of a massive building.
02:31This is the story of how a stadium can transform the way sport is both watched and played.
02:37All right.
02:43It's match day.
02:45In less than six hours, 62,000 fans will pour through the turnstiles,
02:50and stadium staff have their work cut out to be ready in time for kick-off.
02:55Luckily for them, I'm here to help.
02:57Wow!
02:58When something is this big, it tends to mess with your perspective.
03:02But looking now, those screens are huge!
03:08And this is it.
03:09Oh, wait a minute.
03:11Are we completely sure?
03:13Okay.
03:14I'll get shouted at.
03:16Here we go.
03:17Did it!
03:19I'm meeting one of the most important members of the team.
03:22Hello, how are you?
03:24Stadium head groundsman Wayne Billing.
03:25I'm told he lives, sleeps and dreams grass.
03:33I'll just tell the boys you're coming down.
03:34They'll be over the moon for the help.
03:37Gents, we've got Richard coming down to give us a handpin and the portables on.
03:41Brace yourselves.
03:42A team of 20 crownsmen work behind the scenes in this incredible place, getting it ready for match day.
03:48What do you all do?
03:50Help us.
03:51Help us.
03:52Oh, right, I'm with them.
03:54These are my people now.
03:55I'm also a helper.
03:56Only difference is they know what they're doing and I haven't got a clue.
03:59Right, what are we doing?
04:00I'm just going to grab this girl and put it in if that's all right.
04:02Is it heavy?
04:03Is there a way I can do it without damaging anything?
04:09It's really quite surprisingly heavy.
04:12Is that right?
04:13Like a professional.
04:17I can't hurt my back.
04:19I'm not a young man anymore.
04:20That was, you know.
04:22Crying inside.
04:25It's a slick operation, Richard.
04:27It's about a million times.
04:29It's not like you just arrive half an hour before the match and unlock the stadium.
04:32Right over here, there you go.
04:33No, it's busy. Match day is busy.
04:35Well, why don't you do it the day before?
04:37Is it having your homework in late?
04:38Yeah, well, we could do it before, but it's all about sort of the preparation and the eye for detail.
04:42Just making sure everything's perfect for the game.
04:44So are you happy with this today?
04:46Yeah, relatively happy.
04:47I mean, as a groundsman, you're never happy, but...
04:49No, you're not. I'm learning that.
04:51Yeah.
04:52So are all groundsmen miserable buggers at heart?
04:54Pretty much.
04:55Yeah, because they just say, it's never finished, it's never done.
04:57It's never finished.
04:58It's always a problem.
05:03Worldwide, a staggering 1.4 billion people watch live English Premier League soccer matches.
05:09With that kind of audience, the playing surface has to be immaculate.
05:14So all 500 million blades of grass are as preened and pampered as the players that run upon them.
05:20The pitch gets a trim before every match, and not surprisingly, there are standards.
05:26And the stadium standard is that every blade of grass has to be between 25 and 30 millimetres.
05:31This device is for measuring that, and, er...
05:34Well, not surprisingly, it is.
05:36It's precise stuff.
05:37This is precision grass.
05:39That's between 25 and 30.
05:42Yeah, I'm not going to catch them out with this, am I?
05:48Yeah, every single blade is between 25 and 30 mill.
05:52In the not-too-distant past, the English weather regularly turned football pitches into mud baths.
05:58Today, under-soil heating, hybrid grass and automated sprinklers keep the pitch in pristine condition all year round.
06:07Wayne, am I your official assistant now?
06:09Yep, you've got a job.
06:10Right.
06:11Uniforms in the post.
06:12We haven't taught pay yet.
06:13Or, like, do I...
06:14Oh, I don't want to walk on the actual pitch door, I'll lose my job.
06:17What's the worst thing?
06:18Because I'm...
06:19You're not nervous, I'm nervous.
06:21Despite all the high-tech horticulture, the finishing touches are applied to the pitch in a very low-tech way.
06:28Right, what are we doing? Talk me through it.
06:29Right, so we're obviously marking the line for today's game.
06:32Yeah.
06:33So the pressure's on to get this six-yard box as straight and as neat as we can.
06:37Right, what if I get it wrong?
06:39Don't tell me.
06:40Millions of people criticise.
06:41Okay, thank you. That's your world, isn't it?
06:43Right, so I've got to move on.
06:46Yep, basically push it when you get to the white line, just lift it up slightly,
06:49just to get you over the line and then drop it back down.
06:51Oh, now it's freehand!
06:53If I get this wrong, what if this shows up on the video referee thing?
06:58And then they say the line isn't straight.
07:01I'm so scared.
07:02Right, I'm not scared. Come on, Ham, be a man.
07:04Yeah, so generally we do two coats.
07:06Concentration is key.
07:07I like the walking style.
07:09It's good, isn't it?
07:10I'll just stop.
07:11Stop slowly, that's it.
07:12Perfect.
07:13Lovely job.
07:15It's a simple machine doing a very simple thing.
07:18But that is going to be seen this afternoon by millions of people.
07:24And if it...
07:25If that line is called into question...
07:28It's now one hour till kick-off.
07:31The stadium is beginning to fill up and my help is needed elsewhere.
07:35No, I'm not the mascot.
07:38Supporting your team is thirsty work.
07:40But most bars only have to deal with a few hundred customers, not tens of thousands.
07:46Tottenham Stadium is so big, it demands a new approach to making sure they don't run out of beer.
07:52Because that would be bad.
07:53There are many firsts about this stadium, but the one I'm looking for right now is particularly interesting.
07:59Because this is the first stadium to have its own in-house brewery.
08:05I think I've just found it.
08:07Yeah, well, there it is.
08:08It's not small.
08:09Oh, yeah.
08:10It's in here.
08:11It's in here.
08:14Wayne has loaned me out to head brewer Valérie de Patrice.
08:18How much can you make here?
08:20I can make almost one million pints in a year.
08:24Well, that's not all for use here.
08:27Almost, yes.
08:28So how much will you get through, so on a typical match, how many pints?
08:32It's about 23,000 pints.
08:3523,000 pints in one match, all made here.
08:41And then the interval between it being finished here and served also here is sure.
08:48One day.
08:49So this is the freshest.
08:50This is really fresh beer.
08:52So fresh that we're making a batch right now.
08:57All I know about beer is that it's delicious and made with malt.
09:01Which, it turns out, is heavy.
09:04OK.
09:07You made that look easy.
09:09So we're making beer.
09:10Am I now a brewer?
09:11Is that it?
09:12You are now a brewer.
09:14Right, does this go, do I put all this in?
09:16Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:17The whole bag?
09:18The whole bag.
09:20Right.
09:21Is that beer now?
09:23Right, so next place we're going to.
09:26Is there anything I can fall in or ruin?
09:29That's warm.
09:30We are boiling.
09:31Looks like somebody's put too much bubble bath in.
09:34You know all this talk about beer.
09:37Is there any chance I can try it?
09:39No.
09:40No.
09:41No.
09:42So that's water, and then there's, like, malt and stuff happens, and then beer.
09:46Cheers.
09:47Cheers.
09:48Mm-hmm.
09:49Oh, yeah.
09:50Yeah.
09:51Rather than shipping it in, make the stuff here, and then you can drink it fresh.
09:54I'm just going to make sure it hasn't gone off while I was saying that.
09:58I have to say, other brands of beer are available, and they are.
10:02In total, Tottenham sell around 65,000 pints every matchday.
10:06Most of them served in a 15-minute window at half-time.
10:10Now, you'd think that would be impossible, but not here, because they've built the longest
10:15bar in Europe.
10:16At 65 metres from end to end, it would almost stretch across the pitch.
10:21It's impressively big, but bar manager Ramzi Bandhu has the real secret of how they pour
10:27so many pints so quickly.
10:29Ramzi, somebody's nicked your pumps.
10:31There's no...
10:32There's something clever going on here.
10:33How does it work?
10:34Do you want to see some magic happening?
10:35I do.
10:36So you put that, and then it clicks.
10:39And it fills with beer from the bottom of the glass, and that takes how long?
10:43Maximum five seconds.
10:44To fill a pint.
10:45Yes.
10:46That is incredible.
10:47Can I have a look at these glasses?
10:48Because this is the key to it, isn't it?
10:49Yeah.
10:50So what you've got is a hole in the bottom of the glass, and then this little disc is
10:55magnetic, and it just attaches.
10:57So that pushes that up, beer goes in, and then take this off, and that comes...
11:02And does it work every time?
11:03Every time.
11:04If it doesn't go in place, I'm just going to...
11:06Is there a right way or a wrong way to take it off?
11:08Any way.
11:09Just lift it.
11:10That is clever, isn't it?
11:12That is impressive.
11:13Can I salute you on from scratch?
11:15Absolutely.
11:18I say I want one of those at home.
11:20I don't think I should have one of those at home.
11:22No.
11:23And coming up.
11:25That is astonishing.
11:26And that's how you get these pints poured and distributed in huge numbers.
11:33Yep.
11:34Every time.
11:35Every time.
11:36This bottom-up system can fill a pint nine times faster than a traditional tap, enabling
11:41this stadium to pour 10,000 pints in a minute.
11:45And since what goes in must come out, you'll be pleased to hear that this stadium also has 471 lavatories.
11:53So, that's a relief.
11:56Next.
11:57Oh, God.
11:58To get a bird's eye view.
11:59This is far enough.
12:00What?
12:01And feel the force of 62,000 fans.
12:05More than ever right now, this building feels like what it is.
12:09Unreceived.
12:10I'm exploring one of the biggest and most high-tech sports venues in Europe.
12:24Tottenham Hotspur's new stadium in London.
12:28It was built to transform the way fans experience a match.
12:33One of the most important elements for a fan on match day is the sound, especially chanting.
12:38It boosts the home team and intimidates the opposition.
12:43And the man with the vision to design sound into the stadium is club chairman Daniel Levy.
12:50So much thought has gone into every single corner that you look at.
12:53That was all about creating energy and atmosphere for the fans.
12:57At the moment, there's more sound generated from this stadium than any other stadium in Europe.
13:01And it's truly special.
13:02Sound design engineer Mark Murphy helped create Tottenham's wall of sound.
13:09So you, Mark, were involved from the outset?
13:11Yeah, very much so.
13:12What's quite unique about this stadium is this south stand that we're in now.
13:15What was part of the driving factor was the fact that this is the home stand.
13:19So to make this unique and give the fans the opportunity to really influence the match and influence the venue was to put all these seats together as close as possible and then to really push this sound into the stadium.
13:29So you're turning this whole thing here into a sort of amplifier, sending that sound out to the rest of the crowd and the players?
13:36Exactly, yeah.
13:37The south stand is the largest single-tier stand in the UK and can hold 17,500 fans.
13:47At 35 degrees, it's at the maximum steepness a UK stand can be, and the front row is just five metres from the goal line, keeping the fans close to the action.
13:57But creating enough noise to support your players and put off the opposition isn't just about the number of voices.
14:05Individual sounds are not that powerful, and the distances here are huge, so sound dies away very quickly.
14:10So our job really is to kind of protect it and try and help to reinforce it in the space.
14:16That's one of the lovely things about designing these kind of spaces is you're creating a space that humans then use almost as an instrument.
14:21In this stadium, it's not enough that the south stand acts like a loud hailer.
14:29The architecture of the whole building works to amplify the sounds even more, and it's all thanks to the roof.
14:36Imagine, if you will, that this fishbowl is the stadium.
14:39On this telephone, I've downloaded a completely genuine football chant, which I shall play, and we can measure the volume of it with this decibel meter.
14:46So we switch that on. That will now measure the peak volume.
14:51It's a real one.
14:5698.4 decibels.
14:58If I add to this stadium a roof not unlike this one, I just want to show how much difference it makes just this little lip here in reflecting the sound back into the waiting crowd to enhance their match day experience.
15:13So this is still in the same mode.
15:16Right, record the max.
15:18And straight away that goes up to 107.7.
15:27And that's the effect of just this little lip around here, which works just like this roof.
15:32It doesn't have to cover the whole stadium to be enough to reflect sound back in where it's wanted, in here, with the crowd to create that atmosphere.
15:40Even though the roof doesn't cover the whole stadium, it still weighs a staggering 600 tons and incredibly the monster frame was lifted up in one piece.
15:52Yes.
15:53I've been invited up top to see how.
15:55Oh, God.
15:56And I foolishly said yes.
15:58What if I fall?
15:59Will that glass hold me?
16:01It certainly will.
16:02Will it?
16:03Dance and have a party on there.
16:04Oh, yeah.
16:05Engineer Chris Keenan helped design this incredibly high dance floor.
16:10This is far enough.
16:14That's hysterical laugh, but it's not joy.
16:17Oh!
16:18Chris has brought me up here to explain how this roof is held in place with cable and how they got it up here.
16:25If you can imagine an elastic band lying loose all the way down on the terracing.
16:31Yeah.
16:32And then if you take a loose piece of string and then hook that across the stadium all the way around at 54 positions, we then pull each piece of string to raise the central elastic band up into the air.
16:50The pieces of string were, of course, steel cable, 10 kilometers of it in total.
16:56Over three weeks, hydraulic jacks pulled the cables tight, raising the frame 40 meters into the air.
17:03Tensioning the cables made them rigid, forming the roof structure itself, ready to be clad in aluminum and glass.
17:10Like everything else to do with this project, the attention to detail is astonishing.
17:15And even up here, I can see everything supersized.
17:17This, the emblem of the club, that is a really big one.
17:21And it was supersized for this, wasn't it, in every detail?
17:24It was.
17:25The new cockerel is an exact copy of the one on Spurs original and much smaller stadium.
17:30But to look the same size to the fans, this one had to be three times bigger because this stadium is so much higher.
17:37This scaled up replica even includes the dent where a player shot the smaller original with an air rifle.
17:44Do you have to polish it?
17:45We do have to polish it.
17:47You do?
17:48Yes.
17:49All of it?
17:50All of it, right to the top.
17:51Chris, can I ask something very honestly?
17:55Can I get down now, please?
17:56Because my fingers are actually going to burst out of their joints gripping onto this rail.
18:00Of course.
18:01OK, thank you.
18:02Let's go now.
18:03Let's go.
18:04You go first.
18:05This roof isn't just pretty, it's designed to solve a problem.
18:08The traditional way to hold up a roof is with columns.
18:11But Tottenham Hotspur wanted to give every single fan an unobstructed view of the pitch.
18:16It's called a cable net roof and the best way of thinking of it is being a bit like this bicycle wheel.
18:21There are two rings on the roof.
18:23One outer ring, like the rim here, and one inner, which is like the hub.
18:28It's not quite to scale.
18:29In this instance, it would be a very small pitch.
18:31There are 108 cables in the roof connecting those two rings.
18:35They're under tension.
18:36It is worth noting, though, that they have to be very, very careful about those tensions.
18:40I'm going to tighten some of these spokes now, get those tensions wrong, and the whole thing buckles out of shape.
18:48Imagine that on this scale.
18:50And this is much harder in this roof because it's not even round.
18:53It's oval shaped, which means the tensions have to vary across each of those 108 cables.
18:59And I did that for real myself by misadjusting the spokes.
19:02I did not go through a little cutaway shot of me tightening it and swap it in for a pre-buckled one,
19:07because that would be cheating.
19:09This is science.
19:11It's not just the view of the pitch and the sound of the crowd that are important.
19:1621st century fans demand screens to go with their live entertainment.
19:21And like everything else in this stadium, they're massive.
19:24The screens, not the fans.
19:2611 metres high and 29 metres wide.
19:30And to explain just how big that is, you could fit six and a half of me on top of each other,
19:35and 50 of you side by side.
19:38I mean, I'm not big, but that's 300 of me, and that is big.
19:45But they didn't stop there.
19:47There's a kilometre of ribbon screens running around the pitch,
19:51and a further 1,800 screens covering nearly every part of this stadium.
19:56Inside and outside.
19:59Well, I have always wanted to be bigger.
20:02And this is big.
20:04Tottenham Hotspur have used every engineering trick in the book to heighten the spectator's experience.
20:10But does it work? How do you tell?
20:12I could conduct a survey of fans, but I have a much better plan.
20:16This device is measuring something called electrodermal response, which is how well my skin conducts electricity.
20:25And that's something that changes according to how stressed or relaxed or excited I am.
20:29Right now, the stadium is empty, I'm calm, and it's reading 0.75...
20:34Well, actually, the unit involved here is called Siemens, after the man who invented them.
20:41Specifically, these are micro Siemens, 0.75 of them.
20:45I suspect that'll change when this magnificent south stand is in action.
20:52I want to find out if the clever architecture of the stand and the design of the roof
20:57really improve the atmosphere and heighten my excitement.
21:02Bearing in mind, I am not following the day.
21:05And I've spiked straight up to 1.75.
21:09It's more than doubled in terms of my emotional response.
21:14It's not the game, it's the stand.
21:18The work they're doing, 17,500 people united on this one stand,
21:24makes the whole place work.
21:27All 62,000 people and half of the players out there benefit.
21:36I'm still not watching the action, but as the crowd around me reacts to it
21:40on this incredible south stand, I've more than trebled my emotional response on this machine.
21:47And that's just because of what this thing generates.
21:53That's scientific proof, that is.
21:55Pretty much.
21:56It's the end of the match, and time for the exhausted players and fans to head home.
22:09But for head groundsman Wayne, the day is far from over.
22:12That out there is real growing grass.
22:16And the stadium's design and sheer size means it blocks out most of the elements.
22:22So they've had to recreate wind, rain, the sun.
22:26This is gardening on an epic scale.
22:28From underneath the stands, we're about to reveal the world's biggest sunbed.
22:35I'm going to leave it in your trusted hands to start the first process.
22:38Yeah, you'll be right mate, can't go wrong.
22:40Press forward.
22:41Its purpose, to trick the grass into thinking it's sunbathing.
22:45Whoa, Star Trek noises.
22:48It's five minutes to complete its full stroke.
22:51I detect an edit coming along any time.
22:56Just know the other side of this edit.
22:58I have for real been standing here for five minutes with my sore thumb
23:01that I dislocated about three months ago on that button.
23:04It's quite firm.
23:06Anyway.
23:12My sore thumb is moving the 120 ton lighting system,
23:16which is now suspended over the entire pitch without touching the grass.
23:21It features 864 lights to make sure every blade can be bathed in artificial sunshine.
23:28Wait, do you ever get to go home?
23:31I haven't been home recently.
23:32No.
23:33It's been a busy schedule, I'm not going to lie.
23:34Hasn't it?
23:38Ooh, toasty.
23:39But I get a tap.
23:41That cost you extra.
23:42Oh, okay.
23:44Right.
23:45Next, I get under the pitch to see some massive engineering.
23:49Hello?
23:50And take a football field for a spin.
23:52Oh!
23:53This will be the biggest thing I've ever driven in your lap.
24:05I'm at Tottenham Hotspur's high-tech home in North London.
24:08Everything about this massive space is designed to heighten the experience for fans and players alike.
24:15But when Spurs decided to host American football matches as well, they hit upon a problem.
24:21How to prevent their beautifully manicured pitch from being churned up by two and a half tons of NFL players.
24:27The solution is something no other stadium has.
24:33Beneath my feet is the world's first splitting retractable pitch.
24:37And two meters beneath that is an NFL pitch specifically designed to be used for a different sport.
24:43It's 10,000 tons of brilliant engineering that splits into three separate parts that are then stitched together to make one entire pitch.
24:53I'm going to look for the joints.
24:55I regret going round and round and round like that.
24:59I can't see anything, joints or otherwise.
25:02Ooh!
25:06The grass sits in three giant trays, each weighing over 3,000 tons, that split apart and roll under the sand stand to reveal an artificial pitch underneath that will be used for American football.
25:18It's literally groundbreaking engineering.
25:21Right, joints.
25:23Well, I can't see where it splits, it's just one gigantic thing.
25:29This man will know.
25:31Wayne, there has to be joints.
25:34Because it splits, I know it splits into three.
25:36It's very difficult to see the joints when the turf's on.
25:39I could have been looking all day.
25:41Oh, mate, I've been thick.
25:42So it splits lengthways?
25:44Yeah.
25:45I knew that.
25:46And here's why I can't see it, because I'm...
25:50I mean, you can't think of it in my face.
25:51I mean, that's kind of important.
25:53Yeah.
25:54It's crucial that it can't be visible from a player's perspective.
25:57So looking at it, you've got a lovely lawn, mate.
25:59It's really nice.
26:01And I'd expect that.
26:02But unlike most pitches, like, I don't know, most pitches, there's roots, missing a bit of soil.
26:08There's a whole world going on underneath this one to look after the pitch and it moves.
26:13Can I have a look?
26:14Yeah, absolutely.
26:17I'm meeting Nick Cooper, Chief Engineer of Moving Structures, that's his actual title, to see how this feat of engineering is possible.
26:26It's more machine than buildings.
26:27It is.
26:28It's a machine.
26:29The three enormous trays that hold the grass soccer field are designed to roll away on 168 wheels.
26:37And there it is. There's the second pitch.
26:39According to Nick, the only way to see where the joins are is to crawl between the pitches.
26:44Really?
26:45In there?
26:46Well, there's only a few people being there, but you're going to be one of the lucky ones.
26:50This is a big privilege to go into the...
26:51Absolutely.
26:52Right.
26:53There I go.
26:54Ooh.
26:55I couldn't see the joins from up there, but from down here...
27:02Yeah, that is one.
27:04That's a joint.
27:05That's a tiny gap, considering that's a 3,000-tonne tray.
27:11The scale of this, it's like... almost like a man-made tectonic plate.
27:17Ah, right. Now, over here, I've got tracks. So this... this is what the wheels can move in.
27:29I can see no blockages on rails. Nothing unexpected. What I'm hoping to see is some of the NFL markings.
27:39It's kind of cosy under here. You could forget about all the chaos and work that's going on outside.
27:45I might be like one of those hedgehogs that fall asleep in bonfires that haven't been lit.
27:51The match will start, and I'll be down here. I hope I haven't taken a wrong turning here.
27:56Um, if I don't pop up in the next scene, I'll be down here.
28:01Maybe you could tell somebody.
28:04I'll probably start to smell. That's when they'll find me.
28:08Well, do you have a short television presenter found under a soccer pitch?
28:12It was the smell that first alerted us.
28:15Hello? Hello? I'm, um... Well, I'm under the pitch. Anybody there?
28:22Hello? Hello?
28:26Moving an entire pitch is a big enough engineering challenge.
28:34But here, they have to do it whilst manoeuvring around that massive musical instrument, the South Stand.
28:42The entire South Stand and all 17,500 people on it are supported on these trees.
28:49One here and one there. Just two.
28:52And they're doing the job of what would otherwise be, I'm guessing, dozens of pillars.
28:56The net result is this clear, open space.
28:59And if you look at the top, you can see where each of the sort of fingers or branches off these trees are pulling in the weight and into this huge support.
29:09There is a downside to this.
29:11All of the weight is transferred into these supports, and they go below there.
29:16Below there is exactly where they store the pitch.
29:19And that's why the pitch has to split into three parts to get around these two critical supports.
29:26So, when the stadium is being used for American football, where exactly do they store three massive chunks of Premier League soccer field?
29:34Wayne will probably know.
29:36So, this obviously is a car park.
29:39Is this the end of the pitch?
29:41Yeah, this is the end of the pitch. So, when we go into transition, this is the pitch's home, if you like.
29:45So, the pitch comes in here?
29:47Yeah, so basically we just remove these rubbers, and then the pitch wheels obviously just run down that groove, and in she comes.
29:54So, that whole pitch, into the car park.
29:58So, if you're here announcing the stadium, will the owner of the beige Vauxhall please, you better move it.
30:03Be quick.
30:04Because it's going to end up there.
30:06So, there's somebody who's part of a team that you spend a lot of time looking after and maintaining that pitch, so it's beautiful.
30:12When it suddenly tears itself into three pieces and is bunged in the car park, that must be a weird moment.
30:18Hopefully it comes out the other end in one piece.
30:22Wayne's beloved soccer field is about to be on the move.
30:2748 hours from now, this won't be a soccer stadium, it'll be an NFL stadium with a completely different pitch and layer.
30:34They have practiced this process, breaking the pitch up, sliding it under the south stand and making other transformations here, but they've never done it for real.
30:41This is their first live event.
30:43There are thousands of tasks to be completed.
30:46The atmosphere is already tense, but it's okay, because they told me I can help.
30:51Be fine.
30:53I'm not just helping, Nick has told me that I'm about to drive a football pitch.
30:59You're all right to operate it, aren't you?
31:01Yeah, I've never crashed anything in my life.
31:02It's easy.
31:03Hold down wireless command.
31:04Yes.
31:05And then you push that up.
31:06No, this will be the biggest thing I've ever driven.
31:08In your life?
31:09Yes.
31:10This is the first?
31:11It's also a football pitch.
31:12Is it?
31:13It's not the fastest.
31:14Definitely the first football pitch.
31:15Yeah.
31:16Oh, there it is.
31:17My first job is to move the pitch one and a half meters sideways, tearing apart the three segments of field.
31:24That is a football pitch that has just split along its length on purpose.
31:33With a flick of my thumb, 68 electric motors begin to drive the pitch out of the stadium along the rails at a sedate seven meters per minute.
31:46So what we're doing now is you're doing 3,000 tons, and by the end of the day, you'd have moved 9,000 tons, which is more than the weight of the Eiffel Tower.
31:52Cool.
31:53All right.
31:58When you think about it and look at it without seeing it move, it's immensely complicated, but seeing it all happen.
32:02It's simple.
32:03There's a kind of simplicity to it.
32:05This type of engineering hasn't really changed in decades.
32:09It's just big moving stuff. It's boys with me carne.
32:11And a lot of toys.
32:12The first section is in the car park without a hitch, but I'm feeling a bit overconfident.
32:20Driving boat at the same time.
32:26Am I moving now? No, that's moving.
32:29That's moving.
32:30I got...
32:31Because it switched from that one to that one, I got completely... I very nearly fell over.
32:36Right, so that one's now moving.
32:38Yes.
32:42It's just like being a mole, popping your head up in the middle of a lawn.
32:46Just standing here watching the other pitch reveal itself.
32:49It's quite deceptive, isn't it?
32:50Not just a pitch, either. It's another whole sort of culture. It's another world.
32:54NFL is a different world from what they play on here.
32:56Yes.
32:57That's remarkable.
32:58The whole stadium is at a... when you're down...
33:00It does feel different.
33:01It feels completely different.
33:02It really does.
33:03And the reason this is done is so that you can look into an NFL pitch.
33:07Yeah, it's a totally different place.
33:09It's taken just 25 minutes to roll away a grass field.
33:19But I have to admit, I'm a little concerned about Wayne.
33:23His pride and joy will spend the next 13 days in a car park.
33:30Well, we've got it in here safely.
33:33A couple of bits of it were rather nicely driven, but I don't want to pass.
33:36I didn't see that bit.
33:37How would you...
33:39Get off!
33:40My bitch!
33:41It's in safely.
33:42So, going through the things that grass needs.
33:44It needs light, because it sits in sunlight, obviously.
33:46So, we have the LED lights in the ceiling.
33:49That basically maintains the photosynthetic activity within the plant during storage.
33:52But LED lights are slightly different light, so it doesn't stimulate too much growth.
33:55So, we get a lot of type of growth when we have to mow it so much.
33:58How do you mow it?
33:59We've got some autonomous robot mowers.
34:01So, its needs can be met. It can be kept alive and nurtured.
34:04Are you going to be awake at night worrying?
34:06Erm, yeah, obviously it's a natural thing to worry about the pits.
34:10Because obviously it's such a key thing to the business.
34:12Yeah.
34:13People often refer to it as our baby, which in general it is.
34:16We work on it every day.
34:17It's a seven day a week operation.
34:18Three, six, five days.
34:19So, we'll be in on Christmas day regardless.
34:21And, yeah, it's really surreal because although you know the pits splits until it actually splits, you know, like this morning, you know, you would never know.
34:29So, to put it in here, now it's, you know, even for me, even surreal to look at.
34:34Yeah.
34:35That's your pitch.
34:36Yeah.
34:37I've no doubt that when you roll this out again and present it to the world, it'll be healthy and hale and hearty and green and brilliant and lush and wonderful.
34:46Yeah.
34:47Yeah, it will be.
34:48It will be.
34:49No pressure there.
34:50Yeah.
34:53In just four and a half hours, Tottenham Stadium has swapped soccer for American football.
35:01There's a new pitch, an old new world.
35:03But it'll take more than a pitch switch to turn North London into California.
35:12There's more to this room than meets the eye.
35:15In this mode, it's ready to be set up and used as an exclusive dining room for VIP members where they get to have lunch with ex-players.
35:24And you can feel that.
35:25It's very, it's very sombre, very posh.
35:28You can imagine it with glittering glassware and cutlery.
35:31All very smart.
35:33But then, at an NFL match, it has a very different purpose.
35:36They have very specific requirements in NFL for their TV studios.
35:40They have to be high up and directly in the centre of the pitch.
35:43So this was built to serve that second function.
35:46The glass comes out.
35:47They put the commentator's desks along here.
35:50These windows either side are not covered.
35:53So there's diners out there looking into the action in the studio.
35:57Everything has two purposes here.
35:59And I think in here...
36:01Yeah.
36:02So that's not full of Fane Wain's cooling ready for use in the dining room.
36:06This is...
36:07That's for the electronics to plug straight in and turn this rather nice dining room into a TV studio.
36:18Next, I take a walk on the wild side.
36:21Go Bears!
36:22Go Bears!
36:23Go Bears!
36:24Go Bears!
36:25We're going all the way!
36:26And join the big league.
36:28You'll never know.
36:39I've seen Tottenham transform its massive new home from football ground into the only purpose-built NFL stadium outside the US.
36:46And I helped them do it.
36:47Now, for the first time, it's game day in North London as the Oakland Raiders and the Chicago Bears come to town.
36:55Go Bears!
36:56Number one!
36:58I'm some distance still from the stadium and already the atmosphere has spilled out into the streets.
37:03This is a completely different place.
37:05It's utterly transformed.
37:07Suddenly, like, I'm in the States.
37:10I'm at an NFL game in Tottenham.
37:12I was chatting to one of the guys from NFL organizing all of this.
37:19And his words were, yeah, it's kind of an underground thing in the UK.
37:24This is not underground.
37:25Go Bears, baby!
37:26Go Bears!
37:27Go Bears!
37:28Go Bears!
37:29Go Bears!
37:30We're going all the way!
37:31That's one of the teams, I'm guessing.
37:33And he favors them.
37:34It's the best team!
37:35The best team.
37:36Under bowling!
37:37Go Bears!
37:38All of the things they're saying, I concur with.
37:41Unless they're illegal or bad.
37:44Yep.
37:45I'm, like, fitting in here.
37:50It's kind of a nice atmosphere.
37:52I like this.
37:53Oh, Bears!
37:54Bears!
37:56This was a Tottenham Hotspur shop, like, yesterday.
38:00Now it's an NFL shop and looks like it always has been.
38:04NFL is a sport dialed up to 11.
38:07It's big, bold and brash.
38:09And that means Tottenham Stadium has to transform more than the pitch to accommodate it.
38:14One, two, three.
38:15One, two, three.
38:18Not everywhere in this stadium can be dual purpose.
38:22This is the changing room we've been allowed in.
38:25And to my inexperienced eye, it's pretty magnificent, actually.
38:28It's enormous.
38:30There's room in here for 23 players to change in comfort and luxury.
38:34Each of them with their own space, with a cupboard, with a safe to put their big expensive watch in.
38:39Probably this will be, in fact, almost certainly one of the best such changing rooms these guys would have been in.
38:46But there's no way would this space have worked for the NFL side of the stadium.
38:51This is the NFL changing room, and it is much, much bigger.
38:57Needs to be for good reason.
38:59For a start, there are many, many more players on an NFL team.
39:03This is all just one team.
39:05And each of those players can be around twice the size of their soccer-playing counterparts.
39:11All of which means a lot of real estate is required.
39:14This is, this is massive in here.
39:20This room will be jam-packed with American football stars about to play the first ever American football game in this stadium.
39:28But before I experience that, there's just one thing I need to do.
39:37You'll never know.
39:38You'll never know.
39:53Another key difference between soccer football and NFL.
39:57In soccer, the players run to and from the pitch through their sealed glass tunnel.
40:02In NFL, they just come through the bar.
40:08Those gigantic screens are going to be pressed into action throughout the game because in NFL,
40:23tactics and stats are of critical and crucial interest to the whole crowd.
40:27So, they're going to be useful.
40:38And can I ask, you're filming this, yeah?
40:40Yes.
40:42Do you know the rules?
40:43Yeah.
40:46No, I don't.
40:47I see, yeah, yeah, okay, yeah.
40:49What's amazing is the transformation is not just from one type of game to another.
40:53The whole stadium has changed nationality.
40:56The crowd have absolutely got into the swing of things.
40:59It's like being in America.
41:01But then somebody turned the rain on and I'm back in Tottenham.
41:05Some things you can do nothing about.
41:07Sorry, chaps.
41:09Welcome to the UK.
41:11Oops.
41:12As a team, edge of the pitch, crowd goes crazy, atmosphere builds.
41:22It really is.
41:24It's the most theatrical and stage-like atmosphere now.
41:28It really is getting set for something to happen.
41:30And at that exact moment, we're going to have to stop because we can't film the actual game.
41:34I can watch it, but you can't, I'm really sorry.
41:39So I'll join you after the match.
41:41I promise not to enjoy it.
41:42I'm just here for work.
41:45It's an amazing atmosphere.
41:57When the four-hour sporting extravaganza is over,
42:00I'm invited into the locker room to find out what the players thought of their new home away from home.
42:07How's it working out there for you?
42:08The pitch, the stadium.
42:10How does it feel?
42:11Does it feel like...
42:12It's a beautiful stadium, man.
42:13The turf was great.
42:14It was fast.
42:15It was one of the best stadiums we've ever played in.
42:17The place was electric, man.
42:18It was a great atmosphere.
42:19So it does feel like a proper NFL stadium.
42:21It feels more than most places we play.
42:24Result.
42:25That's all I can ask for.
42:27It felt like a home game to us.
42:28And it felt nice playing in a nice stadium like that.
42:30Because watching them do all the work to transform it.
42:32Yeah.
42:33Clearly, stadiums are really different.
42:35And you have different needs.
42:36So what are the key things you guys need from the stadium when you're playing?
42:39You know, I think it's just creating that home atmosphere.
42:42And this felt like a home atmosphere.
42:43It felt like the way that we came out.
42:45The way everything was set up in the locker rooms.
42:47It was perfect.
42:48Tottenham Hotspur has constructed the ultimate multipurpose high-tech sporting stadium.
42:54What this incredible building does is more than accommodate the needs of two different games.
43:00It transforms its structure, its very nature in big ways and small.
43:07From thousands of tons of moving pitch to transformable rooms to accommodate the culture around those games.
43:16The needs of the players, the coaches, the media, the fans themselves.
43:21It's two different worlds in one place.
43:24It's more than a building.
43:25It's a machine.
43:27And it has changed the way we watch, play and enjoy sports forever.
43:57In the next one, boom.
43:59And then finish and Berlin plays in a small building,
44:02When you learned the disco, you feel like one of the.
44:17You're not a kid at in a cabin.
44:20¿De over a space of time?