Feature: Spurs deal conjures up magic of NFL team being based in London

Has the prospect of an American NFL football team being permanently based in London moved closer this week?

A proposed new 61,000 capacity stadium for English premiership club Tottenham Hotspur has been enlarged, and redesigned after a 10-year contract to play at least 20 NFL American football at the venue was signed.

Tottenham will become the first English football club to host NFL matches, and possibly the new home of the first NFL team outside the United States.

The new designs reveal the grass pitch to be used for Spurs' home games will disappear under the spectator stands, to reveal an artificial pitch for use during NFL games.

This fall three top NFL games will play at the 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium in London, England's spiritual home of football.

With all tickets sold for two of the clashes, Miami Dolphons against New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs against Detroit Lions, it will almost certainly mean thousands of fans watching American football on the British side of the Atlantic.

The new deal signed by Tottenham Hotspur adds to speculation that the growing army of NFL fans in Britain could open the door for the league's first international club.

Architects Populous have unveiled details of the new stadium for Spurs, costing more than 600 million U.S. dollars, with a seating capacity of 61,000.

The revised plans will make the new Spurs home the second biggest in the Premier League (Manchester United has 75,000 seats) and the biggest club stadium in London.

Australian architect Christopher Lee from Populous has been tasked by Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy with designing the new stadium.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy said: "We have an opportunity now to deliver one of the most unique sports, leisure and entertainment venues in the world, bringing together the English Premier League and NFL for the first time. The socio-economic benefits this will bring to the area will be immense and demonstrates our commitment to the regeneration of this priority borough in London."

The size of the new stadium would be in line with seating at many of the NFL clubs across the Atlantic.

Building Design said the ground has been redesigned, partly with the NFL, in mind after the club agreed a 10-year deal to host a minimum of two gridiron matches a season.

Fuelling speculation that a British NFL franchise could eventually be signed is that the facilities at the new Spurs ground include larger changing and locker rooms, necessary for the bigger NFL teams which require space for 50 players and around 20 team coaches.

The new stadium has also been designed for multi-use, including a structurally engineered fully retractable pitch, the first for any stadium in Britain, to ensure the football playing surface is always in peak condition.

Underneath the grass field will be a synthetic grass surface that would be used for NFL games and other events.

A spokesman for Spurs said: "This innovative solution also allows greater flexibility in the scheduling of games, reducing the set up time required to prepare the ground for other events."

The seating bowl has also been designed to enable excellent sightlines to be achieved for the different formats of football and the NFL, without having to screen off rows of seats at the front of the lower tier, maintaining an excellent atmosphere for all sports and events.

Plans are due to go in to the local council in London later this summer, with main construction work expected to begin early in 2016. Spurs aims to move into its new home in time for the start of the 2018-19 season. Endit