Sunderland's first visit to London this season sees them take on Spurs in a Sunday afternoon kick off. Here's our guide on where to go, where to drink and what else you can get up to this weekend in the capital.
Getting There
London away days usual mean it's trains and cans for most travelling fans. Once you depart Durham or Newcastle you can relax until you get to Kings Cross, where you'll need to take another short train journey onto Tottenham. If you're sick of trains then you can either hail a black cab or get an Uber across but it will be a touch more expensive.
If you're opting for taking the car then it's another fairly easy journey from Sunderland. Just stay on the A1(M) after you've joined it from the A19 before getting on the M11 just before you hit Cambridge. Once at Junction 4, turn off onto the North Circular which will take you into Tottenham. There's match day parking available on Fore Street/Tottenham High Road which will set you back around £10.
Pubs
Spurs is always an awkard one for boozers. A lot of the pubs near White Hart Lane are home fans only, with the only away fan haunt near the stadium being Haringey Irish Centre. You can find the Irish Centre on Pretoria Road, just around the corner from the stadium. As you can imagine, it gets really busy there so get there early if you want a seat and expect queues at the bar.
There are options slightly further afield though. You can drink in the many pubs around Liverpool Street Station, such as The Railway, Hamilton Hall and Dirty Dicks. All are pretty classic London pubs, even Hamilton Hall has a decent character to it despite being a Weatherspoons.
Another option is Millers in Kings Cross, a pub that is an essential for many away travellers. Like the pubs in Liverpool Street, you're looking at a half hour train journey to the stadium from here but it's probably a better option than the choices around the ground.
If You're At A Loose End
A London away game is always a good one to make a long weekend out of. Here's a few things to do if you're still looking to fill some gaps in your planner.
Sunday's game could be a tough watch so maybe try and take in a comedy show beforehand. Scottish cult comedian Limmy is bringing his sketch based show to Hammersmith Apollo on Friday night with a few tickets still remaining. Expect to see characters from Limmy's Show revived and some call backs to his hilarious Twitter patter.
If that's not your bag but you still want a laugh then check out David Baddiel's latest one man show "My Family, Not The Sitcom" at the Vaudville Theatre. Baddiel's last show "Fame, Not The Musical" was a fantastic, honest & greatly entertaining piece of stand up and reviews suggest that "My Family..." manages to trump it. Catch it on Friday night or Saturday night at 7.30pm or on Saturday afternoon at 3.30pm.
An obvious place to go if you're after some entertainment in the capital is, of course, the West End. Plenty of musicals and plays to choose from so you can't really go wrong but I'll recommend a couple of my favourites. The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time is playing at the Gielgud Theatre on Friday & Saturday with performances at 2.30pm and 7.30pm (2.30pm show is Saturday only). It's an amazing spectacle of a play with great production values, as well as an amazing story.
Over at Wyndham's Theatre they're hosting Harold Pinter's No Man's Land which stars Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart. Due to the star names, tickets are severely limited but it may still be worth checking at the box office on the day as it's a brilliant, slightly sinister and uncomfortable show and you'll get to see a couple of huge names too. Evening performances on Friday & Saturday are 7.30pm with Saturday's matinee starting at 2.30pm.
The Stadium
What you'll first notice on this visit to White Hart Lane is the fact that they're actually building the new Lane. It'll be hard to miss the corner directly opposite the away end missing, reducing the stadiums capacity by around 4,000, as they begin work on the new stadium. The majority of the work will take place next campaign as Spurs will temporarily play their home games at Wembley Stadium.
Tickets are still on sale for the game, mainly due to the awkward kick off time, so you still have the chance to impulsively head to Sunday's match. If you are going, you'll be housed in the South West Corner and be split between the upper and lower tier. The upper tier gives you a great view of the pitch while the lower is good for when The Lads are attacking our end. Either way, the atmosphere tends to be good at Tottenham due to it being an old ground that packs everyone in quite tightly.
Hopefully everyone in red and white enjoys the game and brings some points back with them to Wearside. Safe journey to everyone and Ha'way The Lads!