I will confess I recently had a full tour of the stadium. My first impression of the pitch/stands left me speechless. I cannot tell you exactly why, but the place feels like home. It looks like home. It IS home. It feels very intimate and intimidating, yet huge at the same time. Every single element of the stadium has been conceived and created with the ethos of the club/spirit of the supporters in mind. It is a very, VERY special stadium, and I can absolutely understand why the manager is keen to get in ASAP, because my feeling immediately was that we will smash teams in there week after week. One thing which hasn't been mentioned is the roof design and how it will work with corner angles of the East/West Stands at the Park Lane end to create a LOT of noise. This is not going to be a quiet stadium!!!!! Anyway, it is everything others have said and then some for me personally. Further, the concourse areas have so many great and different food and drink options, that I firmly believe many will be there early to walk around the stadium and sample a bit of everything on offer; there is great stuff everywhere, and it looks to me like the club have done a great job in bth providing top class facilities for EVERYONE (not just corporate) and making sure they have the wares to attract us to the grand early.
It is well worth the wait.
p.s. a special word for Daniel Levy here. Debate all you want, but when you step inside this place, you will see the fruits of his excellent, excellent work and determination to deliver not just a great new stadium, but the best one in Europe. Quite how it has achieved both intimacy and size miraculous. The man deserves your praise and respect, something which will be clear when it is open. FWIW I have no connection with him whatsoever, and my opinion is purely based on what I saw.
Should help with getting a safty certificate n all. But I think it will be a symbolic milestone, and should coincide with the internal fit out being concluded. Just my opinion.
