It had lengthy been assumed that Daniel Levy’s authority at Tottenham as membership chairman was so overarching that he would all the time decide the timing of his personal departure. But Thursday’s dramatic and sudden affirmation he was stepping down rapidly shattered that phantasm.
Levy, 63, was appointed to the publish in March 2001, occurring to ascertain himself as some of the revered directors in soccer. Immediately, Spurs boast one of many most interesting stadiums on the earth and a state-of-the-art coaching floor so luxurious former head coach Jose Mourinho as soon as waxed lyrical concerning the “big pillows” within the on-site bedrooms, comparable in his thoughts to a 6-star resort.
That’s Levy. His consideration to element was unrivalled, mirrored within the beautiful Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with its retractable pitch and in-house microbrewery. He’s a person of little sleep and unrelenting requirements.
Spurs elevated themselves to hitch what has change into recognized within the Premier League as the normal “Large Six,” forging a repute for monetary sustainability in an period of more and more irresponsible and irrational spending.
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With ENIC boss Joe Lewis — ENIC is Tottenham’s majority proprietor — usually keen to take a again seat, Levy’s stewardship prolonged far and extensive. He oversaw the hiring and firing of managers, saved tight management of the purse strings and, in fact, presided over transfers the place, regardless of the arrival of assorted recruitment consultants like Fabio Paratici or Johan Lange, Levy nonetheless remained a massively influential determine in assembling the squad.
However over time, that mixture of Lewis’ distance from the day-to-day enterprise and Levy’s excessive degree of management made him a goal for supporters annoyed concerning the lacking piece of the jigsaw, undoubtedly an important one: success on the sphere.
#LevyOut would periodically, however persistently, development on X. Tottenham matches would usually be accompanied by the awkward soundtrack of dissent. In January, disgruntled followers produced a banner throughout a 2-1 residence defeat to Leicester Metropolis — who would win simply twice extra for the remainder of the season and later be relegated — which learn: “24 years, 16 managers, one trophy: time for change.”
Regardless of the turmoil, Spurs went on to win the second trophy of Levy’s tenure in Might when Tottenham beat Manchester United within the Europa League remaining. Supervisor Ange Postecoglou was sacked 16 days later because the triumph didn’t masks a dreadful seventeenth place end within the Premier League, and a summer time of change at many ranges has seen senior figures on the membership depart, a brand new CEO appointed and Thomas Frank change Postecoglou as head coach.
Nonetheless, Levy’s departure is probably the most seismic shock but. ESPN examines the way it occurred.
The membership’s existential disaster
Who’re Tottenham, and what kind of membership do they need to be? Final season distilled a long-running existential disaster right into a single-issue debate: how a lot do you need to win a trophy?
Taking a look at a squad ravaged by harm and a Premier League marketing campaign already slipping by his fingers, Postecoglou took the choice round late January to prioritise the Europa League above all else. It was a choice that was each vindicated in a single sense and but, on the similar time, price him his job.
Postecoglou delivered Spurs’ first trophy in 17 years. Followers lined the streets to greet their triumphant group with an open-top bus parade and a supervisor who had survived months of hypothesis over his place to ship sudden silverware. But he was sacked as a result of Levy felt the trophy got here at too excessive a value. Spurs suffered 22 league defeats on their strategy to ending seventeenth. The membership assertion accompanying Postecoglou’s departure made pointed references to a want to “compete on 4 fronts,” with extra anticipated of an expensively-assembled squad.
This complete saga struck on the coronary heart of the issue Spurs have confronted for years, one Postecoglou addressed in Might earlier than the ultimate towards United.
“If you take a look at the historic backdrop of this membership and what it has been by on the final 20-odd years, I really feel prefer it may very well be a turning level when it comes to the best way the membership is perceived, but in addition extra the way it perceives itself, which I feel is the most important factor,” he stated.
“What you have to try to do is break that cycle, however there must be the next function than shutting folks’s mouths up. I usually say to the gamers, on the finish of your careers, you need to have the ability to return to the golf equipment and know you’ve got made an influence.”
No person might deny the influence Levy has made off the sphere and the monetary intelligence with which he has achieved it. However the root of many Spurs’ followers frustration was that his ambition to be greatest at school didn’t lengthen to the pitch and that there was one way or the other a satisfaction with a top-four end, perhaps a tilt at one of many home cups.
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What subsequent for Tottenham after Daniel Levy’s exit?
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Levy all the time denied this, referencing the membership’s internet spend. Based on Transfermarkt, Tottenham’s internet spend up to now 5 years is €653m — a determine solely surpassed by Manchester United (€782.9m) Arsenal (€772.8m) and Chelsea (€743.5m). And but, Capology has Spurs’ wage invoice at £109.8m — the sixth-highest within the division and nearly half what Manchester Metropolis are paying.
That conservative — or, checked out one other approach, pragmatic and financially accountable — strategy to wages led supporters to really feel some gamers have chosen to not be a part of Spurs due to their incapability or reluctance to match wages being supplied elsewhere. No person at Spurs earns greater than round £200,000-a-week — a positive wage, however if you happen to’re pursuing the Premier League and Champions League trophies, your rivals are merely paying extra.
Fan frustration at a failure to interrupt the “cycle” Postecoglou referred to targeted squarely on the chairman, particularly as north London rivals Arsenal handed them by underneath Mikel Arteta. However there was additionally inside stress on Levy.
Sources have instructed ESPN {that a} sporting assessment at Tottenham was carried out by an exterior consultancy agency in the beginning of 2025. This led to unprecedented scrutiny round Levy’s operating of the membership. Considerably, Peter Charrington — a director at ENIC — was appointed to the Tottenham board in March as that scrutiny intensified.
Shortly afterwards, Vinai Venkatesham was named because the membership’s new chief government. Sources near that call insist Levy was a key determine in convincing Venkatesham to hitch, and the pair loved a friendship relationship again to Venkatesham’s time as an Arsenal government. The dynamic additionally modified somewhat: Venkatesham more and more took cost of day-to-day operations, whereas Levy targeted on bigger-picture points referring to future technique.
Levy then misplaced Donna-Maria Cullen, his shut confidante and fellow board member, after her departure was introduced in June. The pair had been seen collectively throughout Tottenham’s preseason tour to Hong Kong and South Korea, with Cullen solely formally ending her position on Monday, simply three days earlier than Levy’s destiny was confirmed.
Charrington has taken over from Levy with the Lewis household circulating the thought a change was vital to make sure extra constant success on the pitch. However there was extra occurring behind the scenes.
Takeover speak
It has been one of many worst-kept secrets and techniques inside soccer that Tottenham have been open to the thought of, on the very least, attracting recent funding, however even doubtlessly promoting the membership for a while. Spurs have all the time publicly denied this.
Sources have instructed ESPN these conversations have been occurring for a number of months, with a number of events from numerous locations together with the Center East and the US. Folks aware of the state of affairs say some throughout the membership have been annoyed by the shortage of progress in these talks and felt Levy’s strategy was a contributing issue. They even counsel the delay grew to become one level of stress between the Lewis household and Levy.
When this was put to a supply near the Lewis household, ESPN was instructed that the household are dedicated to the membership on a long-term foundation, and are usually not seeking to promote.
Lewis’s daughter Vivienne, his son Charles and grandson-in-law Nick Beucher — co-CEO of Tavistock Group, the personal funding firm which is almost all shareholder of ENIC, Spurs’ homeowners — have been extra seen across the membership of late. Vivienne is recurrently seen at matches and sits on the Tavistock Group board. Charles is Senior Managing Director of Tavistock Group, whereas Beucher holds an MBA and Grasp’s diploma in sports activities enterprise administration.
“Generations of the Lewis household assist this particular soccer membership they usually need what the followers need — extra wins extra usually,” stated a supply near the Lewis household, including that there’s a want for the membership to ascertain a brand new hierarchical construction on the membership to realize that purpose.
Charrington is a director of ENIC and a long-term trusted adviser to the Lewis household after spending 26 years at Citibank, though his sporting background is minimal.
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Spurs confirmed upon Levy’s exit that there have been no additional accompanying adjustments to the possession of the shareholder construction of the membership. ENIC personal 86.58% of Tottenham, and Levy owns 29.88% of ENIC, although it stays to be seen whether or not the membership does certainly invite recent funding within the months forward. Finance consultants worth Spurs within the area of £3.5bn, maybe even larger, and it isn’t troublesome to imagine the trail to new funding may very well be clearer following latest adjustments.
Assessing Levy’s legacy
Anybody who walks up Tottenham Excessive Street and enjoys a recreation on the membership’s residence floor has Levy to thank for the expertise. It has been established as one of many world’s greatest multi-use venues with concert events and F1 occasions an everyday fixture, and can present a significant income for years to return.
The lead architect used to joke that Levy by no means slept. “We’d arrive someplace at two within the morning, speak for just a few hours, then he would say ‘we have now a gathering in three hours,'” Chris Lee, managing director of Populous, stated shortly earlier than the £1billion area opened in April 2019. “It has been an ideal expertise, attempting to attempt for perfection.”
Regardless of the frustration at a scarcity of constant success, followers even have sporting recollections: the 2008 League Cup win, the 2019 Champions League Last run, the 2025 Europa League triumph. However finally, he’ll stay a divisive determine within the membership’s historical past, particularly with a lot of the frustration aimed in his course nonetheless recent within the minds of many supporters.
Maybe the person himself summed it up greatest. Talking final month in a uncommon interview, Levy stated: “I feel it is a type of conditions [in which] after I’m not right here I am positive I am going to get the credit score. If you come right here and take a look at this excellent [stadium], and the truth that different golf equipment are actually attempting to repeat what we’re doing, that must be an indication that perhaps we did do one thing daring, and one thing proper.”