On 27 September, we invited the Executive Board of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club to meet with the Board of Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust to discuss some of the strategic questions Trust members and other fans have been asking for some time. The request was not made on the back of a few bad results, but after two years of questionable decision-making and apparent drift.
The Club Board declined to meet with the Trust Board, however, that does not mean those questions are no longer relevant. What it does mean is we now have to ask in public the questions we would have asked at that meeting. We asked the Club to clarify its strategy when it went two consecutive transfer windows without signing a player, when Mauricio Pochettino was sacked, and we ask again now. The fans of this Club deserve to hear the answers to these questions.
1. There is a widespread feeling of a lack of direction at the Club:
- What is your vision for THFC?
- What are your objectives and how are you measuring progress against those objectives?
- Where do you want the Club to be in five years’ time, on and off the pitch?
2. Does the Board think we’ve gone forward or backwards in a footballing context over the last two years?
3. Can you expand on Daniel Levy’s comment on restoring the DNA of the Club, and provide examples of how that is being achieved?
4. You have said your focus has always been on achieving success on the pitch. Do you think that one trophy in 20 years is an acceptable outcome?
5. Are you aware that there is a widely-held perception that football is not the priority at THFC? What would you say to Spurs supporters who feel that way?
6. It would reassure supporters if you could provide a clear explanation of where profits earned from non-football events at the stadium go?
7. Can you give an update on stadium naming rights?
8. Could you give a clear explanation of the relationship between different parts of the business, and how resources are used across them?
9. How does the Club ensure that its property development arm does not act as a drain on resources and management focus? What is the Club’s involvement in property developments undertaken by related parties? How does the Club ensure that asset disposals to related parties are undertaken at fair market value?
10. Supporters made their opposition to the proposed European Super League clear. Can you give a guarantee the Club won’t support any attempt to revive that or any similar project?
11. Have the fines and costs incurred by the Club’s involvement in the ESL been paid from the personal finances of owners or directors, or from Club funds?
12. Can you elaborate on what has happened to your plans for the Club Advisory Panel and the Fan Director on the Board, announced in April? We submitted plans for a Supervisory Board, INEDs and a Fan Director in a two-tier Board structure that would embed football and fans at the heart of the Club. Will you discuss those plans and seek an agreed outcome which is supported by fans?
13. We also asked the Board to examine creating a share ownership structure that could broaden ownership of the Club and could potentially provide an injection of cash. Can you update on how this is progressing?
It was our intention to provide the Club’s Board with an opportunity to explain its short, medium and long-term plans for THFC and to furnish the fan base with sufficient information to make an educated assessment of the current situation and the direction of travel at Tottenham Hotspur. We’d hope that information would still be forthcoming.
Sharing strategic visions and objectives is not unusual in football, and is commonplace in business, with several clubs (including Liverpool, Everton, Celtic, Rangers) alongside the Football Association, having published plans and reports readily available for review.
As key stakeholders in the Club, it is our view that supporters have every right to ask these questions, to expect a level of transparency and to hold Directors accountable for their decision making.
We hope the Club’s Board takes the opportunity to address fan concerns, and to share their future plans for THFC.
THST Board
13 October 2021