European Leagues’ chief hails Spurs’ model as the one to follow amid crisis

With clubs around Europe, including footballing giants such as Barcelona said to have been financially impacted due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic (Sports Illustrated), questions have been raised about the sustainability of the previous business models of many clubs (The Guardian).

With match-day, commercial and broadcast revenue all receiving a massive blow, many teams across Europe have been forced to ask their players to take wage cuts while Barcelona are said to be prepared to listen to offers for some of their big signings (The Sun).

Although Tottenham have their own problems due to the considerable debt that the club owes following the construction of the new stadium, one saving grace for the lilywhites during this crisis has been their relatively small wage bill compared to other clubs of a similar size.

Tottenham’s wage bill is considerably lower than the other members of the Premier League ‘big six’, as well as Everton (Global Sports Salaries Survey).

In fact, as a proportion of the turnover, Spurs pay the least in wages in the whole of the Premier League, with a wage to turnover ratio of just 38 per cent (The Sun).

Jacco Swart, the managing director of the European League in charge of 36 leagues and over 950 clubs across Europe, believes that Tottenham are the model to follow for the other clubs across the continent following the coronavirus crisis.

Swart told Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport (as relayed by Inside Football): “The numbers and strategies of Spurs are an encouraging sign for the new normal in football.”

Spurs Web Opinion

For all the criticism that ENIC and Daniel Levy have received over the years for not paying more in wages, it looks like their decision to run the club sustainably has now turned out to be our saving grace. While no one could have obviously foreseen the effects of the pandemic, paying around 70 per cent of a club’s revenue as wages (as some in the Premier League do) is an extremely risky proposition that has ended quite badly for clubs like Leeds United and Aston Villa in the past.

It is not as if Tottenham haven’t increased the wages of their top players over the years. Baring the likes of Man City, Barcelona, Manchester United and Real Madrid, we still pay competitive salaries in comparison to the other big sides in Europe. However, Levy has ensured that our wage to turnover ratio has still remained relatively low.

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