Opinion: Daniel Levy, a good chairman or a bad chairman?

Ever since Daniel Levy became chairman of Tottenham Hotspur in February 2001 after Alan Sugar moved out, fans have always argued over whether he is good or not.

There’s no doubt that Levy has improved the club overall, however, has he done enough? 

When Alan Sugar sold his shares of the club for £22 million (Guardian), Spurs were struggling compared to other major sides in England.

However, now the club is worth 1.6 billion, as of 2019 (Forbes). Levy has transformed the Lilywhites to become more cash-rich, ensuring that we fight for top four and Champions League football much more frequently. 

To add, Levy has also built two state of the art facilities for the club. The new stadium and training ground have helped the club to reach new heights both on and off the pitch. 

Spurs moved from the Spurs Lodge to Hotspur Way back in 2012, with the new training ground worth around £45 million and offering players much more in the way of facilities (Guardian). 

It helped the club improve massively, showing Levy’s desire to improve the club over time. Credit must be given to him for this.  

Furthermore, Levy was also at the helm when Spurs made the move to the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium back in 2019. There had always been an ambition to improve the stadium, however, plans never quite materialised.

However, in the past decade, plans were finally put into action. It was painful to see White Hart Lane be torn down, but the move into the 62,000-seater was remarkable.  

The new stadium cost around £850 million to build (the Sun), showing just how important an investment it is in the eyes of Levy. He was at the forefront of this sensational move, that not only increased the capacity for fans, but also helped the surrounding community.

The stadium created more than 2500 jobs for the North London area. Just like the training ground, credit must once again be given to Levy for making it all happen. However, just like any person, Levy is not perfect and has his flaws. 

One major flaw with the owners of the club is the lack of investment within the team itself. In 2019, Spurs broke the world record for their annual profit of £113 million (Sky Sports).

However, in 2018, Spurs became the first Premier League side to ever fail to buy a single new player in a summer transfer window (Mail). This shows the lack of investment in a time where we were so close to glory.

I think that many are of the opinion that one or two extra signings may have helped us to lift that Premier League title. 

Moving on, this links to the lack of trophies under Levy as chairman. Since the takeover, Spurs have won just one trophy, with this coming in the form of the 2008 League Cup (Tottenham Hotspur). 

Obviously, this isn’t all down to Levy, however, he is a major contributor. His lack of investment, and poor decision making with managers has led us to years of trophyless seasons.  

Despite this, I still think that Levy is a good chairman for the club. He may have his issues; however, he is exceptional at the day to day running of the club.

If Levy was given more investment from other shareholders, the potential would be endless, but this is very unlikely to happen. Hopefully the N17 squad will bring home the Carabao cup in April to show the world that we can win more trophies under Levy.  

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