THST reveal questions they wanted to ask Spurs board following meeting snub

The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust (THST) have revealed the list of questions which they wanted the club’s Executive Board to address in the meeting that they previously requested.

Late last month, the THST had written to the club requesting a meeting with the Executive Board to discuss both the short and long-term strategic vision of the football club.

The Trust revealed they decided to take such measures after an increasing number of Trust members and fans expressed great concern over the direction in which the club is headed.

However, they confirmed last week that the club had declined their request of a meeting.

The THST have now released the set of questions they wanted to be addressed in the meeting by the club, which touched on the club’s long-term vision, financial model and fan participation among other topics.

In their latest update, the Trust also confirmed that the request for the meeting was not made due to a few recent bad results but on the back of two years of questionable decision making.

Here are the questions THST intended to put to the Executive Board:

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?

Spurs Web Opinion

Some of these questions are perfectly legitimate and ones that the club should be answering. However, the club might not want to address a few of these (like the ones about the finances and stadium naming rights) publicly as that could put them at a disadvantage.

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