Credit: Getty

Matthew Chadder

Fri 18 August 2023 17:00, UK

While the ENIC era at Tottenham hasn’t brought much success on the pitch, it has certainly been a financial triumph for those in the boardroom at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Spurs are one of the most successful English clubs in the history of the beautiful game. Although, in the modern era, they are not spoken about in that way. Where other teams are referred to as ‘sleeping giants’. Tottenham are often labelled ‘bottlers’.

In reality, the North London outfit are the sixth-most successful side in the country’s history, winning 26 trophies in total. They were double-winners in 1961 and have a richer European history than arch-rivals Arsenal. Their impressive eight FA Cup wins can also only be bettered by the Gunners and Manchester United.

Although, the way that they are described on social media these days, those with no knowledge of football would be forgiven for believing the club have never even heard of a trophy. And younger supporters have every right to build this narrative, as most of Spurs’ achievements are deep in the past.

Since ENIC became the club’s majority shareholder in 2001, their ownership and Daniel Levy’s time as chairman has overseen just one League Cup, and while many fans would label their time as a failure, they would point to a glaring reason as to why the opposite is true.

Financially, the club have become a heavyweight and much of that is down to Levy’s shrewd approach as a businessman, squeezing every possible penny out of each transaction. While other clubs splash the cash on lucrative contracts, the 61-year-old Spurs chairman makes smart business deals.

As finance expert Kieran Maguire, from The Price of Football Podcast, tweeted (18 August), although having never won the competition, Spurs are the most profitable team in Premier League history, and much of that is down to the contracts they offer.

Maguire’s tweet presents a graph that shows a comparative view of the money each of the ‘top six’ Premier League clubs have spent on wages, between the time the Premier League began and 2022.

Manchester United top the list having spent a whopping £4.1billion on player wages, with Chelsea just slightly behind them. Both of these totals are double Tottenham’s expenditure of £2.1billion, which is also over one billion behind Arsenal and Liverpool’s total.

While Levy would point to this as a success, fans don’t celebrate spreadsheet totals and will be critical of this approach. For them, it is about what happens on the pitch, and while Spurs might have saved the most on the pay packets of their employees, all five teams who have spent more than them have won the Premier League.

This cannot be a coincidence. It is time for the current owners to decide whether they want to be a successful business or a successful football club.

In other Tottenham news, a club target could be the perfect winger for Ange Postecoglou’s system.