Best owners and administrators in English football - A Tribute to the late Mr. Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha

DANIEL LEVY

In the early Premier League years, Tottenham Hotspur was often in the shadow of near neighbors, Arsenal. Whilst the club, under former owner Sir Alan (now Lord) Sugar, had signed Jurgen Klinsmann - a prime world-class forward at that time and German World Cup winner - they seldom looked like challenging for honors, and Klinsmann left after a season for this reason.

Sugar sold the club to ENIC in 2001, which was jointly owned by Joe Lewis and Daniel Levy, with the latter becoming the club's MD. Since then, Levy's goal has been to restore Spurs to a top level, which they haven't been in for several decades. Even the teams featuring Hoddle, Ardiles, Villa, Waddle, etc. didn't challenge for league consistently, and only won a few FA Cups between them. And of course, the spectre of Arsenal was still bright, inclusive of the great Wenger teams and their league wins. Chelsea was emergent, and United was still strong.

Since 2001, Levy's achievements stand as:

-Securing top four football. This was done initially under Martin Jol, or at least it's when Spurs first looked like a consistent top four team. This was in part based on Ledley King, Aaron Lennon, Jermaine Defoe, and Jermaine Jenas, who all were young players looking to advance themselves.

-Building world-class training facilities, rivaling Arsenal, Manchester United, Man City, and even Real Madrid and Barcelona.

-Securing more consistent top four football, with the arrival of Harry Redknapp and Mauricio Pochettino. The former manager got the best from Bale, van der Vaart, Modric, etc. whilst the latter has developed Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Dembele, Alderweireld, Lloris, and other top players.

-Also, the club is constructing a stadium with unique facilities, which will be the second biggest ground in the country once completed.

Harry Kane has won the Premier League Golden Boot, twice, and won the World Cup Golden Boot in Russia 2018, during England's semi-final run. Lloris was France's World Cup winning captain, and Dembele stood out in Belgium's semi-final run and ultimate third-placed finish.

Harry Kane epitomizes the progress made by the club

Levy has to be commended for getting Spurs from way behind the other top clubs to being Champions League regulars, and with a soon high-end stadium.

Concerning the new ground, it has tarnished Levy's standing somewhat, since there have been reports of fans not obtaining season tickets readily, and there being no evident construction completion date. Work is currently ongoing 24/7, but then to date, no firm construction date has been identified.

A sign of ambition, but currently causing a major headache for the club

This notwithstanding, Tottenham holistically is the healthiest it's been in many decades, and Levy's vision in part is the primary cause.