Saturday 15t May 2021 saw Tottenham fans protest over ENIC and Daniel Levy’s running of the club outside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Fan anger has been heightened in recent weeks following the clubs part in the failed European Super League venture.
Hundreds of Tottenham Fans Stage Protests
Anger Aimed at ENIC and Chairman Daniel Levy
It was a rather modest and peaceful protest as reported in the London Evening Standard, compared to those seen at Old Trafford recently but a few hundred Tottenham fans turned up outside the stadium to show their displeasure and anger at ENIC and Levy.
A number of protests have been arranged by fans and another will take place before the home game against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday 16 May with another expected at the final home game of the season against Aston Villa.
Ten thousand fans are due to attend the match but it remains to be seen if any protests will take place before the game or continue in the ground istelf where Daniel Levy is expected to be in attendance as usual.
Lack of Success
Levy and ENIC have stabilised Spurs financially although the new stadium and lack of revenue during the pandemic has left them with a hefty debt that is likely to affect transfer funds, something that has been a cause of frustration for fans throughout the ENIC era.
Tottenham became the first club in the Premier League era to go through two transfer windows without making a single signing in 2018 and have struggled to re-invent a squad that had started to lose its sparkle and energy.
The new stadium and training facilities are considered some of the best in the world but they still do not guranatee success on the pitch and in 20 years, Spurs have just one trophy to their name which is nowhere near good enough for the fans or for a club of the stature of Tottenham Hotspur.
European Super League Secrecy Incensed Fans
The ESL not only enraged fans across football due to the idea of a breakaway with no competitive edge to it, but the secrecy that surrounded it. There was no consultation with fans at any level and an attempt to appease Spurs fans by the club has only served to fuel their ire further by stating that legal implications of the ESL negtotiations meant fans could not be consulted.
Whether that is fact or not has yet to be fully proven but the comments were pereviced as an excuse and the fact that the apology came over three weks after the failed ESL has come across as being too little too late in the day for many fans.
Tottenham Fans Stage Protests but Are Unlikely to Force Change
Tottenham have confirmed that there will be fan representation on the board from next season but there is little chance that the calls from the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust for the executive board to resign will be sucessful and the relationship between the clubs board and the THST board seems to have been fractured and a lack of trust has emerged between the two parties.
With Jose Mourinho sacked after a poor run of form and poor performances, Ryan Mason is in temporary charge until the end of the current season and Champions League qualification for next season is now all but gone and the Europa League is starting to slip away from them as well.
Tottenham at a Crossroads
Tottenham will welcome fans back to the stadium next season and they will need that revenue along with any other events such as NFL and concerts assuming that those things are allowed to proceed without restrictions due to the continuing coronavirus pandemic.
Harry Kane could be on his way out of the club in the summer and the search for a new manager seems to be progressing at a snails pace after the failed experiment with Mourinho who has only failed to win a trophy with one club and that club is Spurs.
The current squad seems to have become stale and performances continue to be laboured and a mid table finish is not out of the question.
The protests will continue for some time to come but ulitmately Daniel Levy and ENIC need to decide what they want Tottenhan to be. Fans displayed banners during the protest saying;
“£NIC Profit Before Glory – Enough is Enough.”
The club must now decide if they are going to prove those feelings to be wrong but a turbulant road looks to be ahead for the club, the board, the owners and the Tottenham fans who staged a protest.
Main Photo
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