Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has been in the hotseat in north London since 2001, replacing Lord Alan Sugar after ENIC bought a controlling stake in the club.
The 56-year-old is now enjoying a healthy relationship with the man in the dugout at the club, with Mauricio Pochettino seemingly the manager he has been searching for throughout the last 15 years.
Levy had been through 10 head coaches before Pochettino, including George Graham, who was in charge when the businessman took the reins in north London. He was sacked for breach of contract.
David Pleat took in two caretaker spells at the club, both following Graham’s departure in 2001 and after Glenn Hoddle’s exit in 2003.
Jacques Santini lasted a mere 13 games, before Martin Jol was promoted from being the Frenchman’s assistant. Jol lasted three years, but was sacked at half-time of a UEFA Cup game, unfairly in the eyes of many fans.
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Clive Allen took two caretaker spells in, while Juande Ramos won the club’s most recent trophy, in the 2008 League Cup. His league form was atrocious, though, and Harry Redknapp was then drafted in, taking Spurs into the Champions League before a brief, misguided flirtation with the England job saw him out on his ear.
Andre Villas-Boas and Tim Sherwood then fared equally badly – though Sherwood’s own particular brand of toxicity was perhaps unmatched under Levy – before Pochettino was appointed, poached from Southampton.
Does Daniel Levy own Tottenham?
It is perhaps a little-known fact that Levy does not own the club, with British billionaire Joe Lewis instead in charge. The reclusive businessman is seen incredibly rarely in public, with Levy the public face of ENIC.
Supporters have often rallied against the group, though, for a lack of appropriate investment. Indeed, it has been reported that Toby Alderweireld could leave Tottenham this summer, with the club apparently unwilling to pay the Belgium defender £150,000-per-week.
The likes of Luka Modric, Gareth Bale, Kyle Walker and Dimitar Berbatov have all been sold on to Real Madrid, Manchester City and Manchester United respectively. The latter deal is often cited as an example of Levy’s pettiness in negotiations, as Levy received £30m plus the woefully inexperienced Fraizer Campbell in return.
Levy's role in transfer negotiations
The chairman is known for his hard-line stance in the transfer window, with deadline day often referred to as “Levy time” by Spurs fans.
Rafael van der Vaart is his most famous acquisition on the final day of the transfer window, the midfielder proving to be a phenomenal bargain for £8m in 2010.
The likes of Jermain Defoe and Hugo Lloris have also proved excellent value, though Moussa Sissoko, Georges-Kevin N’Koudou and Fernando Llorente have been misfires at best.
Despite his patchy record in the transfer window, Levy is a feared negotiator – Sir Alex Ferguson famously hated dealing with the Spurs chairman, insisting that his negotiations for Berbatov were “more painful than my hip replacement”.
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Levy's role in new Tottenham stadium
Levy has also overseen the building of Spurs’ new stadium, which should be completed before the start of next season. He originally presented plans for the build in 2008, though he also fronted a back-up bid for the Olympic Stadium, despite opposition from a large portion of Spurs fans.
Levy and Tottenham’s plan was to demolish the athletics stadium and start from scratch, but London rivals West Ham United were eventually granted permission to move into the ground, which they have kept as it was.
Spurs would have been forced to move to Stratford had the bid for the Olympic Stadium come to fruition, but instead they will merely move a few metres from the original White Hart Lane, despite spending a season at Wembley while construction is completed.
Levy's family and personal life
In his personal life, Levy is married to his former personal assistant, Tracey, and they have four children.
He has been a Spurs fan since he was a boy, and was named the highest-paid director in the Premier League in 2016.
