Trust presses Club leadership as supporters demand action over football failings
The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust has voiced supporters’ concerns over the Club’s leadership and football decision-making after receiving a response from chairman Peter Charrington and raising members’ concerns directly at the latest Fan Advisory Board meeting.
The Trust wrote to Mr Charrington following a consultation involving 1,696 members, which revealed extraordinarily low levels of supporter confidence in the Club’s ownership and leadership. While welcoming recent acknowledgements from both Mr Charrington and the Lewis family that the past two seasons had been unacceptable and that football success had not previously been the primary driver of key decisions, the Trust maintained that there remained insufficient recognition of decisions taken during the 2025/26 season which contributed to the Club’s decline.
In its letter, the Trust stressed that supporters now wanted to see meaningful action rather than further promises and described the current summer window as both a critical opportunity and a significant challenge for the Club.
Responding on behalf of the Club, Mr Charrington thanked the Trust for sharing the consultation findings and acknowledged the strength of feeling among supporters. He pointed to recent comments in interviews from Chief Executive Vinai Venkatesham, who had addressed accountability, lessons learned and the need for significant change. Mr Charrington said the Club believed many of the issues experienced this season had developed over a longer period and would require systemic changes across multiple areas of the football operation. He also indicated that the Fan Advisory Board meeting would provide an opportunity for a fuller discussion of the concerns raised.
Those discussions took place at the June meeting of the Fan Advisory Board (minutes here), where Trust representatives again highlighted concerns around leadership, accountability, football decision-making, recruitment, January transfer activity, long-term strategy and the level of football expertise within the Club’s senior leadership structures. FAB representatives noted that many of these issues had been raised repeatedly in previous meetings and sought assurances that lessons had been learned and that the “complete reset” referred to by the Club would be reflected in future decision-making.
The findings of consultations conducted by both the Trust and Proud Lilywhites, which showed exceptionally low levels of supporter confidence, were also highlighted. Questions were raised about how the Club intended to demonstrate that change was taking place in practice.
Mr Charrington acknowledged that the 2025/26 season had been unacceptable and accepted responsibility on behalf of the ownership . He told representatives that governance, decision-making and operational structures had been reviewed and that future decisions would be judged against a single principle: whether they made Tottenham Hotspur a better football team.
The Club addressed the issues raised in relation to decisions taken during the 2025/26 season. The Club outlined a number of measures already underway as part of its football reset. These included placing football and performance considerations at the centre of decision-making, significant upgrades to first-team facilities at the training centre, further investment in the Academy talent pathway and the appointment of a new Performance Director following a global recruitment process.
The Club leadership also acknowledged that the men’s squad would require reshaping over multiple transfer windows, with a focus on improving quality, leadership, experience and alignment with the Club’s playing identity. Improvements to player trading, recruitment efficiency and wage structures were also identified as priorities, alongside efforts to increase transfer revenues in response to financial regulations. The Club also emphasised the importance of rebuilding the connection with the supporters, which requires honesty, clarity and visible progress.
While welcoming the Club’s acknowledgement of supporter concerns and the commitments outlined, supporter representatives made clear that confidence would only be restored through visible progress, improved football performance and evidence that lessons from recent seasons had genuinely been learned.
The Trust will continue to engage with the Club on behalf of supporters and closely monitor developments over the coming months. The THST annual survey will be conducted in August.
Meanwhile the message remains unchanged: the commitment to put football first must now become a reality.