Our Chief Executive Office Vinai Venkatesham today sat down for an interview, setting out the vision for the Club moving forward under a new era of leadership following the recent departure of Daniel Levy as Executive Chairman...
INTERVIEWER: I think it's fair to say (it’s been) one of the most significant periods in the recent history of the Football Club over the last few days. Can you just talk us through where we currently are?
VINAI VENKATESHAM: Well, I think it's really fair to say that it was big news last week with the announcement on Thursday that Daniel is leaving the Club, but what I would say is that the Club is well organised for succession, so we have a very strong executive team in place and, whilst it might feel like a slightly strange thing to say to the external world, although it's big news, inside the Club, it really is business as usual. I really wanted to start today by paying tribute to Daniel. What he has done at this Football Club over the last 25 years is extraordinary. He has played a huge part in the transformation of the Club, and there are so many examples – the training centre, the stadium, the media centre that we’re just sitting outside now… his contribution is there for all to see, and I think his legacy really is extraordinary. For me personally, obviously, I was expecting that I was going to be working with Daniel for many years. It’s ended up only being a few months, but he has been a wonderful support and counsel to me during that period, and I feel really settled in. I think also at a time like this, it's really natural to pause and look back and reflect, but I also know in my job, it's really important to look forward. And this is a new era for the Club under new leadership, completely backed by our majority shareholder, the Lewis family, so we can feel optimistic and ambitious for the future as well.
INTERVIEWER: Can you just tell me about the foundations that the club have now to build from over the foreseeable future, the foundations that Daniel has helped to create?
VINAI VENKATESHAM: Sure, I think in terms of the foundations, and you've heard me talk a little about this before, we've got an extraordinary stadium and we've got an extraordinary training centre. I admit, I'm biased because I grew up in London, I think we're based in the best city in the world and we've got a massive global fanbase. We saw in May in Bilbao what that next step is. That next step is competing for and ultimately winning major trophies. We've had a taste of that, it's even better than you imagined, you realise the club is even bigger than you thought it was, and you're hungry for more. And that's what everybody associated with this football club is hungry for... more nights like that.
INTERVIEWER: All of us that had a taste of Bilbao have very much got a taste for it now, and want so much more. Can you tell me a little bit about what the family has said to you at the moment, what's been their messaging to you?
VINAI VENKATESHAM: Well, first and foremost, I know the Lewis family really well, I think it’s important for our supporters to know that they are very passionate about Tottenham Hotspur, and they are ambitious for the Club. And, when I talk about their ambition, what they’re really focused on is ensuring that everything we do across the complete breadth of the Club really centres back and is focused on giving our men’s team and our women’s team the best chance to be successful on the pitch over the long-term. So that’s their laser focus – all around being successful on the pitch. They know, of course, that we operate in a very competitive environment and that there are a number of other teams that have the exact same ambitions we have – to compete to win the biggest trophies in the game. So, we know it's not easy and we know that there is hard work ahead, but that absolutely is the focus. They are also focused on stability. They know there has been lots of change at the Club and now it's time for some calm and for some stability. And finally, they believe and trust in the people that we have working in the organisation. So, their model is all about empowering the people we have on the ground to deliver against the ambition they have and of course the ambition that we all share.
INTERVIEWER: Let’s talk about the family. Who has been involved from the family so far?
VINAI VENKATESHAM: There’s been a big focus on the Club from the next generation of the family and to talk you through the key people – the first is Viv Lewis who is a very regular attendee at Tottenham Hotspur games and also frequently joins us on pre-season tours. She was with us this summer for the whole of our tour to Hong Kong and South Korea. Going forward, around the Club you’ll be seeing a bit more of her brother Charlie and also her son-in-law Nick, and the thing that ties them all together is their passion for Tottenham Hotspur and their ambition for the Club moving forward.
INTERVIEWER: So, let’s talk about Peter Charrington and his role as well...
VINAI VENKATESHAM: Well, Peter is not new to the Board – he joined our Board in March. He is a great guy, very personable, very experienced. We have a great relationship and we speak very, very frequently. I think it’s probably important to say that he’s going to be doing a different role to the role that Daniel did. So, Daniel was Executive Chairman. What that meant was Daniel was full-time and involved in the Club on a day-to-day basis. With Peter’s role, he’ll be Non-Executive Chairman and that means he won’t be involved in the Club on a full-time basis, and he won’t be involved in the Club on a day-to-day basis. His model is all around empowerment. He will be empowering us on the ground to get on with things, but of course he will be leading the Board and will be a very important part of the Club going forward.
INTERVIEWER: And what about for you personally, what does your role entail now?
VINAI VENKATESHAM: Well, I think it's fair to say it's been a very, very busy three months. There’s not been much in the way of weekends, evenings. There's not been much in the way of sleep. So, it's been a very busy start, but everybody's been really welcoming inside and outside the Club – very warm, very welcoming – so, I feel really, really settled in. I'm enjoying it, and I'm looking forward to the challenge ahead, but the really important thing to be clear on is this is not just about me, and it's certainly not all about me. Everything that we achieve at the Club will be part of a team, and I mean that. So, naturally, I guess, as Chief Executive, my name ends up in the media and I end up sitting here and doing an interview with you, but we've got 800 people at the Club, and we need everybody in the Club pulling together to drive us forward. This is certainly not all about one person or a small group of people.
INTERVIEWER: The world of football moves so unbelievably quickly, straight away there was talk of a takeover. Can you just go into a little bit there about what the Club's stance is on that and what is the response to that talk so far?
VINAI VENKATESHAM: Yeah, I’ve seen that very quickly, as you say, there's been a lot of newspaper articles and a lot of media speculation about a takeover, so I can be really clear on this. The Lewis family are really clear, they see their involvement in Tottenham Hotspur being long-term, and they see their involvement continuing through the generations. We made a statement very late last night, and the statement I hope was unambiguously clear that Tottenham Hotspur is not for sale.
INTERVIEWER: The natural progression for fans is that they will want to know, what does this mean in terms of investment into the team that will take to the field, both on the men’s and on the women’s side as well. How does this affect our ability to invest in those sides?
VINAI VENKATESHAM: I need to try and answer your question without leading to a whole load of transfer war chest stories tomorrow. I think it is very fair to say that we have firm backing from the Lewis family against our ambitions to be successful on the pitch, both on the men’s side and women’s side. They know that's going to require investment, and we have their firm backing. But I would also say, like all other 20 Premier League clubs, we also need to make sure that we're cognisant and aware of the financial fair play rules, and that means we need to continue to grow our revenues, we need to continue to develop players – both from the academy and young players that we buy – we need to make sure that we're selling players at the right time, and we also need to make sure that every time we're recruiting a player, we're making smart decisions, both from a sporting perspective and a financial perspective. If you don't do that, because of how the financial regulations work, you can find yourself in a position where you've got money to spend but the regulations don't allow you to spend it. So, I guess to summarise, absolutely, there's financial backing against the ambition we have, and like every other club in the Premier League, we need to do that in line with the financial fair play rules.
INTERVIEWER: Take me into this next period of time, what comes next?
VINAI VENKATESHAM: As I said at the start, it is business as usual in many ways. When I joined, I talked about wanting to do three things. The first is doing everything I could to support our excellent technical teams on the ground, both on the men’s side and the women’s side, to give us the best chance to be successful on the pitch. That continues to be a focus. I said my second focus was going to be around our people at the Football Club, making sure that we're doing everything we can to empower them to be at their best, to drive the Club forward, and have the best people with the best culture to deliver against our ambitions. And the third one was our relationship with our supporters – make sure that they're right behind us, make sure that they understand what we're trying to do, communicate better with our supporters and ultimately, make them proud of what their Football Club is trying to do and what our Football Club over time will deliver.