October 24 – Fresh from making a tidy sum of money brokering and then selling her stake in Newcastle United, Amanda Staveley is rumoured to have her eye on another Premier League club in the form of Tottenham Hotspur.
Staveley was recently seen at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium watching the other football, namely the NFL, when the venue hosted, the Chicago Bears and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The former part-owner of the Magpies was one of the key drivers in brokering the highly controversial Saudi-backed takeover of the North-east club while playing a key-role in day-to-day operations for three years.
Spurs, the great Premier League underachievers, have been openly expressing the need to attract new investment partners. ENIC, the current owners of the North London club have had a 24 year-reign, while the current chairman, Daniel Levy has had 20 years in the hot seat.
Back in April, Levy shocked many observers when he declared his plans for the future of the club saying: “To capitalise on our long-term potential, to continue to invest in the teams and undertake future capital projects, the Club requires a significant increase in its equity base..,” “The Board and its advisors, Rothschild & Co, are in discussions with prospective investors. Any recommended investment proposal would require the support of the Club’s shareholders.”
Levy, who is the Premier League’s longest-serving chairman, has overseen the building of a state-of-the-art stadium, and the club’s sustained presence in European competitions but can only boast one trophy, namely the League Cup. With their rivals, most notably Chelsea and Arsenal consistently in the upper echelon of the league, the time could be right for Levy to seek a different challenge.
People close to Staveley think her interest in Spurs is genuine, and believe she has the relationships and experience to attract investors from the USA and to revisit the Middle East.
The aim would be to purchase a minority stake in the club, and then utilize her skills as a disruptor to further the ambitions of the club. Under Levy, Spurs have traditionally been highly conservative in both the buying and selling of players. Levy is well known as one of the toughest negotiators in football.
Fans of the club have long had a love/hate relationship with Levy, and bringing in someone like Staveley will be seen as a break from the past and a look to the future. She has a reputation as a deal-maker, however, any potential deal with Spurs will require a high-wire act of hand-holding combined with a ruthlessness that may make some at the club feel uneasy.