Minutes of meeting with Tottenham Hotspur FC – 3 February
The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust met with Tottenham Hotspur Football Club on 3 February at Lilywhite House under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Trust and the Club.
Following the meeting, THST has been in ongoing discussions with the Club regarding the publication of the Minutes. While this process has taken longer than we would have liked, the Minutes have now been agreed and are published below.
Read the minutes here.
However, there were a number of specific points raised during the meeting which the Club did not agree to include in the final published version, despite our request.
As a democratic supporters’ organisation elected to represent fans’ views, we believe it is vital that supporters can see what issues are being raised with the Club, how those issues are being discussed and what responses are being given. Publishing a full record of the points raised helps ensure accountability and allows members, and the wider fan base, to understand how the Trust is fulfilling its role on their behalf. Transparency is integral to our role and in our dealings with the Club.
For that reason, we are also publishing below the paragraphs which THST asked to be included in the Minutes but which were not accepted by the Club for inclusion in the final version.
Points omitted from the Minutes
Under THSTs Five Principles of Ownership survey
Lines not included – The Club declined to include the descriptions of our Five Principles of Ownership.
Para not included – Fans are concerned at the current position and the direction of the club. The team is not winning, and change is not visible. Having watched just four home league wins in a year, this anxiety and pessimism is not surprising. Fans are genuinely concerned at the risk of relegation. The belief generated by the Europa League win has now been lost. Fans are concerned at a perceived lack of ambition and at results, performances and the failure to strengthen the team despite injuries to key first team players.
Para not included – The Club had not filed financial statements demonstrating that it was able to generate profit since 2018 and needed the cash generated by the share issue for cashflow purposes (this point was discussed later in the meeting under the heading “Finance”).
Under Future-proof success & Young player development
Para not included – THST observed that young players were not coming through from the Academy to the first team. Players are on loan repeatedly. Despite injuries and the current shortage of players, Luka Vuskovic had not been recalled from loan and nor had other players.
Para not included – THST said fans want to see authenticity to stick to Spurs’ DNA and a style of play that transcended as a ‘golden thread’ from the youth system right through to the men’s first team.
Para not included – THST noted a slightly higher sentiment from supporters towards sustainability, which may reflect the underlying infrastructure possessed by the Club. However, this alone will not make the Club successful which explains why the score remains low overall.
Fans First and relationship between the Club and supporters
Line not included – The Club welcomed the input of THST
Para not included – THST asked to see the underlying KPIs behind each of the strategic principles – these had not yet been agreed by the Club internally. THST stated that the detail of these KPIs were important. If the strategic objectives were geared towards winning trophies, this should be directly referenced in the KPIs. If, however, the KPIs referenced “European qualification” (a stated desire of the previous leadership), this could suggest that the Club was prioritising financial performance over football performance.