Daniel Levy was only told of Spurs exit on morning of announcement

A source close to the Lewis family rejected any suggestion that Levy was departing in preparation for a sale of Spurs, but stressed a desire for more success on the pitch.

“Generations of the Lewis family support this special football club and they want what the fans want — more wins more often,” the source said.

“This is why you have seen recent changes, new leadership and a fresh approach. In Vinai [Venkatesham], Thomas [Frank] and Peter Charrington, they believe they are backing the right team to deliver on this. This is a new era.”

Levy’s departure had been in the pipeline for months, with several changes to the board all building towards his exit. Venkatesham, the former Arsenal director, was appointed chief executive in June and will take over from Levy in the day-to-day running of the club at the centre of football operations.

Venkatesham is also expected to take a hands-on approach, although insiders say he has a different personality and background to Levy, so it remains to be seen how he interprets the job. The new set-up, with a chief executive at the centre, is seen as a more modern structure, better-suited to leading Tottenham to success.

Levy played a key role in the decision to appoint Thomas Frank as head coach in June, but Frank’s position is not believed to be impacted by the changes. Vinai Venkatesham was also central to Frank’s arrival from Brentford, along with Tottenham’s technical director Johan Lange.

Venkatesham’s appointment this summer was the first significant step in the restructuring of the club, but the Lewis family, which has been principally fronted by Lewis’ children, Vivienne and Charles, wanted to make further changes, which included Levy leaving. Joe Lewis’ grandson-in-law, Nick Beucher, who is the husband of Vivienne’s daughter, Joanna, has also been playing an important role in the Spurs hierarchy.

Levy was the Premier League’s longest-serving chairman but has faced criticism from Spurs fans in recent years over a lack of ambition and silverware. Tottenham’s Europa League success in May was the club’s first trophy since 2008 and only their second since Levy took charge in 2001.

In a statement, Tottenham said that Peter Charrington would take on a newly created role of non-executive chairman after a “number of senior appointments” already made “as part of its succession planning”, including the hiring of Venkatesham.

Tottenham announced in March that Charrington would join the board as a non-executive director. Charrington is a director of ENIC, which is majority owned by the Lewis Family Trust, and a long-term trusted adviser to the Lewis family.

“I am incredibly proud of the work I have done together with the executive team and all our employees. We have built this club into a global heavyweight competing at the highest level. More than that, we have built a community,” Levy said.

“I wish to thank all the fans that have supported me over the years. It hasn’t always been an easy journey, but significant progress has been made. I will continue to support this club passionately.”

Charrington said: “I would like to thank Daniel and his family for their commitment and loyalty to the club over so many years.

“This is a new era of leadership for the club, on and off the pitch. I do recognise there has been a lot of change in recent months as we put in place new foundations for the future. We are now fully focused on stability and empowering our talented people across the club, led by Vinai and his executive team.”

Tottenham’s statement added that there are no changes to the ownership or shareholder structure of the club. Levy owns 29.88 per cent of ENIC, which owns almost 87 per cent of the club.

After an operational review carried out by consultants, the Gibb River Group earlier this year, Spurs made several executive changes this summer, believed to have been instigated by the Joe Lewis family trust to shake up the hierarchy. Donna-Maria Cullen, one of Levy’s closest advisers and a key part of the stadium project, stepped down from the board, while chief football officer Scott Munn, who was only appointed two years ago, also departed.

Levy transformed Tottenham’s fortunes off the pitch, with the club valued at £80million when he arrived and now worth closer to £3billion. He spearheaded the club’s move into their 62,850-seat stadium in 2019 and a spectacular new training ground at Hotspur Way, widely considered to be one of the best in Europe.

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been a market leader in terms of multi-purpose stadiums, with the arena able to host NFL matches on its retractable pitch and lucrative music concerts by the likes of Beyoncé and Lady Gaga. In January, Deloitte’s Football Money League calculated that Spurs, with €615million (about £523million) of revenue in 2023-24, were the ninth-richest club in the world.

On the pitch, Spurs have regularly played European football over the past two decades, after a period of mediocrity during the Nineties, and Mauricio Pochettino’s side reached the Champions League final in 2019.

But Tottenham supporters have accused Levy of failing to take the next step, due to a lack of spending in the transfer market and a refusal to invest the club’s soaring revenues in player wages. Tottenham’s net spend in the summer after the Champions League final was -£4million. According to Deloitte’s figures released for the 2023-24 season, Tottenham spent only 42 per cent of the club’s revenue on wages, which was the lowest ratio among the world’s top-20 richest clubs.

There were frequent protests last season at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as fans called for Levy to resign. In January, a banner held up in the stands read: “24 years, 16 managers, 1 trophy. Time for Change”.

Since losing to Liverpool in the Champions League final, Spurs have finished sixth, seventh, fourth, eighth, fifth and 17th in the Premier League table, although they won the Europa League in May under Ange Postecoglou, who was then sacked as head coach and replaced by Thomas Frank. The Dane was Levy’s fifth permanent managerial appointment in six years.

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