It has been nearly a quarter of a century since ENIC and Daniel Levy acquired Tottenham Hotspur — yes we did include the ‘Hotspur’ for those following recent club edicts. To describe the relationship between club and fans as tumultuous is something of an understatement, and the undercurrent of animosity towards Levy only seems to grow year on year.

As the chants and protests become ever louder, we took a look at five of the most abrasive decisions taken by Daniel Levy and ENIC over the last 25 years at the club.

Thomson red on the shirt

It was the great Bill Nicholson who famously disliked the colour red. As Norman Giller commented in his excellent co-authored book with Steve Perryman, ‘Sir Bill’:

“Arsenal red was to him like a red rag to a bull. And none of the players under him dared buy a red car. You’d never hear the end of it’

Bill Nicholson was the archetypal ‘Mr Tottenham’ and a man that any custodian of the club current and future ought to look up to and aspire to emulate. As a Spurs man through and through it was clear to him that the colour red represented the enemy and rivals Arsenal.

Fast forward to 2002 and Daniel Levy has agreed a sponsorship deal with budget holiday company Thomson to become the clubs principal shirt sponsor. In so doing, the famous lilywhite shirt would be emblazoned with red for the coming seasons — much to the delight of fans from the other end of the Seven Sister Road. As if to reinforce his disdain for the club, Levy has since sought AIA’s commercial partnership which has seen their red logo become a consistent feature on the Spurs shirt in recent years. ‘Profit over glory’ reads a banner in the South Stand, these commercial deals perhaps represent profit over principal for the North London club.

Olympic stadium move

Tottenham Hotspur very nearly became an east London club in early 2011 when the club entered the bidding process for rights to the Olympic Stadium. The plans, had the club been successful, would have seen the stadium demolished and rebuilt on its current site and Spurs move to the heart of East London in Stratford. This was hugely controversial in part because this is the heart of West Ham territory, their bitter rivals and would involve fans travelling across London to watch their team play.

Levy’s defence was that this was a strategic move, and one he sought to leverage in order to negotiate more favourable terms for the club on their favoured development project at Northumberland Park. The truth of this is open to debate, but clearly whenever there is a financially beneficial option open to ENIC, they will pursue and likely take it.

Martin Jol sacking

Of all the Levy appointees, Martin Jol remains one of the most popular and cherished amongst the Spurs fanbase. Whether it was squaring up to Arsene Wenger that endeared him most, or the buccaneering and often headless approach his teams used to take, he rightly remains a popular figure.

This makes the manner of his dismissal all the more galling for Spurs fans that remember that fateful night in 2007. Moving on from the popular dutchman was justified given the club’s league form, but the events leading up to it certainly were not. Levy had publicly trailed and met his successor Juande Ramos in the preceding days, and news broke of the sacking and appointment midway through a UEFA Cup match at home to Getafe with Jol still at the helm. Whether he found out from the fans or not, it was clearly an uncomfortable evening for anyone associated with the club and yet another example of Levy tarnishing the reputation of Spurs.

Joao Moutinho

One of the largest gripes fans have with Levy is his regular delay in getting key transfers completed. Levy is famous for drawing deals out until the last minute to extract every last bit of financial value out of the transaction — often to the detriment of the team. Perhaps even more costly though are the transfers that should have happened, but never materialised because of Levy’s protracted approach to player acquisition.

This habit was typified by the chase for Joao Moutinho. The Portuguese midfielder was slated to be the keystone of Andre Villas-Boas’ new-look Spurs side and crucial to the system he was seeking to employ. Having recently sold Luka Modric to Real Madrid, Moutinho was believed to be an adept replacement in a  Spurs 4-3-3 system. Both clubs had a deal sheet submitted and it looked like the transfer could still be finalised at the eleventh hour. However, complications around 3^rd party ownership scuppered the deal and the transfer was never completed. Levy’s insistence on leaving transfers to the end of the window firmly damaged the club on this occasion, and hindered the Villas-Boas era from the beginning.

Paul Coyte

For a large proportion of the Spurs faithful this may well be the least popular decision taken by the club under Levy. Paul Coyte is a constant of the matchday Spurs experience. The hugely popular figure has been a regular source of reassurance and humour for match going fans over many seasons, a second half can’t begin without his famous ‘up the Spurs’. Unique and original, Coyte is part of the furniture at the club and for many that is exactly how he must remain.

For those that have read the rest of this article, it will come as no surprise that Coyte was omitted from the game presentation team at the new stadium. Spurs instead looked for something of a modern refresh and change in how they conducted the matchday experience — there’s nothing like fan consultation right? A combination of fan pressure and a petition forced the club to make a u-turn and reinstate Coyte to his rightful position as the pre-game and half-time conductor at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. You can also catch Coyte in his regular broadcast slots on GB News and TalkSport radio.

Which is the most heinous decision of the Levy era for you?