Tottenham had to flog Paul Gascoigne to avoid going bust over £10m debt – now Daniel Levy wants more than £4bn to sell
TOTTENHAM were once moments from going bust with a debt of £10million they could not repay to the bank.
But now Daniel Levy wants £4.25billion for the club, according to a well-placed financial source in a new book published this week.
Ex-Spurs vice-chairman David Buchler revealed how a receiver called in at the club ready to declare it insolvent.
That was until a split board finally accepted that the sale of Paul Gascoigne to Lazio for £5.5m was the only solution to saving Spurs from going under.
Levy is after new investment but would not accept an outright takeover offer unless it started at £4bn.
Tottenham are in talks with potential investors and long-term adviser, Rothschild & Co, has stated that the club “requires a significant increase in its equity base” in order to continue to invest in its teams and “undertake future capital projects”.
Spurs have received offers from the Far East, Middle East and US but “nothing has been put on our table that we felt has been in the interests of shareholders”.
Buchler, of the financial firm Buchler Phillips, has for the first time told the inside story of how close the club came to going bust in 1992.
And the former Spurs vice-chairman reveals a tumultuous period in the North Londoners’ history.
He said: “My first introduction to the board was during the latter part of 1990 when the club was facing difficulties with their bankers, Midland Bank, over a £10m overdraft.
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“I advised the board on insolvency matters and when Nat Solomon became chairman at the beginning of 1991, I became chief executive and vice-chairman.
I remember my first meeting with Midland Bank, meeting Stephen Adamson, a partner of Ernst & Young and a friend, who was introduced to me by Midland Bank as their receiver and manager.
“Luckily, because our personal relationship was good, and Midland Bank knew me and respected me, the discussions relating to the reduction in the £10m overdraft quickly became cordial and not confrontational.
“This helped me find a solution to what otherwise was a difficult problem.
In the end the solution was to sell Paul Gascoigne as he was the only asset the club had that came anywhere near the £10m bank debt.
“Realising Gazza’s value was the only way of avoiding the appointment of an insolvency practitioner as receiver and manager — that had become a real possibility, that the bank would appoint a receiver to take control of the running of the club.
“It even reached the critical stage that at one meeting, Brian Clair, the Midland Bank director in charge of matters relating to Spurs’ £10m overdraft, had attended with the purpose of recovering the loan.
The overdraft had hit £10m but you would really laugh today to think that the club nearly went under for that small amount as it’s now worth over £4bn!
“Daniel Levy gets a bad press but he is extraordinary, very intelligent and he is like a dog with a bone — but he has done an exceptional job at the club.
“The training ground is beyond brilliant, the stadium is something else, as good as you get anywhere in the world.
“Both are unbelievable achievements. In years to come, you will look back and say, ‘Wow, did he really do that?’
“Of course, he has excelled off the field but on it there could have been more silverware.
“However, I am convinced that it will eventually come, particularly under Ange Postecoglou, the new manager.
Our beautiful game is broken, says Dave Kidd
By Dave Kidd
WHEN Manchester United got lucky in their FA Cup semi-final, Antony’s first instinct was to goad heartbroken opponents Coventry. To rub their noses in the dirt.
Antony seems to be a vile individual but this isn’t really about Antony. Because Antony is merely a symptom of the hideous sickness within England’s top flight.
There is so much wrong.
After our elite clubs persuaded the FA to completely scrap Cup replays — which gave us Ronnie Radford and Ricky Villa and Ryan Giggs — without due recompense or reasoning with the rest of English football.
The previous day, after his Manchester City side had defeated Chelsea in the other FA Cup semi-final, Pep Guardiola whinged about the fixture scheduling of TV companies who effectively pay much of his £20m salary.
Up at Wolves, Guardiola’s friend and rival Mikel Arteta was playing the same sad song about fixture congestion, despite his Arsenal side having played two fewer games this season than Coventry — who don’t have £50m squad players to rotate with.
Chelsea, oh Chelsea. The one-time plaything of a Russian oligarch now owned by financially incontinent venture capitalists who have piddled £1billion on a squad of players who fight like weasels in a sack about who should bask in the personal glory of scoring the penalty that puts them 5-0 up against Everton.
“Daniel has tried, he has brought in some world-class managers and he has spent as much, if not more, than the biggest clubs, so he can hardly be at fault for the failures of those managers.
“As for what he has done with the club, in my opinion he has made it worth £4bn.
“I believe Spurs are now a long way ahead of Manchester United and Chelsea, with a stadium that can host football and NFL.
“Although Joe Lewis is the majority shareholder, I believe it will be Daniel’s decision whether to sell or not.
“I don’t think he particularly wants to sell having brought the club to this level in this new super stadium. But if there’s a realistic offer that matches his valuation, then the club could be sold.”
A HISTORY of Spurs — On the Pitch & Off the Drawing Board by Harry Harris & Paul Trevillion, foreword by Glenn Hoddle, price £25, contains over 300 pieces of original Trevillion artwork. Available direct from Empire Publications: enquiries@empire-uk.com