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in the weeks before Daniel Levy left Tottenham Hotspur In September, a Premier League The counterpart noticed something that confirmed that the shock was not, in fact, a surprise. He registered that Vivienne Lewis – daughter of former Spurs owner Joe Lewis, whose shares have since been held in a family trust – was suddenly appearing “smiling and laughing” at games. Such intimacy was all the more evident as many rival officials said they had not actually met him. The sentiment was: “It wasn’t looking good for Daniel.”
Levy is no longer seen at all, which would make a real difference to the North London derby, just like before armory ceo Vinay Venkatesham Now at Spurs. The refreshed hierarchy is sure to be welcomed by increasingly prominent people Josh KroenkeSon of Arsenal owner Stan.
This won’t happen just like that First meeting of new leadership teams All across North London, as both clubs coincidentally made major changes at the same time. It could also herald a more significant change in English football.
Billionaires have already taken over. Now is the time for the children of billionaires.
And while football clubs have obviously been passed through wealthy families before – not least Arsenal’s Hill-Woods – ownership rules ensured it was not the same. Even Manchester United is different, because Malcolm Glazer’s children made decisions at Manchester United from the beginning.
Spurs insiders will insist that Lewis has been very much present but paid less attention for some time, in the same way that Josh Kroenke was attending men’s and women’s games without people’s scrutiny in the same way he does now. This is still the first time we are seeing a deep handover in this American capitalist era.
Here’s an obvious reference that many in football are already making fun of. it is inheritance In the Premier League.
If so, such a change adds a further complication to modern football with geopolitics and competition law. We now have a classical psychoanalysis of how the descendants of billionaires think.
Some officials also believe that such changes should be relevant to the new football regulator, and that the body should apply corporate governance standards in evaluating all new appointments.
Although all this can have a substantial impact on football, it also works the other way.
Several sources consulted for this piece had previously felt that Lewis wanted to sell the kids to Spurs, although this has always been denied. in any way, Independent It has been reported that “two very genuine” expressions of interest have been “completely rejected”. It is said that Qatar has moved ahead.
Lewis’s children, led by Vivienne, son-in-law Nick Beucher and brother Charles, are now very fond of it. Premier League officials say that, typically, “it usually only takes three games”. The ownership class sees that a football decision gets more attention than any billion-pound deal.
And while many billionaires are in it for the sake of vanity or just to make more money, there may be another angle for kids. This could be a quick way to show their dad – it’s always the dad – that they can succeed.
“The inheritance That’s absolutely true,” says one boardroom person. “You pay attention to Kendall Roy’s rising numbers.”
Two of the club’s most influential modern figures have found this out to their cost as old victims of boardroom intrigue.
Levy was “everything” at Spurs and was the Premier League’s longest-serving executive, while former Arsenal executive vice-chairman Tim Lewis has been described as the most outspoken, having returned the club to “seriousness”, as a source said. He earned a public reputation for challenging Manchester City and state ownership, but was generally seen as one of the voices most concerned about proper regulation.
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The two still found that the gallons of water they carried to the owners were not as thick as the blood they poured out when the children grew up.
This is reminiscent of other satires in Premier League boardrooms inheritance Script. The “luckiest sperm” is mentioned and a call is made to “not outdo the Sun Kings”.
There is a certain circularity to the curiosity towards Arsenal. When Arsene Wenger left in 2018, sources say the plan was for Josh Kroenke to take more direct control. However, this was in an era of drift, where rivals mocked Arsenal for being soft and stale.
Even worse was the perception of absence from ownership, as senior people complained that they could not get access to what Stan Kroenke was thinking.
This changed dramatically with the arrival in 2020 of Lewis, a childhood Arsenal fan and long-time Kroenke loyalist. He brought up that link and started restoring the “byte” with a vision.
With Mikel Arteta already in place, Lewis gave him full support, formulating a multi-year strategy on behalf of Kroenkes to return Arsenal back to the top.
It centered on his idea of a “football leadership team” – essentially a football board consisting of weekly meetings between senior people such as the chairman, manager, sporting director and the medical team. Multiple internal and external sources say it felt as if Arsenal had a clear direction for the first time in decades amid a climate of changed high standards.
As a result, fueled commercial revenues began to catch up with Liverpool.
Arteta’s relationship with Lewis was strong, bolstered for a time by a growing partnership with new sporting director Andrea Burta. The subsequent summer recruitment also emphasized Lewis’ understanding of the owners. A senior insider says he was the only person who was able to persuade Stan Kroenke to make the signings, and went to the owner with a complete plan as to why certain transfers should be made.
The signing of Eberechi Eze was symbolic in that regard, and not just because Arsenal stunned Spurs.
The club was now conscious of the increasing pressure to win, which was why there was such concern when Kai Havertz got injured. Lewis convinced ownership that they needed to push the button on Eze.
The first signs of fracture were also seen within it. There were earlier considerations for Josh Kroenke to work with the club under Lewis, but he had commitments with the Denver Nuggets. Yet Arsenal rose to greater prominence.
According to sources, Kroenke was not involved in Berta’s appointment and had pushed for Benjamin Sesko to replace Victor Gyökeres. The appearance at the Professional Footballers’ Association awards was seen as a clear signal that he wanted to be “hands on”, leading to a personal push for Piero Hincapie.
Lewis’s sudden departure in the weeks that followed shocked many in the sport. Even those with whom he had more challenging relationships feel the former lawyer deserves far more credit for the position Arsenal are in. Many people credit him with the club’s overall turnaround.
While Arsenal’s opinion was that the boardroom changes merely reflected a desire for “continued growth”, it is difficult to see how tensions could not have arisen. Multiple sources say that “Josh clearly wanted to be the boss”, which always conflicted with the fact that Lewis was viewed internally as the de facto boss.
Perhaps this inevitably meant that he would eventually have to face this father-son situation. His departure was announced on 19 September 2025. Arsenal, Spurs, Levy and Lewis were all contacted for this article but declined to comment.
The signing of Eze nevertheless stands as a coup that could still dictate this derby, and is a prelude to Levy’s own exit. The blow was the latest in a series of transfer defeats for Spurs, as the ownership continues to monitor how the club is progressing. The club now wanted to move to the next level, but felt that Levy had become used to the style that had become entrenched over 25 years.
It must still be acknowledged that this path has given a higher platform to the Lewis children. Levy generates a lot of opinions, but it’s hard to dispute the way he gradually took Spurs from mid-table basketcase to Champions League finalist with one of the best stadiums in the world.
The flaws were in the micro rather than the macro, and the obvious reluctance to make pure football decisions seized the moment. Those who interacted with Levi similarly felt that he was too involved in transfers, and that recruitment would be overly guided by “zeitgeist trends”.
Furthermore, Levy has been described as acting as if he were the owner rather than merely holding a minority stake. He had a lot of control. One source says Levy was completely “blindsided” by the September decision, as he did not imagine it was possible.
The Premier League rivals are now extremely keen on who will make the big decisions at Spurs. Insiders say Lewis will not micro-manage, and the plan is to develop a multi-point team of expertise around Venkatesham.
People are still waiting to see, in the same way that all eyes at Arsenal are on the young Kroenke and promoted chief executive Richard Garlick. They both have to learn.
Others argue that Kroenke father and son have actually been working together as co-chairmen for some time, and the main change is a board with a different expertise for a different stage in the club’s development.
Josh Kroenke has been described as more conscious of ownership than his father, while wanting to “do the right thing by the supporters”. This may reflect a different evolution in these dynamics, and how ownership may go from seeing these “assets” as simply the property of living, breathing clubs to what they really are.
Others quip that Kroenke can take less than 10 days to respond to some emails.
If these changes can alter the psychology of two of England’s grandest clubs, they are certainly changing the psychology of the Premier League as well. Levy brought with him a wealth of experience, while Lewis forced competitors to think about bigger issues. It is already considered significant that Arsenal have staggered on the new concept of “anchoring” club expenditure – so there are not the same financial gaps in the Premier League vote.
There is a view among long-term stakeholders that the further the competition from the original founders moves, the less the owners will care about English football.
Will its future be decided solely by states, private equity funds, billionaires and now their children? Premier League meetings are already described as too “corporate”, with Steve Parish one of the few distinctive voices. The style of speaking is changing.
As far as they are concerned inheritance However, no one has yet said this to any face of the new leadership.
Wonder if the reaction will still be smiles and laughter.