A Brand in Search of Clarity >

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A rich history of entertaining football. A loyal fan base. A new state-of-the-art stadium and world-leading training facility. According to Deloitte, ranked 11th in last year’s Football Money League.

But right now, Tottenham have a serious brand problem.

Strong brands are built on more than current revenue. They are built through clarity – a crystal-clear articulation of what they stand for, a shared mission, internal alignment and belief. Momentum and energy.

And sadly, for Spurs fans, these brand foundations are missing.

It’s true that Tottenham have built a world-class stadium. They’ve secured partnerships with the NFL, hosting regular games, and with Formula One, installing a karting track beneath the South Stand. And from Beyoncé to Kendrick Lamar, the venue hosts major events, year-round.

But for all the growth as a “global sports and entertainment business”, it has become unclear what Tottenham Hotspur actually stand for as a football club. What is the mission? Where are they heading? And that lack of clarity is reflected in the core product: the football.

The club’s eighth men’s team manager in five years, Thomas Frank, has just been sacked. Chairman Daniel Levy, much criticised during his quarter-century in charge, has departed. Spurs sit 16th in the Premier League, five points off the relegation zone, winless this year in the league, and contemplating the unthinkable: a relegation fight.

This comes less than a year after Europa League glory under Ange Postecoglou – a high point that should have provided a platform, but instead became another isolated moment in a wider pattern of instability.

Spurs’ motto “Audere est Facere”, To Dare Is To Do, is plastered everywhere around the ground, and on every piece of merchandise. It evokes attacking football. Flair. Courage. Glory. Hoddle. Ardiles. Klinsmann. Bale. Kane. The Tottenham Way. Before kick-off, the stadium screens remind supporters that “the game is about glory”.

But the lived reality on the pitch has become anything but.

In the past decade, with so many manager changes, Tottenham have cycled through every conceivable football style. Lurching from Ultra-attacking to ultra-defensive football. High press. Low block. Youth development. Win-now pragmatism. Ignoring set pieces, to only focusing on them. Every philosophical swing imaginable.

Recruitment has mirrored this instability and chaos. Creative players signed for systems that don’t use them. Young prospects bought and not developed or played. Key positions neglected. Opportunism over long-term planning.

Nothing feels planned or joined up. A series of short-term scatter gun tactics, with no overreaching strategy.

Horribly, when Tottenham fans dare to glance at the other side in North London, the contrast is currently painful. Arsenal are a club that has invested in a single-minded mission: to build a squad to win the Premier League. One manager. One style. Elite players recruited in every position, with depth behind them each. In Tottenham’s worst nightmare, this could be their year.

Sadly, in football’s insane commercial reality, ‘daring to do’ realistically means competing for the best players and paying the highest salaries. Something that Tottenham, unlike Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool, have not been prepared to do.

Tottenham’s non-football commercial ambition is not the problem. But when a football club appears more certain about its Formula One partnership than its footballing philosophy, that is a problem.

Tottenham fans don’t love the club for any other reason than football. And this emotional connection is what the brand is built on, and what dictates its ultimate value, both emotionally and commercially. The current empty seats during recent matches and vocal fans considering not renewing their season tickets will be worrying the club’s money men.

In the club’s last game, a home defeat to Newcastle, as players walked off at half-time to boos, a commercial photo shoot was taking place on the terraces. A club in crisis on the pitch while the entertainment machine continued around it.

An unintended, but perfectly accurate metaphor.

The good news – Tottenham do not need to start from scratch.

They just need clarity.

They need a brand reset.

And it must start with their core product – a clear philosophy, around attacking, entertaining football. Recruitment built around that system. Patience to execute it. And serious investment that signals intent.

All the partnerships, concerts, and diversification should sit on top of that foundation.

‘Global entertainment venue’ and top-level football success are not mutually exclusive ambitions. But Tottenham’s global appeal, and ultimately its brand, was not built on karting tracks and in stadium breweries.

It was built on daring football. On ambition. On daring to do.

As Spurs flirt with relegation, managerless, injury-ravaged and stylistically unrecognisable, what they do next is critical.

They need a manager, a playing style and an ambition that can unite the fan base, inject momentum, and give the club a sense of direction. A north star to focus on, that’s born from the club’s DNA and history.

The decision makers at Spurs must realise that in sport, as in business, the brands that endure are not simply the ones that diversify.

They are the ones that know exactly who they are.

And right now, Tottenham need to remember.