Daniel Levy breaks silence as major changes at Tottenham begin with departure of trusted advisor

One of Daniel Levy’s closest advisors at Tottenham Hotspur has stepped down and will be leaving the club as part of major changes within the hierarchy.

football.london reported last week that a huge shake-up was coming from the top down at Spurs and that has begun with the departure of executive director Donna-Maria Cullen, who has been one of Levy’s trusted allies for his entire near quarter-century tenure at the north London outfit, having previously been involved with Tottenham since 1992.

Her role as a director ended on Saturday and she will now spend the next couple of months handing over her role to others. Cullen’s exit leaves only operations and finance director Matthew Collecott as one of Levy’s longest serving board members along with director of football administration and governance Rebecca Caplehorn.

There is expected to be further movement within the club, with changes of roles and also overhauls within the medical and sports science departments.

The biggest change to the hierarchy this week is the official arrival this week of new CEO Vinai Venkatesham who joins Tottenham after doing the same role at Arsenal to plenty of plaudits. The new man is expected to open up Spurs as a more communicative club to the outside world, something the fanbase has been calling for over the years.

As football.london reported previously, many inside Spurs are also expecting the return at some point of former managing director of football Fabio Paratici, although the Italian may need to remain in a consultancy capacity for the time being owing to the civil trial into irregularities during his time at Juventus.

The trial for the 52-year-old and other members of the hierarchy back then, including ex-president Andrea Agnelli and vice-president Pavel Nedved, began a fortnight ago after a request to annul proceedings was rejected by a Rome tribunal judge in April.

Levy said of Cullen’s departure on Monday: “Donna has made an immense contribution to the club, over an extensive period. Her diverse responsibilities grew significantly and replacing her roles with a single individual will be impossible. While many may associate her primarily with marketing and communications, Donna’s impact extends far beyond those areas. Notably, her leadership and political acumen at planning committees, was instrumental in the club being able to build one of the finest stadiums and training centres in the world.

“She deserves recognition for the contribution she played in the formation of the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, which has positively impacted countless individuals in our communities, and in establishing the London Academy of Excellence, providing children with exceptional educational opportunities.

“Donna has pushed the conscience of the club to be at the forefront of environmental and diversity initiatives. She also played a crucial role in supporting the amateur part-time Spurs Ladies, enabling the development of our professional women’s team. Her daily input will be greatly missed, however she fully deserves to take time for herself, and I know that we shall be able to call upon her advice when needed. We wish her well for the future.”

Cullen said on her time at the club: “This has been such a hard decision to make. The club has been my life for the past three decades. I have had the privilege of working with Daniel, whose vision and energy has driven the Club forward, and so many talented and wonderful colleagues.

“It has been quite some journey, starting at White Hart Lane, with a brief stay at Wembley and finally our new home – amazing memories home and away. Ending this season with the Europa League Trophy was a dream come true. The time is now right for me to gather more time for myself and my family, whom I thank for all their support over the years. I shall spend the coming months ensuring there is a smooth handover with my staff. Thank you all. I wish everyone at the club all the success in the world.”

The next job for Levy is to decide whether head coach Ange Postecoglou is also part of the summer of change at Tottenham or whether the man who finally broke the club’s 17-year trophy drought gets the chance to continue.