INTERVIEWER: All of us that had a taste of Bilbao have very much got a taste for it now, and want so much more. Can you tell me a little bit about what the family has said to you at the moment, what’s been their messaging to you?

VINAI VENKATESHAM: Well, first and foremost, I know the Lewis family really well, I think it’s important for our supporters to know that they are very passionate about Tottenham Hotspur, and they are ambitious for the Club. And, when I talk about their ambition, what they’re really focused on is ensuring that everything we do across the complete breadth of the Club really centres back and is focused on giving our men’s team and our women’s team the best chance to be successful on the pitch over the long-term. So that’s their laser focus – all around being successful on the pitch. They know, of course, that we operate in a very competitive environment and that there are a number of other teams that have the exact same ambitions we have – to compete to win the biggest trophies in the game. So, we know it’s not easy and we know that there is hard work ahead, but that absolutely is the focus. They are also focused on stability. They know there has been lots of change at the Club and now it’s time for some calm and for some stability. And finally, they believe and trust in the people that we have working in the organisation. So, their model is all about empowering the people we have on the ground to deliver against the ambition they have and of course the ambition that we all share.

INTERVIEWER: Let’s talk about the family. Who has been involved from the family so far?

VINAI VENKATESHAM: There’s been a big focus on the Club from the next generation of the family and to talk you through the key people – the first is Viv Lewis who is a very regular attendee at Tottenham Hotspur games and also frequently joins us on pre-season tours. She was with us this summer for the whole of our tour to Hong Kong and South Korea. Going forward, around the Club you’ll be seeing a bit more of her brother Charlie and also her son-in-law Nick, and the thing that ties them all together is their passion for Tottenham Hotspur and their ambition for the Club moving forward.

INTERVIEWER: So, let’s talk about Peter Charrington and his role as well…

VINAI VENKATESHAM: Well, Peter is not new to the Board – he joined our Board in March. He is a great guy, very personable, very experienced. We have a great relationship and we speak very, very frequently. I think it’s probably important to say that he’s going to be doing a different role to the role that Daniel did. So, Daniel was Executive Chairman. What that meant was Daniel was full-time and involved in the Club on a day-to-day basis. With Peter’s role, he’ll be Non-Executive Chairman and that means he won’t be involved in the Club on a full-time basis, and he won’t be involved in the Club on a day-to-day basis. His model is all around empowerment. He will be empowering us on the ground to get on with things, but of course he will be leading the Board and will be a very important part of the Club going forward.

INTERVIEWER: And what about for you personally, what does your role entail now?

VINAI VENKATESHAM: Well, I think it’s fair to say it’s been a very, very busy three months. There’s not been much in the way of weekends, evenings. There’s not been much in the way of sleep. So, it’s been a very busy start, but everybody’s been really welcoming inside and outside the Club – very warm, very welcoming – so, I feel really, really settled in. I’m enjoying it, and I’m looking forward to the challenge ahead, but the really important thing to be clear on is this is not just about me, and it’s certainly not all about me. Everything that we achieve at the Club will be part of a team, and I mean that. So, naturally, I guess, as Chief Executive, my name ends up in the media and I end up sitting here and doing an interview with you, but we’ve got 800 people at the Club, and we need everybody in the Club pulling together to drive us forward. This is certainly not all about one person or a small group of people.

INTERVIEWER: The world of football moves so unbelievably quickly, straight away there was talk of a takeover. Can you just go into a little bit there about what the Club’s stance is on that and what is the response to that talk so far?

VINAI VENKATESHAM: Yeah, I’ve seen that very quickly, as you say, there’s been a lot of newspaper articles and a lot of media speculation about a takeover, so I can be really clear on this. The Lewis family are really clear, they see their involvement in Tottenham Hotspur being long-term, and they see their involvement continuing through the generations. We made a statement very late last night, and the statement I hope was unambiguously clear that Tottenham Hotspur is not for sale.

INTERVIEWER: The natural progression for fans is that they will want to know, what does this mean in terms of investment into the team that will take to the field, both on the men’s and on the women’s side as well. How does this affect our ability to invest in those sides?

VINAI VENKATESHAM: I need to try and answer your question without leading to a whole load of transfer war chest stories tomorrow. I think it is very fair to say that we have firm backing from the Lewis family against our ambitions to be successful on the pitch, both on the men’s side and women’s side. They know that’s going to require investment, and we have their firm backing. But I would also say, like all other 20 Premier League clubs, we also need to make sure that we’re cognisant and aware of the financial fair play rules, and that means we need to continue to grow our revenues, we need to continue to develop players – both from the academy and young players that we buy – we need to make sure that we’re selling players at the right time, and we also need to make sure that every time we’re recruiting a player, we’re making smart decisions, both from a sporting perspective and a financial perspective. If you don’t do that, because of how the financial regulations work, you can find yourself in a position where you’ve got money to spend but the regulations don’t allow you to spend it. So, I guess to summarise, absolutely, there’s financial backing against the ambition we have, and like every other club in the Premier League, we need to do that in line with the financial fair play rules.

INTERVIEWER: Take me into this next period of time, what comes next?

VINAI VENKATESHAM: As I said at the start, it is business as usual in many ways. When I joined, I talked about wanting to do three things. The first is doing everything I could to support our excellent technical teams on the ground, both on the men’s side and the women’s side, to give us the best chance to be successful on the pitch. That continues to be a focus. I said my second focus was going to be around our people at the Football Club, making sure that we’re doing everything we can to empower them to be at their best, to drive the Club forward, and have the best people with the best culture to deliver against our ambitions. And the third one was our relationship with our supporters – make sure that they’re right behind us, make sure that they understand what we’re trying to do, communicate better with our supporters and ultimately, make them proud of what their Football Club is trying to do and what our Football Club over time will deliver.