CHAMPIONS LEAGUE OR CHAMPIONSHIP? CAN SPURS ACTUALLY ACHIEVE BOTH IN ONE SEASON?
Tottenham faces a financial disaster! Discover why relegation could cost Spurs £150M in TV money and a bizarre European scenario.
Tottenham are dangerously close to the relegation zone as they get ready to face Arsenal. If the worst happens and they actually go down, a football finance expert warns the fallout could be huge.
Last season, Spurs barely escaped the drop, finishing 17th. Things haven’t improved this year. Thomas Frank started the season in charge, but after a string of terrible results, he’s already out. The team still hasn’t won a league game at home in 2026.
Now Igor Tudor’s in charge, and the North London derby is coming up at their own stadium. Even though it feels almost impossible to imagine Tottenham getting relegated, the risk is still very real.
Kieran Maguire, who knows his way around football finances, broke down what Tottenham would face if they keep sliding and end up in the Championship. He even pointed out a weird possibility about European competition.
“We could end up in a totally bizarre situation,” Maguire told Football. London, “where Spurs win the Champions League this season, qualify for next year’s competition, but play in England’s second tier.”
Putting that strange scenario aside, Maguire says there’s one upside: the stadium is more than just a football ground now. The events and entertainment side of the business would keep going, even if the team drops down a division.
But losing ticket sales would sting, and the hit to revenue would be massive. Last season, Spurs brought in around £600 million. Maguire doesn’t see any way they could match that in the Championship. “They’ve got a lot of debt, too,” he said. “One year outside the Premier League is rough. By my numbers, they owe over £300 million in unpaid transfer fees to other clubs. Someone’s got to cover that.”
TV money would also nosedive. “Last season they made about £190 million from TV,” Maguire said. “If they go down, even with parachute payments, that drops to around £45 million. That’s a huge drop. Less money in, but still big bills to pay – especially for players they’ve already signed but haven’t finished paying for yet. It’s a mess.”
There is one thing working in Tottenham’s favour, though. Their wage bill is much lower than the rest of the so-called Big Six – about £100,000 a week on average. That helps a bit, since the squad costs less to maintain. Plus, there are incentives in the contracts to push players to perform. Still, if the worst case plays out, the owners would have to step in and put up more money themselves.
SUNDERLAND CONDEMNS "VILE" RACIST ABUSE AIMED AT BRIAN BROBBEY AFTER SPURS WIN
Brian Brobbey targeted online! Sunderland and the Premier League unite against "vile" discrimination after Spurs win.
Sunderland called out the racist abuse aimed at Brian Brobbey on social media and made it clear they stand fully behind him.
Brobbey was targeted online right after Sunderland’s 1-0 win over Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday. On Monday, the club released a statement: “Sunderland condemns in the strongest possible terms the racist abuse directed at Brian Brobbey on social media following Sunday’s fixture against Tottenham. We stand firmly with Brian and offer him our full and unwavering support.”
Sadly, this isn’t the first time Sunderland players have had to deal with this kind of abuse this season. After February’s match against Fulham, Romaine Mundle received hateful messages online, and last month the Tyne-Wear derby had to be paused when someone in the crowd reportedly aimed abuse at Lutsharel Geertruida.
The club’s statement continued: “This isn’t an isolated event. The recent abuse aimed at Romaine Mundle and Lutsharel Geertruida shows just how often and how unacceptably this keeps happening, both at matches and on the internet. We’ve reported this latest incident to the Premier League, the social media platforms, and the police, and we expect them to act quickly against the people responsible. Racism is vile, and it doesn’t belong in football or anywhere else. We’ll keep calling it out, clearly and without hesitation, every time it happens. Football should be safe and welcoming for everyone, no exceptions.”
The Premier League is backing Brobbey as well. In a post on their X account, they said they’re “disgusted by the ongoing discrimination” players keep facing online. “We stand alongside Sunderland in strongly condemning the online racist abuse Brian Brobbey has received and have offered our full support to him and the club. We are disgusted by the ongoing discrimination players are facing on social media and are committed to working with clubs, authorities, law enforcement, and social media companies to address this issue, as well as supporting investigations to bring those responsible to justice.
Anyone found guilty of discrimination will face the toughest possible punishments: jail time, football bans, and even a criminal record.”
DAVID MOYES REVEALS "NERVES" AS EVERTON HUNT HISTORIC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFICATION SPOT
David Moyes admits Everton's Champions League hunt is nerve-wracking. See the latest on the Toffees' battle for Europe.
David Moyes admits the idea of Everton making the Champions League this soon in their rebuild actually makes him “shake a wee bit.”
You look at the club now, and it's hard to believe where they were just 14 months ago. When Moyes returned, Everton looked beaten down from years of fighting to stay up. Suddenly, with only seven games left, they’re sitting eighth. That spot could mean Europa Conference League football, but after their win against Chelsea before the break, they’re now just three points off fourth. It’s wild to even talk about the Champions League, but it’s right there in reach.
Reporters put the question to him how does it feel to be this close? With Europe’s spots possibly extending down to fifth (or maybe even further, depending on how other English clubs do), Moyes wasn’t hiding his nerves: “It’s probably the best shot we’ve had in a long time. But when I hear ‘Champions League’? Makes me shake a wee bit, honestly. I’ve been lucky to manage in Europe’s other competitions lately, and if we do make it, I’m sure we’d be able to hold our own at certain stages. Still, the Champions League is just on another level.”
Everton’s next match at Brentford looks huge for their European dreams. Brentford beat them earlier in the season, and right now, both teams are level, separated only by goal difference.
Moyes is clearly enjoying this chapter. “Listen, Europe’s Europe. If someone had said at the start, ‘You’re going to get European football,’ we’d have snapped their hand off. It could be the tiddlywinks European cup, and we’d be up for it. Evertonians want the club back in those conversations. We’re getting attention for the new stadium, we’ve got a couple of England internationals getting noticed more, it’s a good time. If we do sneak into the Champions League, it’d be an unbelievable achievement. But honestly, no matter which competition we make, it’s still a big step forward for us.”
