Long Time, No Spurs

Fire up the SpursPlay, pre-season is here!

Spurs Across the Pond is also back after a summer hiatus. I was a little shocked to see that Spurs Men's first friendly was this past weekend, and figured I'd better get back to writing this newsletter sooner rather than later.

In this issue: Manager talk | Transfer talk | News from around the Lane | Reading friendly recap | Kit room

As it is, there is a lot of news to catch up on, so let's just jump right in.

Manager talk: Hirings edition

Since my last writing, both senior teams have had a new manager appointed, in addition to several other coaching updates. One of the new managers was an open secret, while the other came out of left field.

Thomas Frank

The new Spurs Men manager, Thomas Frank, was appointed on June 12. He joins the club from Brentford, where he led the Bees to promotion to the Premier League in 2021 and helped them consolidate into a mid-table side in the top flight.

Frank is known for his tactical flexibility and player development. These were both areas of opportunity under the previous manager, so I'm looking forward to seeing what Frank can do to make the playing squad more effective across the board and more adaptable to different fixtures and game states.

Men's team coaching updates:

• Mile Jedinak, Nick Montgomery, and Sergio Raimundo departed alongside Ange Postecoglou.

• Goalkeeping coach Rob Burch also left the club.

• Frank's assistants will include:

• Justin Cochrane (First Team Assistant Coach)
• Chris Haslam (Head of Performance & First Team Assistant Coach)
• Joe Newton (First Team Coach Analyst)
• Andreas Georgson (First Team Assistant Coach)
• Cameron Campbell (First Team Individual Development Coach)
• Fabian Otte (First Team Goalkeeper Coach)
• Matt Wells (First Team Assistant Coach)
• Stuart Lewis (First Team Academy Transition Coach)
• Dean Brill (First Team Assistant Goalkeeping Coach)

Wells is the only holdover from Postecoglou's coaching staff, with Ryan Mason departing earlier in the summer to become the manager of West Bromwich Albion.

The addition of an Academy Transition Coach is a further sign that youth development will be a priority for Frank. We previously saw this role utilized within Spurs Women's coaching setup (Anton Blackwood, who has since left the club).

Cochrane and Wells will be focused on the offensive and defensive aspects of training, respectively, while Georgson specializes in set pieces and restarts.

The article below has some interesting insights into Frank's coaching setup as well as Cochrane's professional journey—including a volunteer stint at Spurs' Academy.

Justin Cochrane’s return to Spurs: He’ll plan training, but do more than just put the cones out

Thomas Frank was determined to take Cochrane with him to Tottenham - so what can we expect from the new Spurs No 2?

The AthleticJay Harris

Overall, it seems that Frank has assembled a good mix of trusted coaches he's worked with previously alongside internal promotions from Spurs. Players will also benefit from having more individualized coaching this season.

Martin Ho

The new Spurs Women manager, Martin Ho, was appointed on July 4. He joins us from SK Brann in the Norwegian Toppserien, but also has previous experience (as an assistant coach) at several WSL clubs, most recently Manchester United. The 35-year-old only has one head coaching stint under his belt so far, but he has managed in the Champions League already.

Ho's contract at Spurs currently runs until 2028.

Player development has been a big focus for Ho at his previous clubs, and he has also worked with academy players in the past. That bodes well for the promising crop of young players coming up through Spurs Women's Academy, several of whom have been in pre-season training with the first team this summer.

One of the major issues last season, however, was the stagnation of many of the established senior players. Ho is aware that improving player confidence across the board is going to be one of his initial challenges.

I want to make sure every player has the confidence and belief to go on the pitch and, when they go out there, they play with freedom.

While we got some updates on the Women's Academy coaching setup (see below in News from around the Lane), we don't yet have info on who will comprise Ho's staff. Stay tuned.

Transfer talk

There have been quite a few new deals, departures, and contract renewals, so let's break it down by team.

Spurs Men

• Mathys Tel has made his move to Spurs permanent after previously joining on loan in January. His new contract runs until 2031. It will be interesting to see where Tel features on the pitch under Thomas Frank's management, but his versatility remains an asset, and at 20 years old, he could develop into a mainstay of the squad for seasons to come.

• Alejo Véliz is going on loan to Rosario Central in Argentina's Primera Division.

• Kōta Takai has joined on a contract until 2030. The 20-year-old centerback arrives from Kawasaki Frontale in the J1 League. Spurs will be just his second senior club, though he had already made 60 appearances for Kawasaki Frontale. He has also broken into the senior Japan national team already. Fun fact: he was the youngest player to sign a professional contract for his previous club.

• Mohammed Kudus has joined from West Ham United on a contract until 2031. The 24-year-old forward is a mainstay in the Ghana national team and previously played with Ajax at the Champions League level.

Kudus commented on his playing philosophy:

I like to entertain the fans as well. That’s what football is about – it’s putting a memory in the heads of the fans that they have when they go back home, and after the money they’ve spent to buy a ticket. Although there is also a lot of seriousness and competitiveness in the game, I still think it’s a sport I try to enjoy as much as I can and give the fans something to enjoy too. I hope fans are going to really enjoy what I’m going to bring to the team here.

Spurs Women

• Molly Bartrip has extended her stay at Tottenham until 2028 with a new contract. The centerback has been a mainstay in Spurs Women's defense and has twice played every minute of a single season.

Spurs is my home... There’s still more from me and I’m still hungry to get more, and hopefully we can win things here because, for me, that would be a dream.

• Rosella Ayane has departed the club at the conclusion of her contract. She spent six seasons at Spurs and was an important part of the journey to the FA Cup final in the 2023/24 season. Ayane made over 100 WSL appearances for Spurs.

• Becky Spencer has made a permanent move to Chelsea after spending the second half of the 2024/25 season with them. She also spent six seasons at Spurs and came just shy of the 100 appearances mark. Her most memorable performance came in the penalty shootout against Manchester City that helped us advance to the FA Cup semi-final en route to Wembley.

• Tōko Koga has signed with the club on a contract until 2029. The 19-year-old centerback joins us from Feyenoord, whom we played a friendly against in pre-season last year. She already has significant game time with the Japan senior team and even scored the winning goal against the USWNT in the last SheBelieves Cup.

Academy

• Dante Cassanova has signed a new contract until 2027.

• Ellis Lehane has signed his first professional contract with the club.

• Oliver Irow has signed a new contract until 2028.

• Damola Ajayi has joined Doncaster Rovers on loan for the season in League One. He's already scored a few goals for them in pre-season!

• Alfie Dorrington is headed back to Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership for a second loan.

• Max McFadden has joined from Leeds United on a contract until 2027. He will feature for the U21s.

• Oliver Boast also signed from Leeds United, joining up with the group of U18s first-year scholars previously announced.

• Josh Keeley has departed Spurs to sign with Luton Town on a permanent deal, following his successful loan with Leyton Orient last season. Some reporting has suggested that Spurs may have negotiated a buy-back and/or sell-on clause, which would be good news. Keeley is a very promising keeper, but needed this move to keep developing in his career. Fingers crossed that the timing could be right for a return to Spurs down the line.

Welcome to all of the new signings, good luck to the loanees, and best wishes for the future to everyone departing.

News from around the Lane

• Archie Gray won the U21 Euro Championship with England. Congrats, Archie!

• Scott Munn was placed on gardening leave and will be departing the club at the conclusion of his contract.

• Earlier this summer, Vinai Venkatesham started his role as CEO and provided a video update on his priorities for the club. He stated that his top three priorities are:

1. Football—Men’s and Women’s teams
2. Listening to supporters
3. Learning about the club from its 800 employees and empowering them

I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think that there was another level that this football club can get to.

• Still no news on pre-season fixtures for Spurs Women, but we have a full slate for Spurs Men already on the calendar:

• 7/19 @ Reading (0-2 win)
• 7/26 @ Luton Town
• 7/31 @ Arsenal in Hong Kong
• 8/3 vs Newcastle United in Seoul
• 8/7 @ Bayern Munich

These friendlies are followed by the first competitive match of the season, the UEFA Super Cup against PSG on 8/13, followed by our opening Premier League fixture against Burnley on 8/16.

• On that note, the full Premier League fixture list was released back in June. There are a few tricky portions of the calendar for Spurs (which will surely be made more tricky once we start to get our Champions League and domestic cup draws), but at least the early schedule gives us a chance to build some momentum while still being challenged by a few difficult matchups (like Manchester City on matchday 2). On another positive note, we both begin and end the season at home. I'm disappointed that we don't have a Boxing Day fixture—yet, that is. Scheduling restrictions have made it so that the league is holding off on assigning any games to the 26th, but some could still be moved to Boxing Day as broadcast schedules are finalized. There's some added incentive for a strong start to the season, so we're considered must-see TV! As for the North London derby fixtures, we play away first on 11/22, then host Arsenal on 2/21.

• We already have the first fixture time change of the season for Spurs Men, and it's also the first "why on Earth do I support a football club that plays six hours ahead of my time zone?" moment of the season for me. Cheers.

• Shifting gears to the Women's Super League, there are two notable updates:

• The top-flight league will be expanding in the 2026/27 season by two teams, for a total of 14. After vocal fan backlash nixed the idea of temporarily pausing relegation altogether to achieve the expansion, a new plan was approved to have the top two teams from WSL2 (formerly named the Women's Championship) automatically promoted and the third-place team take part in a promotion/relegation playoff with the last-placed WSL team. This is a one-time change; after next season, it will be back to one up, one down between the WSL and WSL2, with a playoff between the second-worst WSL and second-best WSL2 team for another possible swap. So while Spurs Women don't have to fear automatic relegation this upcoming season, we still need to be wary of falling into last place and facing a relegation playoff game.
• The FA Player is being done away with. No news yet on whether this means broadcast partners will be picking up the slack for cup games or if clubs will be expected to provide their own streams for those fixtures.

• The WSL fixtures will be released on Friday, 7/25, at 10 am UK. Opening weekend is 9/6 and 9/7.

• A quick plug for the Spurs Women Supporters Club, which is a great source for ticketing updates if you're local and hoping to make it out to some games this season. Season tickets are now available.

• The Women's Academy U21s are being reclassified as U19s from this season and will be coached by Sabiha Jamal, promoted from previously coaching the U16s to a cup trophy. Matheus Vianna Scapin will take over the U16s as Nick Hardy oversees the full Women's Academy structure.

• We also learned that the U19s will be taking part in an updated FA Women’s National League Cup; they'll face senior opposition from the National League (third tier), with all group stage games taking place as away fixtures for the PGA teams.

• On the Men's Academy side, Joe Staunton will become interim manager of the U18s following Stuart Lewis' promotion into Thomas Frank's first team coaching staff.

Spurs Women Euro update

It was a short Euros for our Spurs contingent. Luana Bühler was called up to Switzerland initially, but was ruled out through injury before the group stage began. Despite three bright performances from Finland, Eveliina Summanen and Olga Ahtinen were knocked out after the group stage, as was Lize Kop with the Netherlands. Amanda Nildén and Sweden reached the quarter-finals but were knocked out on penalties by England; Nildén wasn't picked to take a PK.

Friendly #1 | Reading 0 - 2 Tottenham

I'm not going to go into huge depth on the friendlies, but here are a few quick takeaways from Spurs Men's clean sheet win against Reading:

• While it's true that we can't feel certain about any one player's prospects for the season after one game against League One opposition, some players took better advantage of their 45 minutes than others. Thomas Frank opted for two distinct XIs per half, with a mix of experienced and youth players/new signings across the two teams. Some players were better equipped to make a good impression due to having been in training for a few weeks already, while others lacked fitness due to just arriving in training this past week.
• One such player who stood out was newcomer Luka Vušković, an 18-year-old centerback who signed his Spurs contract over a year and a half ago but couldn't join up with the senior team until this summer. His 6'4" frame was used to great effect on Spurs' first goal, flicking on a corner kick from fellow new signing Mohamed Kudus with his head to find Will Lankshear for the headed shot, registering his first (non-competitive) assist for the club. He then quickly followed up his assist with his first goal five minutes later, scoring with a volleyed shot after receiving a pass from Kudus (his first assist). Demonstrating the versatility of his game, he then contributed a goal-line clearance to protect the clean sheet.

• Mo Kudus deserves some individual praise of his own for electrifying the attack with his superb close control and flair for creative flicks, backheels, and more. He also got an opportunity to showcase his pace on the touchline, although it's debatable that the linesman got the in-bounds call correct that allowed the play to continue. It's encouraging to know we now have another solid option for corner kicks and other set pieces; his corner kicks were frequently threatening. Again, this was another player who wasn't wasting any time showing what he could once subbing on for the second half.
• Out of the young players, Alfie Devine probably had the best showing besides Lankshear. His past two seasons of loans (first at Cambridge United and then at Westerlo last season) have given him valuable experience in senior football and sharpened his decision-making. The raw promise he first showed upon making his Spurs debut in the FA Cup four seasons ago is starting to crystallize into a blend of patient control and bold passing from the attacking midfield role. As a club-trained player, there's a very good chance he stays in the squad—at least for the first half of the season. The only disappointment for me regarding his appearance in this friendly is that we didn't get to see him play in the same half as Vušković, who already has some on-pitch chemistry with Devine from their shared loan stint at Westerlo.
• Otherwise, my main takeaway from Frank's team selection strategy for this friendly (and hopefully the ones going forward) was that he's willing to test out different partnerships across the formation. The centerback duos were perhaps the most interesting example, with Kevin Danso and Cristian Romero providing a very different vibe in the defense for the first half than Micky van de Ven and Vušković did in the second half. I would expect to see more tinkering in the coming friendlies, including for the midfield pivot and winger flanks.

There were a few absences in the friendly squad, and Frank gave a team news update ahead of the match. Of the players who missed the end of the previous season through injury, Lucas Bergvall was the only one to get minutes against Reading. James Maddison is close to a return but not ready just yet, while Dejan Kulusevski and Radu Drăgușin are both expected to miss the entirety of pre-season. Richarlison is expected to feature in the next friendly, while Kōta Takai and Manor Solomon are doubts with minor issues. It was pre-planned that Cristian Romero and Son Heung-min (who both missed game time in the second half of last season due to injuries) would split the captaincy for the friendly over the two halves.

Luton Town is up next on Saturday, same kickoff time.

Kit room

The away kit was the second kit launch of the pre-season, but the first to be worn in a friendly game.

2025/26 Away

Yes, I am using this photo mostly as an excuse to include blonde!Porro in this issue, but also to illustrate a point.

This is a great kit for fans in the sense that it will wear very nicely with jeans for a casual day out. The light gray grid design on the otherwise all-black shirt is subtle and timeless.

But it's not the most exciting kit to see on the players on the pitch, in my opinion. The design details, limited as they are to begin with, all but disappear at a distance. It basically just looked like the lads were wearing a plain back shirt with the Nike and AIA logos and the Spurs badge all slapped on in lilywhite. Which is fine! The kitmakers clearly chose wearability over memorability for the away shirt this time around.

I can see more fans than usual being tempted by the elite version to at least retain the textural fabric as a point of interest. But even then, that's detail you won't notice unless you're seeing the shirt up close.

My grade: B-

One day, there will be a kit launch that has WSL player name kits available as a personalization option from the start, but sadly, this is not that day. It's still not available for the home kit yet, either. You're killing me, Tottenham.

Closing note: It struck me while writing this issue that we're really seeing a massive overhaul of the club at every age level, Men's and Women's, as well as the executive team. It remains to be seen whether all of these changes will bear fruit, but I'm excited and curious to watch it all play out. There's a good vibe of energy around the club at the moment. It shouldn't be a boring season, if nothing else.

COYS

Thank you for reading!

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