Australian Scott Munn has been appointed as Tottenham Hotspur’s new chief football officer.Credit:Getty
It is an enormous opportunity for Munn,who has been the City Football Group’s chief executive officer in China for the past four years after leaving his post with Melbourne City,where he had been working since the club was founded as Melbourne Heart in 2009 and later rebranded following the CFG buyout.
Munn will have to navigate a tempestuous environment in north London,where Spurs are fifth on the Premier League table,looking unlikely to qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League,and without a full-time manager after the sacking of Antonio Conte,who last month became the 11th head coach hired and fired during Levy’s dicey two-decade tenure as chairman.
Conte launched into his players after they gave up a two-goal lead in a 3-3 draw with Southampton on March 19,calling them “selfish” and heartless. He also criticised the club’s culture and appeared to suggest that Levy,who has a long-held reputation for becoming too involved with day-to-day football to the frustration of previous managers and sporting directors,was a big part of the problem.
Spurs said in a statement that the appointment of Munn,who will join the club’s board and take charge of all footballing departments,comes amid an “ongoing review over the past six months of all of our footballing activities”.
“Scott has a unique and broad experience of running sporting organisations at the highest level and will take responsibility for the leadership and management of our football activities to instil best practice both on and off the pitch,” Levy said.
Few Aussie executives have scaled such heights in the European club game as Munn,who began his sports management career with the organising committee for the Sydney 2000 Olympics and then joined the NRL in a commercial role.