Thank you Mr Levy

Talking Tottenham, wine and toilets – an hour in the company of Daniel Levy
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Daniel Levy gave a rare hour of his time to journalists ahead of the opening of Tottenham's new stadium.

It was clear from spending a rare hour in the company of Daniel Levy that two things, other than Tottenham Hotspur, matter to him – toilets and wine.

Levy’s opinion is very much that a venue can be judged on both, so, naturally, the chairman’s new £1billion Spurs stadium needed the best environments for supporters to drink and then relieve themselves.

Proudly clicking his way through a series of slides to show off Tottenham’s new home, which opens on Wednesday night, Levy paused at one that could easily have been the interior of a toilet at a high-end hotel and said: “The toilets are a good indicator of how people can expect the stadium to be finished.

“If you go to a restaurant and the toilets are dirty, then it’s not a good sign. We’ve had a lot of good feedback on our toilets so far."

All of a sudden it became clear why this particular correspondent had received such an angry email for poking fun at Levy for taking such an interest in the toilets during one of the many delays.

Other than the toilets, Levy clearly takes his wine seriously. He revealed that his favourite room in the stadium, which stretches over 1.3million square feet, is The Vault in which guests are served by a sommelier and advised on the different bottles available “in case the result does not go the right way."

Levy had not invited the written press to speak to him for the best part of a decade, believing his words had previously been misinterpreted and used against him.

It had been so long that Tottenham’s press department could not even remember the exact reason for his annoyance, but Levy was relaxed on this rare appearance, greeting each individual with a handshake and hanging around at the end of his presentation for some small-talk.

Asked if he will be brave enough to have a go at the sky-walk around the top of the stadium that finishes with an abseil back down to ground level, Levy replied that he and manager Mauricio Pochettino have made a pact to be the first men to take it on once it opens.

Levy even popped into the impressive media lounge for a quick bite of breakfast before completing a full morning of media duties.

Levy and Mauricio Pochettino have made a pact to do the sky-walk around the top of the stadium once it opens.

Christopher Lee, the managing director of Populous and the Architect of the stadium, described Levy as being one of his most demanding clients but also one of his best because of the 57-year-old’s drive and enthusiasm.

Whether the construction workers who knew they were under surveillance 24/7 feel quite the same way is less certain, as Levy said: “We had cameras on our website so we were able on the iPad to zoom in and take a snap and say ‘why isn't that working, why isn't that done?’

“We trained all the staff, so every time we saw something we weren't happy with there would be an email going round. Me and a lot of people, we were really trying to push the envelope and then everyone else joined in. That is why we had long snagging list."

Levy was surprised to be told by one reporter that his name had been chanted during one of the test events and clearly worried more about getting the stadium just right than public opinion.

“I have a very thick skin, so I ignore all the criticism, partly because sometimes when you're on the inside, maybe you know the other side," said Levy. “I'm always there to protect the club. I would say that the last 18 years, this club has definitely gone forward and clearly like any business, any club, you have your ups and downs but I think we've created the infrastructure here to become one of the biggest clubs in the world."