Former Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy has been awarded a CBE in the United Kingdom’s New Year Honours list.

Levy, who ran Tottenham from 2001 until his departure in September this year, has been given the honour for “services to charity and the community in Tottenham”. Levy said in a statement that he was “humbled” to receive the CBE and praised the “extraordinary efforts” of the people he worked with “to make a genuine difference in north London”.

The CBE stands for Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and is bestowed on individuals to recognise their contributions to public life in the UK. The CBE is a higher rank than OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) and MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire), and is the most prestigious civilian honour, short of a full knighthood or damehood.

Levy’s honour is primarily a recognition of the work that was done during his Tottenham tenure for the local community. The club set up the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation — their official charitable body — in 2006, which has led their community outreach work over the past 20 years. And in April 2019 they opened the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which has now been their home for almost seven years, as well as hosting NFL, major concerts and boxing, bringing jobs and economic activity to the area.

(English Heritage/Getty Images)

When Levy issued a statement on his recognition, he thanked everyone he had worked with towards trying to transform the local area. “The positive change we were able to achieve would not have been possible without the passion, dedication and hard work of so many people at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, together with our community partners, who shared a belief in the power of sport to transform lives,” his statement said.

“Tottenham Hotspur has always been more than a football club to me. It is part of the fabric of the local community, and I am immensely proud of the role we have played in helping to regenerate the area through our initiatives in education, employment, health and social inclusion. While our stadium development and on-pitch results often took the headlines, I hope that my legacy will be the positive and lasting impact we have made on the lives of people in Tottenham and beyond. Football clubs have a unique role to play in their local community and at Tottenham Hotspur we always took this responsibility very seriously.”

The news was met with tributes to Levy’s work by people who had worked with him. Tracey Crouch was a government minister for sport from 2015 to 2018 and is a lifelong Spurs fan. “He may have been much maligned by many but he deserves his honour for the way in which, over a number of years, he realised his vision, working hard to transform the club, building the new stadium and significantly improving the local area,” Crouch told The Athletic.

Tottenham’s work in the local community has also included being the business sponsor of London Academy of Excellence Tottenham (LAET), an academically selective sixth form that prioritises local students. In 2025, more than two thirds of LAET students earned places at Russell Group universities, with 24 earning places at Oxford and Cambridge universities.