Friday’s briefing: Levy leaves Tottenham and Wales and Northern Ireland win

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The Independent

·5 September 2025

Friday’s briefing: Levy leaves Tottenham and Wales and Northern Ireland win

Tottenham announced Daniel Levy had stepped down from his role as chairman after almost 25 years at the helm.

Wales maintained their momentum in World Cup qualifying with a hard-fought 1-0 victory away to Kazakhstan, while Northern Ireland ran out 3-1 winners in Luxembourg.

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Elsewhere, Germany slumped to a first away World Cup qualifying defeat as Slovakia opened their Group A campaign with a shock 2-0 win in Bratislava.

Daniel Levy calls time on Spurs stay

Daniel Levy ended almost 25 years as Tottenham chairman when the club announced he had stepped down from his role with immediate effect.Tottenham said that there would be “no changes to the ownership or shareholder structure of the club,” with board member Peter Charrington, who is a director of Spurs’ owners ENIC, taking on the newly created role of non-executive chairman.

Levy had been instrumental in bringing in new Spurs head coach Thomas Frank, following the departure of Ange Postecoglou despite the club’s success in the Europa League last season after finishing 17th in the Premier League on the back of a club-record 22 defeats.

There were, though, growing frustrations within some of the Spurs fanbase over a perceived lack of progress under Levy’s long tenure, after a string of managers had come and gone without being able to deliver silverware.

“I am incredibly proud of the work I have done together with the executive team and all our employees,” Levy said.

“We have built this club into a global heavyweight competing at the highest level, more than that, we have built a community.

“I wish to thank all the fans that have supported me over the years. It hasn’t always been an easy journey but significant progress has been made. I will continue to support this club passionately.”

Kieffer Moore puts Wales top

Wales went top of World Cup qualifying Group J with a hard-fought 1-0 win away to Kazakhstan on an artificial pitch in Astana.

Kieffer Moore marked the occasion of his 50th cap with a 24th-minute strike from close range, which saw him draw him level with the great John Charles on 15 international goals.

Kazakhstan, though, caused plenty of problems and their energetic second-half performance – when they hit the crossbar twice – merited a point.

“It was hard work, you could see that we knew it beforehand,” manager Craig Bellamy told BBC Wales. “But we’ll be better for this. We are a better team than what we showed consistently.”

Injury-hit Northern Ireland come good

Justin Devenny and Shea Charles scored their first international goals as Northern Ireland opened their World Cup Group A qualifying campaign with a 3-1 win in Luxembourg.

Jamie Reid gave Michael O’Neill’s injury-hit side an early lead when he slotted in after Isaac Price’s penalty had been saved, but Augsburg winger Aiman Dardari equalised on the half-hour.

Southampton midfielder Charles struck straight after the break before Luxembourg defender Seid Korac was sent off for a second caution.

Crystal Palace man Devenny then wrapped things up with 20 minutes left as Northern Ireland secured a first competitive away win since March 2023.

Elsewhere in Thursday night’s action, Germany slumped to a first away World Cup qualifying defeat as they lost 2-0 against Slovakia in Bratislava while European champions Spain coasted to a 3-0 win in Bulgaria.

Andy Robertson – we will all carry loss of Diogo Jota

Andy Robertson believes Liverpool players may never get over the death of team-mate Diogo Jota.The football world was shocked when Jota, 28, and his brother Andre Silva were both killed in a car collision in July.

“It was the most difficult thing we’ll ever go through,” said left-back Robertson, who is preparing for Scotland’s World Cup qualifier in Denmark on Friday.

“Losing one of my closest mates, for me, was hugely difficult.

“It’s something we’ll probably never get over but it’s something we have to carry with us.

“We’ll carry the memories we have from our time with him. And as long as we continue to do that, he’ll always be in our thoughts and he’ll always be in our hearts.”