Why should Boris give Tottenham Spurs Money? This is appalling.

[Ivan O'Pinion]

It is being widely reported that Boris Johnson is considering giving Tottenham money (£8.5m) to rebuild their stadium in Tottenham. This is appalling on many levels.

1. Premier League football clubs are awash with money - it is said that promotion for Blackpool was worth £90m - they have so much money that some of their staff are paid millions of pounds a year

2. Spurs were anyway on the point of rebuilding their ground to increase its capacity in order to make even more money

3. The incentive arises out of a cock up by Newham which has offered illegal state aid to West Ham - why are local authorities so inept? Some of their employees are paid a lot more than the Prime Minister - I wish I were so richly rewarded for fouling things up.

4. Spurs often publicises the good work it does in the community - revamping their stadium somewhere near White HArt Lane so soon after the disturbances could surely be achieved by negotiation for the good of both the club and the district - expensive lawyers and public money should not be involved

[CrouchEnd Cupcake]

Is it not that the wider gesture is to be seen helping a deprived area that was ravaged by violence and misery, giving the area a much needed boost?  I do agree that Spurs could well afford to fund this over haul themselves though - the money would be better spent on making the area safer and regenerating in other ways.

[Adrian Essex]

According to this table of Average Annual Salary per association football player the Spurs players could have a whip round, claim some tax relief, have a chat with a clever accountant and raise much more than £8.5m themselves, and probably make a profit on the donation. 

Rank - Team - League - Average Annual Salary Per Player (£)
1 Barcelona La Liga £4,775,894
2 Real Madrid La Liga £4,441,368
3 Chelsea Premier Lge £3,634,860
4 Inter Milan Serie A £3,622,122
5 Manchester City Premier Lge £3,539,981
6 Bayern Munich Bundesliga £3,489,735
7 AC Milan Serie A £3,409,606
8 Manchester United Premier Lge £3,082,739
9 Liverpool Premier Lge £2,979,884
10 Arsenal Premier Lge £2,872,666
11 Juventus Serie A £2,491,967
12 Aston Villa Premier Lge £2,323,264
13 Schalke 04 Bundesliga £2,128,494
14 AS Roma Serie A £2,042,868
15 Newcastle United Premier Lge £2,034,949
16 Valencia La Liga £1,767,531
17 Portsmouth Premier Lge £1,736,275
18 Werder Bremen Bundesliga £1,694,661
19 Stuttgart Bundesliga £1,609,928
20 Borussia Dortmund Bundesliga £1,599,760
21 Atletico Madrid La Liga £1,563,494
22 West Ham United Premier Lge £1,520,085
23 Sevilla La Liga £1,466,221
24 Hamburg Bundesliga £1,440,462
25 Tottenham Hotspur Premier Lge £1,427,671