{"id":398958,"date":"2025-09-05T03:45:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T03:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/398958\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T03:45:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T03:45:15","slug":"fridays-briefing-levy-leaves-tottenham-and-wales-and-northern-ireland-win-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/398958\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday\u2019s briefing: Levy leaves Tottenham and Wales and Northern Ireland win"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Daniel Levy calls time on Spurs stay
\n\"FormerDaniel Levy was in his role for almost quarter of a century (Mike Egerton\/PA)<\/p>\n

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 \u201cno changes to the ownership or shareholder structure of the club,\u201d with board member Peter Charrington, who is a director of Spurs\u2019 owners ENIC, taking on the newly created role of non-executive chairman.<\/p>\n

Levy had been instrumental in bringing in new Spurs head coach Thomas Frank, following the departure of Ange Postecoglou despite the club\u2019s success in the Europa League last season after finishing 17th in the Premier League on the back of a club-record 22 defeats.<\/p>\n

There were, though, growing frustrations within some of the Spurs fanbase over a perceived lack of progress under Levy\u2019s long tenure, after a string of managers had come and gone without being able to deliver silverware.<\/p>\n

\n

Tottenham Hotspur announces departure of Executive Chairman Daniel Levy.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 4, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI am incredibly proud of the work I have done together with the executive team and all our employees,\u201d Levy said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have built this club into a global heavyweight competing at the highest level, more than that, we have built a community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish to thank all the fans that have supported me over the years. It hasn\u2019t always been an easy journey but significant progress has been made. I will continue to support this club passionately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kieffer Moore puts Wales top<\/p>\n

\n

On his 50th cap! \ud83d\ude24 pic.twitter.com\/9AIyNNTAAM<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Wales \ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc77\udb40\udc6c\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc7f (@Cymru) September 4, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Kazakhstan, though, caused plenty of problems and their energetic second-half performance \u2013 when they hit the crossbar twice \u2013 merited a point.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was hard work, you could see that we knew it beforehand,\u201d manager Craig Bellamy told BBC Wales. \u201cBut we\u2019ll be better for this. We are a better team than what we showed consistently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Injury-hit Northern Ireland come good<\/p>\n

\n

3 points to start the campaign \ud83d\udc9a\ud83e\udd0d #GAWA<\/a> #BuiltOnLegacy<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/vrwj1Avpif<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Northern Ireland (@NorthernIreland) September 4, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Jamie Reid gave Michael O\u2019Neill\u2019s injury-hit side an early lead when he slotted in after Isaac Price\u2019s penalty had been saved, but Augsburg winger Aiman Dardari equalised on the half-hour.<\/p>\n

Southampton midfielder Charles struck straight after the break before Luxembourg defender Seid Korac was sent off for a second caution.<\/p>\n

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

Elsewhere in Thursday night\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Andy Robertson \u2013 we will all carry loss of Diogo Jota
\n\"LiverpoolAndy Robertson (right) feels the Liverpool players will all carry the loss of Diogo Jota with them (PA)<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the most difficult thing we\u2019ll ever go through,\u201d said left-back Robertson, who is preparing for Scotland\u2019s World Cup qualifier in Denmark on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cLosing one of my closest mates, for me, was hugely difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something we\u2019ll probably never get over but it\u2019s something we have to carry with us.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll carry the memories we have from our time with him. And as long as we continue to do that, he\u2019ll always be in our thoughts and he\u2019ll always be in our hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s on today?<\/p>\n

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Ready for the next step \u2013 see you in Copenhagen.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd1c \ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddf0#DENSCO<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/XTM0o775pC<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) September 4, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Scotland take on Denmark in Copenhagen to open their 2026 World Cup Group C qualifying campaign on Friday night.<\/p>\n

Closer to home, the new Women\u2019s Super League season kicks off with champions Chelsea facing Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.<\/p>\n

England boss Thomas Tuchel will hold a pre-match press conference, while the Republic of Ireland prepare to meet Hungary in Dublin on Saturday.<\/p>\n