To be stabbed in the back by your own chairman is unbelievable’ Tottenham Hotspur boss Thomas Frank’s little-known journey to the top revealed
Tottenham Hotspur’s new boss Thomas Frank almost quit football as a youth coach, then left Brondby when his chairman criticised him online under a pseudonym. Now he’s a Champions League manager…
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Thomas Frank, August 2025
Thomas Frank celebrates victory with former club Brentford (Image credit: Getty Images)
FourFourTwo sat down with the people who know Tottenham Hotspur’s new boss Thomas Frank the best.
Sometimes it’s the paths we don’t take. This very thought was beginning to fester in the mind of a young Thomas Frank. In his early 30s and a father of two, Frank was completing a master’s degree in psychology while working as an instructor for the Danish FA. All while holding down a part-time job as youth coordinator of Hvidovre, a second-tier side in the suburbs of Copenhagen.
“Nobody in Denmark was working harder than Thomas at that time,” smiles Teddy Hebo Larsen, the long-term chairman of Hvidovre and lifelong friend of Frank’s
Thomas Frank almost quit coaching whilst still in Denmark
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Thomas Frank was unveiled as Spurs’ new manager earlier this summer (Image credit: Unknown)
“He’d been with us six years, overseeing our talented youth teams. Thomas hadn’t been much of a player, which he freely admits, but he’d arrived at Hvidovre highly recommended by his hometown club Frederiksværk, where he’d coached their youngsters, and it wasn’t difficult to see why.
“He was bright, a brilliant educator and passionate about playing football the right way. He always encouraged possession football, intelligent pressing and, above all, strong communication.”
Frank’s burgeoning reputation had earned him a job offer from professional outfit B.93 – a full-time position as the club’s head of development – though he’d felt compelled to turn it down. “Thomas was considering giving up on football coaching entirely,” recalls Hebo Larsen.
“He and his wife had their family to think about and, as you can imagine, he wasn’t earning a fortune. Even at B.93 he wouldn’t bring home very much, so he said no. But you could see that feeling of ‘what if’ was niggling at him.”
