Tottenham Hotspur has destroyed £13.5 million sterling of shareholder value in the past two years because of poor player purchases, according to a report on the publicly-quoted football club's recent transfer spending. The report by UBS, the investment bank, says that substantial actual and potential shareholder value has been lost because Tottenham has bought too many older players at inflated prices since June 1995. The UBS reportreflects City concern about heavy spending by football clubs.

Since June 1995, Tottenham has spent £30.5 million on players yet has failed to win a trophy or qualify for European competition.

The players identified as particularly bad buys include the England striker Les Ferdinand (£6 million), winger Ruel Fox (£4.4 million) and defender John Scales (£2.6 million)

In each case, says Mr Guy Feld, the UBS analyst who wrote the report, the players were bought at prices "considerably above their value to Tottenham Hotspur". He notes Fox and Scales have missed many games, both Ferdinand and Scales are currently injured, and all three are near the end of their playing careers.

Mr John Sedgwick, Spurs' finance director, yesterday said the report was unfair and based on too small a sample of players. He said the club believed it could get £6 million for Ferdinand if it sold him tomorrow, and not the £2.6 million estimated in the report.