Thanks, @ zin . So it was money trouble. I wouldn't consider what Scholar did devious, though, as suggested in other posts. Collecting proxies is a totally normal way to take over
I wonder why Wale resigned over the West Stand. The bumbling by the Richardsons makes sense: they weren't ready to turn Spurs into an aggressive moneymaker, and it showed. Arthur had been retired for ages, iirc, and Geoffrey knew no other job than shareholder since his 30s. (If I've got that right… maybe he stayed on to work and was a board member only on weekends)
The book goes on but it's a pain in the ass to scan, it does mention the poor attendances of the time (less than 20k) and the European ban as contributing factors as well to the poor finances of the club.