It could well go down as one of the best public relations exercises of the year. And all it took to garner priceless world-wide headlines was a trip to a soccer game and a spot of lunch afterward.

As head of Toronto's Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, CEO Richard Peddie comes in for all kinds of flak for the 41-year title drought his Toronto Maple Leafs have endured. The Leafs have long been one of North America's prime sports properties, a licence to print money with their fervent fan base and the cornerstone of a sports empire that includes the NBA's Toronto Raptors, the Toronto Rock of the National Lacrosse League and the 19,000+ capacity Air Canada Centre, where all three teams play out of.

They also are enjoying the wildly successful exploits of their newest franchise, Toronto FC, quickly becoming Major League Soccer's model franchise. Now in their second season, the team has played to sold out crowds since Day One at 20,000-seat BMO Field. The adoring hordes of singing, chanting, flag-waving fans are reminiscent of Europe or South America's most passionate supporters. 

And all this accomplished with a TFC club that won but six of it's 30 games in 2007. The potential for greater success with a better team and an expanded stadium is massive.

So it's understandable that Peddie and MLSE associate exec Ian Clarke would find themselves in England not long ago attending an annual British soccer industry trade show. The two were there to attend seminars, rub elbows and, as Peddie succinctly put it, "raise our soccer IQ." Naturally, with England's Premier League season still underway, the opportunity to visit a number of English clubs presented itself and the two made the rounds seeing life at the top of the soccer food chain for themselves.

With foreign ownership becoming a steady, even controversial, trend among top English clubs, somone obviously drew a conclusion from their visit to venture that they were in London to present a takeover bid and the resulting short works fiction set off further rounds of speculation and, finally, denial.

As Peddie told Canadian newspaper, The National Post: " I attended a game at White Hart Lane. I took the train, went to a game, watched Tottenham tie and had lunch there. That was the full extent."

No cocktails and ####-chat with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy? "I have never met the individual," said Peddie. 'Never contemplated an offer. Complete fiction."

The first report of Peddie's visit to England came out almost a week ago. It was a fairly balanced look at his trip and explained to readers unaware of the nuances of English soccer who were the hot commodities in the marketplace and who were the bargains.

But Spurs are a favorite target for certain British tabloid newspapers. The 11th richest team in the world and frequent underachievers, they've long been rumoured to be candidates for a takover bid. They've also never gone out of their way to curry favour with a British media they often felt let them down in earlier decades when Spurs fans were the subject of ant-Semitic taunts.

They banned writers from the London Evening Standard earlier this season for constantly writing speculative articles that did little more than stir up fan anxiety. The Standard's sister paper, The Daily Mail, was quick to fan the flames of speculation, implying that bargaining had already begun between the two sides.

For Spurs, the whole affair is business as usual. They're enjoying plenty of good publicity this week after the signing of coveted Croatian prospect, Luka Modric, a 22-year-old midfielder being sought by a number of top clubs.

For Toronto FC, the whole affair amounted to a public relations bonanza. A lot of mention was made of the club, at a time when the team is enjoying its first three-game winning streak and playing attractively. It's a good time to let the international spotlight flash briefly on the club.

If Richard Peddie was caught unaware by the mounting media speculation of his visit to London, he at least had the good sense to let the scenario linger on a little and wait until the week was over before issuing any denials.