A shell of a club, trudging season by season, existing simply to avoid relegation and line the pockets of its owner.
Newcastle United was a club on its way to the inevitable failure that had faced it for years, seemingly following the path its greatest rivals Sunderland. The morale of the club was starting to become that of the city as a whole. A gloomy cloud ready to release.
Then, on the 7th of October 2021, after years of failed attempts and lawsuits, the cloud passed and the hope was once again restored to the city. The Saudi Arabian backed consortium, fronted by Amanda Staveley, gained full control of Newcastle, leading to an eruption of celebration outside St James’ Park.
Structure of the consortium
Bought for a free of £305 million, the club is split three ways, 10% to Amanda Staveley, 10% to Reuben Brothers, and 80% to the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) and is led by Yasir Al-Rumayyan who has the role of non-executive chairman of the club, despite it seemingly being publicly fronted by Staveley.
Thought to be worth around £320 billion, the PIF’s acquisition of Newcastle makes the club the richest in the world, 10 times more than the wealth of Manchester City’s owners, and six times more than every premier league club wealth combined.
Former United player, current member of the Newcastle United Supporters Trust and part of Kevin Keegan’s ‘Entertainers’ Warren Barton spoke on what he believes the owners can do, on and off the pitch, as well as highlighting the issues raised about human rights.
Smug on they Tyne...(finally)
Like many Toon fans, Barton is daring to dream, and spoke for the thousands of fans in what the new owners can do for not only the club, but the whole city of Newcastle.
“Their idea and their vision is to go back to challenging… going toe to toe with some of the biggest clubs in the country.
“They’ve shown it straight away, nearly £40 million is going to be invested into the club and the area, more than the other owner did in two or three transfer windows.
“What they’ve been able to do is match the money that is going into the food banks, they’re investing money into that, and it’s had that feel good factor”, he says.
Despite now living in America, Barton lived in Newcastle for the seven years he played for the club and knows what this means to the fans.
“The football club is the heart of the city, and the heart of the city is the fans. If you can buy into that and accept that it will generate the positivity into the area”.
The fans just want a team that will compete as they work Monday to Friday, they want their team at the weekend to compete and work as hard as they do.
“Two weeks before the spurs game we couldn’t give away tickets, but once the news broke of the takeover it was sold out
“Geordies make the best out of a bad situation, and even when it was bad under Ashley they were singing songs just to give themselves a lift” he explained.
Ethical and human rights debate
As the takeover saga developed, one of the main debates surrounding it was Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.
However, the club, and consortium, managed to pass the Premier League’s rigorous ‘Owners and Directors test’, with the main issue being the consortium having to show they could separate the Saudi state from the consortium.
“This ownership group worked hard to ensure they ticked all the boxes to ensure they were able to go into it.
“In (Eddie Howe’s) greatest moment, he had to answer the question. He didn’t shy away from it and give a no comment, he just said at the time this is not the place for the conversation.
“It seems like there is a witch hunt for Amanda, and all she has done is come across as being a decent human being… and that’s wrong and disgusting”, he added.
Some have also questioned Newcastle fans in their support of the takeover, as they feel as if they are ignoring their human rights in welcoming them to the club.
“All I know about Newcastle fans, and the people in that area is that they’re good people… if we feel like a line has been crossed, we’d hold our hands up and say we don’t agree with that.
“We are sensitive enough and understanding enough that if we felt like there was something wrong then we would have said it”.
For those that dare to dream…
For many fans of the club, the takeover has shone a beacon of light down on the city and the club and has allowed people to dare to dream once again.
“People will want to be a part of this project because they can see it will be exciting.
“In fantasy land, someone you’re looking at someone like a Haaland.
“Realistically, someone like Sterling, Chilwell, Jesse Lingard, that type of player that understands the Premier League and know what Newcastle is about”.
With Newcastle in relegation trouble, the consortium will have to show off their spending power in January, in the first window of their long-term Toon tycoon.
For the full interview click the link here: Warren Barton interview