There’s some interesting and potentially good news in the Daily Mail today for Newcastle fans, and we hope it is true, but you can never be sure, of course.
Anil Ambani – may buy Newcastle himself
The Mail reports that Anil Ambani is expected to go ahead with his interest of buying Newcastle United from current unpopular owner Mike Ashley, although the reports suggest the Indian billionaire may move to buy Newcastle himself, rather than through his telecommunications business company, Reliance Communications.
Mike Ashley has put around £230M into Newcastle since he bought the club last summer, and it is thought he would be willing to sell for anywhere north of around £260M.
Ambani, who is just 49 years old, is thought to be the sixth richest man in the world at present with a net worth of about £24B.
It would be good if these rumors are true, and certainly they don’t seem to be going away, with nobody coming out and denying them specifically, and there was news earlier this morning there will be a meeting with his people and Ashley in London, sometime this week.
We just have to hope these rumors are indeed true, and provide a way out of this nightmare for the faithful fans of the Tyneside club.
But then again the Daily Mail doesn’t have a great track record – but perhaps they’re right on this one – we hope so.
Comments welcome.
462 comments so far
Fans Should Own the Club
Sep 10, 2008 at 3:23 AM
Comment #361Jimi–I wrote them and suggested that they add a section for blogging/news on ownership where people can add comments/discussion (I was thinking of this site when I sent the e-mail because I’ve seen how successful comments from readers is here ). They wrote back this:
We really appreciate your feedback and input. We think those are excellent suggestions, and are currently working on develpoing our website to included something similar to what you have proposed.
If you would be interested in supporting our project in any way please let us know.
Sincerely,
The SaveNewcastle Team
Jimi
Sep 10, 2008 at 3:33 AM
Comment #362@ Fans Should Own the Club
That’s a good idea. Hopefully with some debate on the subject from people fighting from the same corner the idea might be able to progress somewhat. I really hope so. I’ll keep monitering the site.
Just a thought on the financial side, that the club isn’t actually losing money it’s actually made some this year I think. So imagine taking away the owner, and the other directors in place of a non-profit fan based organisation.
Fans Should Own the Club
Sep 10, 2008 at 3:39 AM
Comment #363Jimi–I think the more conversation & discussion the better for the time being.
It’s early days for this organization & the effort itself, so they’ll need to do a lot of “public relations,” or “educational outreach” to answer the questions and allay the fears and concerns that will inevitably come up.
If they can do that, they’ve got a better shot.
And, again, I think it’s our best shot at finally creating a great club…
Right. Off to bed for me. Good night to all.
“Carthage must be destroyed.” And… FANS SHOULD OWN THE CLUB!
Taiwantoon
Sep 10, 2008 at 3:42 AM
Comment #364craig chisholm,
nice comments. The current board is too arrogant to own a ppl’s club.
Sanket Kambli
Sep 10, 2008 at 5:11 AM
Comment #365hi…you all…
read in that
representatives of ADAG(Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group) have denied making any buying plans for any english club including NUFC… but they did say that…
so.. ..
keeeguuurn
Sep 10, 2008 at 5:55 AM
Comment #366@ Fans Should Own the Club —-
I would love for this to happen but…
The risk involved to the economy of the north east is profound, if things go bad.
To make it possible to lower the price/worth would mean a total boycott and canceling/not renewing next seasons tickets that would continue even if he sold to other buyers (therefore they wouldn’t buy)
This would mean MA would sell off etc. to cover costs and seriously damage the club as it is and possibly mean relegation.
Once the cost was reduced dramatically we could then afford to take over and REBUILD as our club and reinvesting revenue.
I can’t see the fans allowing this to happen though… even if they see the long-term benefit.
Also if he declared bankruptcy would we have the funds readily available to step in and save it?
However, I have no knowledge of big business and am probably spouting total Sh-aye-t 🙂
keeeguuurn
Sep 10, 2008 at 6:02 AM
Comment #367@ Jimi —
I believe barcelona was this way from its beginnings. A sport club close to the community, as were many South American teams. There was no astronomical price tag attached to it by someone wanting to make a lot of money.
But I still think there will be a way.
Mark
Sep 10, 2008 at 6:03 AM
Comment #368reinvest revenue…we lost 33million pounds last financial year..
fan ownership wont work with a club of our size..
Mark
Sep 10, 2008 at 6:05 AM
Comment #369..and nature forgot that bit
Taiwantoon
Sep 10, 2008 at 7:55 AM
Comment #370Mark,
I am not against or pro fan ownership. But what makes you think club of our size is not suited for it? Barca and Real are certainly bigger than we are, but I am sure there is smaller club that is owned by fans.
Just curious how you figure it out.
TB
Sep 10, 2008 at 8:00 AM
Comment #371I think its time to move on and discuss the footy that will be played.
If a takeover happens, we will discuss it then. But whats the point arguing about what the media writes? Didn’t we learn from the transfer window that they are NEVER right?
Out of this whole situation my opinion is that:
Ashley and Co have had a very good window. I think we got the best talent in comparison to how much it cost. We also made a great sell in Milner for a ton of money.
I also don’t think Ashley wanted to get rid of Keegan, Keegan got fed up with the lack of power he had and bailed.
My only complaints have been not resigning owen, not going after Michael Bradley and swooping him from Germany, and the lack of communication with the fans.
I want a manager that will work with the board to find the best players for our toon. I don’t like the idea of Keegan having the say on the in’s and out’s. Managers have too much of an emotional attachment with their players, as well as not enough time to know about all the talent across the world.
Maybe I’m just used to this system, because here in the US, all teams from every sport have general managers that decide who comes and goes, and the coach just coaches. Sure, the coaches have good relations with the GM’s though, so they have a say in whats going on as well.
anyways, for the hull game:
Given
Beye Coloccini Bassong Enrique
Jonas Guthrie Butt NZogbia
Nacho
Owen
does bartons suspension start with this game? because him for butt if available.
and id like to see Duff and Xisco get in around the 75 mark.
hammy
Sep 10, 2008 at 8:04 AM
Comment #372Most Premiership clubs run at a loss, how often have you heard people say, yeah give Owen £120k a week and give Taylor and Le Zog more money…….yeah easy…..when it’s somebody else’s money you’re paying them with……..I very much doubt we could raise £250k never mind £250m…….unfortunately Ashley holds all the aces.
mitch
Sep 10, 2008 at 8:05 AM
Comment #373fan ownership can work. there is money off television merchandise season tickets and all other manner of making money if we try and fail then so what but if we try and win OH MY GOD THERE IS A HEAVEN
Hadrian
Sep 10, 2008 at 8:08 AM
Comment #374Mark
im not sure where you get your figures from , but the club took out 6million pounds profit last financial year .
mitch
Sep 10, 2008 at 8:08 AM
Comment #375taiwantoon the smaller club you are thinking of is stockport county
mitch
Sep 10, 2008 at 8:11 AM
Comment #376Hadrian on top of all the fat saleries and I dont mean players and playing staff I know I would spend alot more money at our club if it were fan owned
Hadrian
Sep 10, 2008 at 8:13 AM
Comment #377Mitch .
since that time the club has reduced wages and all other methods of cost cutting , we have also spent next to nothing in the tranfer market , that profit will have increased alot .
i reckon mike make the most cash from a club this year in the premier league .
if the club was fan owned (lovely idea , lot of work getting it off the ground)
theres loads of cash to play with .
mitch
Sep 10, 2008 at 8:17 AM
Comment #378and yet more people business backing the cause we will get this twat out fan ownership the way ahead
mitch
Sep 10, 2008 at 8:19 AM
Comment #379sorry the link http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2008/09/10/newcastle-face-financial-meltdown-if-business-join-boycott-115875-20731037/
Hadrian
Sep 10, 2008 at 8:19 AM
Comment #380if all those businesses got together and put in the sponsorship money they would normally spend, we’d be off to a great start .
Mark
Sep 10, 2008 at 8:20 AM
Comment #381we argue like hell over almost every little thing…look at this comment section for proof lol..and theres many people..many people who would want to be a member and buy shares.. newcastle fans are different to barca and real fans.. just imagine all the people on this board trying to get along and have a shared direction on how the club runs
Hadrian maybe Im thinking about 06/07 year? coz that was when we were still a plc
mitch
Sep 10, 2008 at 8:24 AM
Comment #382Hadrian I agree alot of work but there are enough buisness men in newcastle who love newcastle to really get this moving I know they were talking about 200 a share or vote I have three people in my house I would be more than happy to support this also there are alot of people around the world who although not in newcastle would still love to have a say in how it is run a voting democratic club the size of newcastle united brilliant
mitch
Sep 10, 2008 at 8:27 AM
Comment #383I think buiseness would love to be apart of it I honestly think why Ashley could not get any investers from newcastle is they do not trust him the brand newcastle united is massive and once we got started there would be no stopping us
Hadrian
Sep 10, 2008 at 8:30 AM
Comment #384now all it would take is a smart man to front the bid and get it rolling , lemme know when we find one 🙂 ive got cash for my beloved club to play with , not for mikes bank account tho .
Graham
Sep 10, 2008 at 8:36 AM
Comment #385The thought of fans owning the club is nice lets face it. But I seriously doubt it would ever come good.
Yes, we could probably raise a decent amount of money through local businessmen and individuals. But is this going to be enough? What happens if we aren’t a success – it will be bloody tough going early on – thats when most business fail and you can’t pay wages with passion.
If the worst was to happen the local economy would be seriously affected (as said by someone earlier). Imagine all those local businesses loosing money at the same time.
Given the current financial climate I see this as a non starter – a nice thought but it won’t happen.
We are better off concentrating our efforts on boycotting the Ashley empire. Season ticket holders go to the match, but non season ticket holders – do not pay a penny for a ticket. No merchandise, bovril, pies, shirts or and probably more importantly, nothing from his dirty cheap sports stores.
Macas
Sep 10, 2008 at 8:50 AM
Comment #386Toon Chicken – comment 178 – we were no better off under Keegan than Allardyce?? I think you’ve lost the plot, the football was ten times better under Keegan, and once he rid the team of the long ball mentality and actually got us playing football we showed a vast improvement. But then again there seems to be a campaign on here to belittle Keegan and talk up Ashley for some bizarre reason.
Macas
Sep 10, 2008 at 8:52 AM
Comment #387TB – are you out of your mind? We had a very good transfer window? So what happens when we pick up a few injuries then? And selling Milner was an absolute disaster considering we didnt purchase a replacement. Some of the players we got in are looking good, but we are dreadfully short on numbers.
Toon Chicken
Sep 10, 2008 at 8:59 AM
Comment #388Macas – if you take my comment out of context then I can understand it may sound a little crazy. However if you read back a bit you’ll understand it was in response to some rather ludicrous comments that the Messiah performed some kind of miracle on his second coming.
My point was that although both had only a short while at the club to make an impression, it was actually BSA that had a significantly better win percentage and therefore by using those facts we would have probably finished with the same or better points had BSA still been in charge.
My comments had nothing to do with the quality of football, although again, spare the odd anomaly against Spuds and possibly Reading I didn’t think any of Keegan’s teams played any better than say the performance on the opening day of the season against Bolton.
You cannot argue with the facts and they say that under Keegan we were dragged further into trouble and if anyone ‘saved’ us it was Michael Owen.
Graham
Sep 10, 2008 at 9:02 AM
Comment #389I know there’s still a few days to go but this is how many tickets are available for the Hull game.
And this doesn’t include the season ticket holders who will stay away….
http://www.nufc.talent-sport.co.uk/PagesPublic/ProductBrowse/standAndAreaSelection.aspx?stadium=NS&product=HCH09L&campaign=%20%20&type=H
I reckon there could be as little as 35000 there on saturday
jay b
Sep 10, 2008 at 9:08 AM
Comment #390bring back chris mort!
Bye Bye Ashley
Sep 10, 2008 at 9:09 AM
Comment #391@ Toon Chicken,
Your one of those who never has a good word to say about KK or for that matter the club itself.
That would be ok i suppose if you occasionally had something valid or revivant to say.
But unfortunately, as your last comments clearly show, your either not a NUFC supporter, or your extremley stupid?
Your comments & attitude betray you as either a wind-up merchant or someone who supports another team, or more likely, just a complete & utter fool.
Begone with you, aint it time for school for you now anyway?
dick
Sep 10, 2008 at 9:16 AM
Comment #392about season tickets does anyone know how many have been sold this year and how many are still availible to buy, dont suppose NUFC have anounced anything
Born Again Geordie
Sep 10, 2008 at 9:20 AM
Comment #393@ mitch 376 – good link that – the tabloids seem to be working for us for a change – this is the sort of press coverage we the fans need !!! 🙂
Rasko a.k.a Hadji
Sep 10, 2008 at 9:24 AM
Comment #394Bye bye Ashley…..What gives you the right to call TC stupid or that he’s not NUFC supporter.
He has his own views like everyone’s else,just because he thinks that we would do just fine without KK that doesnt make him stupid.
Graham
Sep 10, 2008 at 9:24 AM
Comment #395Dick – they haven’t announce that Terry Mac & Adam Sadler have gone so I would doubt it
carl
Sep 10, 2008 at 9:39 AM
Comment #396http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2008/09/10/newcastle-face-financial-meltdown-as-businesses-boycott-crisis-club-115875-20731037/
looks like ashleys pocket is starting to be hit
Phil
Sep 10, 2008 at 9:43 AM
Comment #397toon chicken – did you watch the games last season?
we played shit it the first game against bolton and just got a bit lucky. the scoreline flattered us.
keegan did turn things around, it just took him a while – but that could be because he inherited a bunch of players with no confidence.
it isn’t only keegan’s ability to manage that is so important, it is his influence on the whole club/whole region.
i don’t really want this indian guy to buy us, but i don’t want ashley to stay. i certainly don’t want this indian guy to take over AND let ashley piss off with a nice profit. so i don’t know what to wish for
Macas
Sep 10, 2008 at 9:46 AM
Comment #398Toon Chicken – Statistics can be a a useful guide, but do not always show the true picture. The first half of the season we had an extremely easy fixture list, and I for one am sure we would have been relegated if Allardyce had not been sacked. To judge Keegan statistically on a very tough run of games, in which he did extremely well to turn things around, isn’t really fair.
Toon Chicken
Sep 10, 2008 at 9:46 AM
Comment #399Bye Bye Ashley
First of all I was commenting on Kevin Keegan (your messiah) on a NUFC blog – surely I couldn’t be anymore “revivant” if I tried?
Secondly, I am an NUFC fan and have been all my life and, funnily enough, some of my first Toon memories are of watching Kevin Keegan do off in his fancy helicopter.
Thirdly, I do have plenty of good things to say about the club because, unlike you, I don’t think that Ashley is the devil incarnate, and I do think there is a solid system in place that suggests we can do perfectly well without Keegan and his pram full of toys thank you very much.
And finally, just to counter all your jolly witticisms such as “fool”, “stupid” and “time for school”, I actually finished school quite a while back now. In fact I graduated from University with a First Class Honors degree and now run my own business. But thanks for asking.
Enjoy your day. 🙂
ronaldeano
Sep 10, 2008 at 9:46 AM
Comment #400@phil, why would you not want Ambani to take over?