It has been five years since the takeover of Newcastle United led by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund was completed.
Five years ago, Amanda Staveley sat down with The Shields Gazette to discuss the takeover of Newcastle United.
After years of trying to push the £305million takeover through, Staveley and her team finally delivered something that would change Newcastle forever.
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At the time, the Magpies sat firmly in the Premier League relegation zone without a win. There were immediate problems that needed addressing as well as long-term issues carried over from 14 years of stagnation under Mike Ashley.
Newcastle were taken over by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund in October and Magpies co-owner Amanda Staveley said last week she was “really sad” that Abramovich had been effectively stripped of ownership.placeholder image
Newcastle were taken over by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund in October and Magpies co-owner Amanda Staveley said last week she was “really sad” that Abramovich had been effectively stripped of ownership.
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An immediate challenge
The takeover, led by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund but brokered by Staveley, restored hope and ambition to Tyneside despite things looking bleak on the pitch.
When asked about the new ownership’s immediate plans following the takeover back in 2021, Staveley told the Gazette: “At the moment what we can say is that we’re very aware we’re sitting in the relegation zone, and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure the football club gets out of that position.
"We’ll make the decisions that need to be made, but we’re going to do a full review of all the club, not just on the footballing side, but the commercial side [too], and once we’ve done that, we’ll come back to everybody.”
The first major decision made by the new owners following the takeover was to replace head coach Steve Bruce with Eddie Howe.
"We really need to assess what we have, what we need, and how we’re going to build this, and how we’re going to build the club up,” Staveley added. “We’ve got to get investment into the Academy, investment into the training ground, into players.
"We’ve got an incredible group of players, but they need nurturing. It’s not just about investment into managers and individual players, it’s about looking at a plan that works together… that will get us to the top of the Premier League.
“We appreciate the gem we’re custodians of, and we’ll make sure that every single part of this club is dusted down, and we’ll invest in all levels. We’ve got to. It’s critical. It can’t happen without that.
"Please, rest assured we understand we’ve got a big job to do, and we’re not scared of rolling up our sleeves and getting on with it quickly. But, sometimes, we don’t want to make hasty decisions when we don’t know where we are today and what we have.
"We don’t want to make knee-jerk decisions, but we know we’ll be investing very heavily over the next few years.”
Newcastle United’s turnaround
Heavy investment quickly followed in the January transfer window with the signings of Bruno Guimaraes, Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn, Chris Wood and Matt Targett. Those additions, along with the appointment of Howe, proved crucial in Newcastle avoiding relegation from the Premier League.
It also gave the club a springboard to further invest in the summer with the additions of Sven Botman, Alexander Isak and Nick Pope, which ultimately led to a fourth-place finish, a Carabao Cup final and Champions League qualification. Behind the scenes, investment continued into the club’s academy and infrastructure.
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“It's not just about growth on the football pitch,” Staveley explained back in 2021. “It’s about growth on the Academy side and the infrastructure in the city. We’ve partnered with Jamie Reuben. We’ve worked with the Reuben family for over 10 years.
"One of the attractions, and one of the opportunities I had with PIF, is that they understand the bigger picture. They understand that sporting success comes with wider investment in the whole community.
"This club is at the heart of the community, and we’ve got to make sure we invest in all of the community at every level.”
Staveley’s words felt genuine at the time and were ultimately realised in the years that followed.
“We’re not short of ambition, I can tell you that,” she insisted. “We know that we’re not going to get to where we want to today or next year, but we will get there. It takes time.
“It’s a long-term project. We’re patient investors. This is a very long-term partnership with the club and the fans. So we can’t just come in and do this overnight. It’s going to take some time.”
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What next for NUFC?
Ultimately, Newcastle progressed on the pitch quicker than expected and were playing Champions League football within two years of the takeover. But the club’s progress hasn’t always been in a straight line.
Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi left the club shortly after it failed to qualify for Europe and was forced to sell Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh in order to comply with the Premier League’s financial rules. Despite that, they left the club in a far better place than when the takeover was completed.
While they didn’t know it at the time, the foundations were already in place for the club to deliver its most successful season in the modern era. Champions League football returned once again, but that paled in comparison to the club finally ending a 70-year domestic trophy drought by winning the Carabao Cup at Wembley Stadium.
After the Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester United in 2023, Staveley defiantly claimed Newcastle would win the trophy, along with the Premier League title, in the coming years.
In that sense, the takeover has delivered, and Staveley’s vision has at least been partially realised. Success returned to Newcastle United at long last; the big question now is how to sustain it.