Manchester City fan kicks off Newcastle United Takeover letters to The Mag

The Newcastle United takeover is of course the big (only?) topic of discussion and a Manchester City fan kicks us off first here with letters / opinions on the subject.

A week ago (30 July 2020), the announcement by the Saudi PIF, Amanda Staveley and the Reuben brothers, was not what the NUFC fanbase were hoping to hear.

We are now two weeks into the summer transfer window and only five weeks away from the 2020/21 season kicking off, yet the only thing on the agenda remains the collapse of the Newcastle United takeover.

Some contributions are sometimes too brief to make up into a full article and so we have gathered up a number of recent comments sent in, relating to the Newcastle United takeover (if you would like to send anything in, long or short, then [email protected] is the place)

Manchester City fan here.

Think you have been stitched up here by the bullies just like we have for many years.

Sad to see whoever at your club agreed to sign the letter and join the Hateful Eight to try and ruin us.

Really hope you can resurrect the deal and come onto our side.

Geoff M

This article was printed in the Metro free paper about three weeks ago.

‘UK arms sales to Saudi are given the all-clear

Britain is set to start selling arms to Saudi Arabia again after ministers ruled UK-made weaponry had not been regularly used in deliberate breaches of international law in the Yemen.

International trade secretary Liz Truss said fresh analysis of alleged violations involving Saudi air strikes had concluded they were ‘isolated incidents’.

The decision was condemned as ‘morally bankrupt’ by the Campaign Against Arms Trade.’

A country with a so-called bad human rights record are allowed to buy arms, but not a football club.

Shackled

I don’t think think the EPL handled it well and I have voted on the petition so I’m backing all the pressure on the EPL, but I now think we need a different strategy. Reviews/investigations rarely change outcomes.

The reality is that the Saudis withdrew their money and I doubt they will change their mind.

They had their reasons and we will probably never know the real reason, but we can speculate and its possible that they felt it wasn’t worth it financially or politically.

We know that the Reuben brothers and Amanda Staveley are still 100% committed so the strategy has to be to find additional partners with deep pockets.

For example Jim Ratcliffe was reported to be interested in buying a football club. The owner of Amazon is a self made multi billionaire and may see opportunities in the North East. There must be others who might be interested in a 10-20% share.

That’s my thought for what its worth.

Peter

Long time reader, thank you for such a great platform.

I use this site instead of the Chroniclelive site for my news.

In light of the potential corruption and malaise shown by the EPL can you please feature and direct the readers to complain to https://email.number10.gov.uk/

Lewis

We will nevva be givv’n a fair crack ov tha whip … wa too far north.

Does everyone not realise tha North ends at Manchester nd Liverpool!

Tha all think wa Scottish anyway so sod them,let’s join Scotland .. at least will giv Celtic a game???

Sammy Lee

(A follow up I sent to my MP, Kate Osborne)

Dear Kate,

Please consider the following in addition to the earlier complaint – raised in my email to you on 2nd August.

I see that NUFC Supporters Trust has asked the Independent Football Ombudsman to help investigate complaints in connection with the Premier League’s handling of the Owners and Directors Test for the proposed NUFC takeover.

In yet another curious twist, the IFO has responded by trying to distance itself – saying that the matter falls outside its remit but that it will ask the Premier League to issue a statement.

The IFO’s principle duty is to determine complaints against our football institutions, including (specifically) the Premier League. Over eighty four thousand people have now signed the Change.Org petition calling for an inquiry into the League’s handling of the takeover.

The IFO makes reference in this case to complex due diligence when the scope of that work appears in reality to be quite narrow and past experience demonstrates that it should take no more than 4 to 6 weeks to complete.

The IFO’s response won’t be good enough if the Premier League fails to respond by explaining what further information it would need in order to approve the takeover or (alternatively) the grounds upon which the takeover should fall.

The IFO should appreciate the wide ranging scope of its TOR. Any lawyer worth their salt wouldn’t need to go far past the Preamble to point that out. The IFO should be seen to be open and proactive when so many people perceive injustice (and with good cause when those handling the O&D Test for the Premier League told the prospective buyers they would just sit them out).

MPs need to bring pressure on the DCSM though it’s links with the IFO and help bring about a full and transparent review, for the good of the game.

I look forward to hearing what you can do to further this important cause.

Regards

Steve Hogg

What would be the situation in the following scenario??

1. NUFC were relegated this [last] season.

2. In spite of relegation, the Saudi Consortium were still interested in purchasing NUFC.

3. Who would be responsible for allowing the Purchase to go through? Not the Premier League, and presumably not subject to opposition from Tottenham, Liverpool, etc.

4. The takeover is approved and NUFC subsequently get promoted to the Premier League.

5. Would the Premier League be in a position to block NUFC entering the Premier League???

Regards,

John A. Myers

I am calling on all Newcastle fans to sign the petition.

We deserve answers and transparency on the Newcastle United takeover.

This petition is already approaching 85,000 signatories, calling for an independent investigation into the Premier League takeover process.

You can read more and sign the petition HERE (at 9am on Thursday morning almost 85,000 have already signed it).

James Taylor

A few things missed on the Mike Ashley article about issues the Premier League should have challenged the current owner on…

Interview on Sky Sports just a few years ago. EVERY PENNY THE CLUB GENERATES WILL GO TO THE CLUB.

Also stated by Ashley at various stages from 2013 onwards:

A STATE OF THE ART TRAINING FACILITY WILL BE BUILT FOR THE TEAM

If the FA are to be fair at scrupulous ways owners run clubs, Ashley should have been investigated and dismissed long ago.

Dennis Tate

Congratulations to Brian Standen for a terrific email sent to Richard Masters about the EPL’s accountability for the collapse of the bid for NUFC fronted by Amanda Staveley.

This inspired me to write to him too. I thought you / Brian might like a copy of my supporting email, for what it’s worth… not that any of us will really be expecting the EPL to publicly accept any responsibility whatsoever!

Well done, Brian. Let’s hope Amanda may yet be right that all is not yet lost.

Best regards,

David Thompson

Dear Mr. Masters,

I write to add my strong support to the wide-ranging, perceptive email you will have recently received from Brian Standen, the Sports Reporter of ‘NUFC The Mag’.

While there is relatively little I can add to Mr. Standen’s remarks:

1). Why was it there was no outcry in 2017 when Manchester United agreed a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia’s General Sports Authority, to contribute to the Saudi 2030 Vision and why was this fact not considered when addressing some of the many concerns expressed by some of those opposed to the NUFC takeover? Is it simply because it is the untouchable Manchester United?

2). On what grounds have other Premiership Clubs – reportedly Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur’s FC – objected to the collapsed takeover and to what extent have such objections held sway in the EPL’s decision-making process?

If newspaper reports are to be believed, Amanda Staveley’s consortium provided fulsome, speedy responses to everything asked of them by the EPL. Your failure to comply with your own Owners and Directors Test, seemingly shifting the ‘goalposts’ and deliberately delaying ever reaching the decision point in the process, will have a profound impact on both NUFC and the North East of England.

The Premier League must be held largely accountable for the collapse of the bid fronted by Amanda Staveley for Newcastle United. You can have no idea of the adverse impact your prevarications have had on tens of thousands of NUFC fans worldwide.

More to the point, not only has the Club and the North East of England been denied much needed investment through collapse of the bid, the EPL’s prevarications have now left the Club at a serious competitive disadvantage both in the current transfer window and for the 2020-2021 season, which will fast be upon us.

I and many other NUFC supporters look forward to hearing the EPL’s explanation as to its role in this whole sorry saga.

David Thompson