This is always going to be a controversial issue for Newcastle fans. For years now Mike Ashley has come as close to winning a popularity contest on Tyneside as Lee Cattermole and his controversial choice to rename St James’ Park the Sports Direct Arena was understandably met with disdain. It is pretty much the worst stadium name I’ve ever heard (if there are worse out there please tell me in the comments section). However to dismiss this action as idiotic would be idiotic in itself. As Paul Wilson said in The Guardian:
“However depressing the Sports Direct Arena match-day atmosphere sounds, Newcastle do not have the global fan base of Manchester United or Arsenal, or the luxury of backers with deep pockets like Manchester City or Chelsea. They have to make money where they can, or think they can.”
And this is exactly the point. Ashley is trying to run a sustainable business and with the exception of Barton’s free transfer all of his actions have been with the interests of the club in mind. Ashley saw that Manchester City had made £400m for selling their naming rights just as Arsenal had done with The Emirates and that he could make some money even if it wasn’t nearly as much. The truth is he probably thought he would get more. When Ashley initially bought Newcastle he helped write off £130m debt by lending the money to the club interest free. Therefore he not only immediately stabilised the club financially but saved Newcastle millions of pounds in interest that they would have been paying had the debt been allowed to fester.
Therefore claims from some fans that Ashley greedily hoarded the club’s money when he sold Andy Carroll are wide of the mark to say the least. The money received for Carroll’s transfer may not have immediately gone back in to transfer fees but it has clearly been spent in other areas. Some on transfer fees, some on wages.
Former chairman Sir John Hall had nothing but praise for the current Newcastle owner when speaking to Goal:
“Ashley runs his business by keeping a very tight rein on things and he is doing very, very well. Sports Direct has done exceptionally well since he founded the company and he has brought his business principles to St James’ Park.
I don’t have as much money as Mike but I would probably be doing the same thing as him. In my day we were local millionaires such as Jack Walker at Blackburn, Dave Whelan at Wigan and Bill Kenwright at Everton and we put our money in to the clubs because we were fans. But now the game is being rub by billionaires and for me it is wrong and stupid if any English businessman tries to compete with these billionaires…Ashley has a formula that is working and long may it continue.”
Scouting
In fact Ashley’s attitude towards transfers seems to have been spot on. Not only has he heavily invested in Newcastle’s scouting network (Newcastle now have twenty scouts who are active every week looking for future talent) but that scout network has paid dividends. The signings of Demba Ba, Yohan Cabaye, Sylvain Marveaux and Mehdi Abeid were all brought in for the same price as Nolan was sold for.
Ethiad is the worst stadium I have heard of. SportsDirect.com Arena is very close though