As one of England’s iconic clubs, Newcastle United are responsible for giving us great memories over the years from the mesmerising Kevin Keegan team to the goalscoring exploits of Alan Shearer.
Though the club has been in decline in recent years, they’ve always been an asset to the Premier League thanks to their fanatical fans and rocking stadium.
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Newcastle Takeover
Six months ago, the club was taken over and much-maligned owner Mike Ashley was finally ousted after a 14-year tenure at the helm. Steve Bruce, a respected manager, was cruelly ousted and in came the much younger, more marketable Eddie Howe.
Bruce had to be content with his £8 million payoff and was sent packing as soon as Newcastle announced themselves on the biggest stage. Bruce, a lifelong Geordie, was treated shockingly by the Newcastle faithful and deserved a lot more respect.
Howe has seen a vast improvement in results - but I’d wager even I could get a tune out of this team had I been given the unlimited funds he has. The recent success is not due to the fans finally getting behind the team or the tactical nous of a new coach, and is instead due to the investment of their obscenely wealthy new owners - Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi.
A Threat To The Premier League
Newcastle are the largest threat to the Premier League as its takeover has opened the floodgates for a new breed of multi-billionaire owners to freely enter the league seeking new toys to play with.
The club is not interested in building a legacy of historic success the same way Manchester United and Liverpool have. They’re not interested in charming the public the same way Leicester City have and not interested in pushing the boundaries of how the sport is played like the great Arsenal teams once did.
Instead, Newcastle’s takeover means it’s acceptable for owners to waltz in and buy whatever and whoever they see fit. Like a spoiled kid in a toy store, these owners are given licence to splash out astronomical funds on squads and quash any competition in our beloved Premier League.
Ashley may not have been a generous owner, but he’s an old-school British businessman who knows how to protect his investments. Newcastle United may be trophyless in recent years, but at least they didn’t end up the way Wimbeldon, Bury, and Macclesfield have.
If you ask me, Newcastle fans should count their blessings and realise not every club can hit the heights of Liverpool, Manchester United, and Chelsea - great teams whose budgets are a shoestring in comparison to Newcastle’s.
Even Manchester City are relative paupers compared to the North-East club. With City’s dominance in recent years, I can’t imagine they’ll be too pleased with what’s happening 144 miles up the road.
The soul of what used to be a down-to-Earth and working-class game is quickly being turned into a commodity to be bought and sold. Whilst I’m sure the Geordie faithful are over the moon to have their ‘club back’, you have to wonder at what cost.
Our National Sport At Risk
I don’t know what the ramifications of Newcastle’s take over will be. The last 12 months have seen an increasing amount of Premier League commercialisation with this controversial purchase and the daft Hall of Fame, and I'm worried that our national sport will soon be chock-full of halftime shows and ad breaks. If you ask me, we should all bite the bullet and allow touchdowns in football the way things are going.
It’s inevitable that the Premier League trophy will be adorned with black and white ribbons soon enough. The massive wealth of Newcastle United will soon turn them into soulless footballing heavyweights. Are we certain that this is really in the best interest of everyone else?
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