Mike Ashley wants out of Newcastle United – quickly

Jun 1 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

Alan Shearer’s future as Newcastle United manager will be decided by a group of bankers and accountants. Chief Sports Writer Luke Edwards uncovers another bewildering turn of events at St James’s Park

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HAVING led the country into its biggest financial catastrophe since the Great Depression, confidence in the British banking system is understandably at its lowest ever ebb.

With share prices crashing, house prices tumbling and billions of pounds of taxpayers money needed to prop up a financial system which almost killed itself through greed and gluttony, the banks have plenty to worry about as they look to put their own houses back into some semblance of order. Yet, on Tyneside, the banks have another major task on their hands, an issue that is just as unsettling for many of their customers as a credit crunch and whose impact on everyday lives sometimes feels as serious as a global recession.

Football does not put food on the table, clothes on the back or a roof over the head, but it does put wide smiles on faces and deep frowns on foreheads.

After the most important basic needs, Newcastle United is the biggest cause for concern this summer for thousands of families across the North East and the club’s future hangs in the balance.

If Newcastle are going to survive relegation they do not need Mike Ashley to continue as owner, although it would have been reassuring to hear the former billionaire say he was willing to cushion the financial blow of Championship football from his own deep pocket.

Ashley, though, has already lost enough – thought to be well in excess of £150m, following his decision to waive repayment on the interest-free loan he made to ease the club’s debt when he arrived – and having presided over two years of problems, mistakes and steady decline at St James’s Park, the sports shop millionaire wants out and he wants out quickly.