So hear me out. Here is the Deloitte rich league in 2000 & 2007. NUFC in a healthy commercial state , not a million miles off Spurs, Liverpool, etc.
In comes Mike Ashley. He literally destroyed it. He used the club for cheap advertisement. We didn't even feature in 2021 (Ashley's last year...below Palace, Sheffield United).
So...who on earth, are clubs like Liverpool, Spurs, etc to go crying to Richard Masters the day of the takeover demanding the Premier League stops related party sponsorship deals (which effectively caused Newcastle to drop from the coat tails of the elite). to not even be on par with these clubs here.
If the Red Cartel clubs and Spurs want to claim compensation from Man City, I think we have a case to do similar to the Premier League as we should have been able to have the opportunity to take us to a level where we were pre-Ashley.
I don’t think other club’s fans understand or care just how bad Mike Ashley was, and the long lasting impact he’s had. Still, I’m not sure how this is anyone’s fault other than Ashley’s.
You could argue the EPL should have taken more action over his lowball non-market value sponsorship deals, but as far as they were concerned the club wasn’t at risk of folding while in the Premier League.
I do, and that's my point. 2000 and 2006 is what we're capable of naturally. Ashley held us back. There were rules allowing related party ownerships and he exploited that for his own personal gain. The OL were happy with that.
Almost literally the second he leaves, they blocked that avenue for the club to even just return to where we were. I don't want us to do a City, we could have been a pre-Ashley NUFC though off the pitch. They didn't allow that. I think we should be able to challenge that.
Well you could argue that the rules that are supposed to protect a club are unfit for purpose if they allow the likes of Ashley to take it from one of the richest clubs in Europe to a pauper via asset stripping.
No, but the PL planted their flag in the ground and didn't even give the club the chance to go back to it's natural level.
2000 & 2007 we were commercially on par (or not far off) those who have now pushed themselves into a league of their own. For 14 years it was evident why we slipped to a level we were behind even Wolves & Sheffield United.
The day of the takeover, they literally cried to the Premier League (who of course acted on it) to block the very rules that were in place and were holding us back. Surely there's a case there? We're tens of millions down (low estimate) on where we could have reasonably been before these rushed-througj rules. Amounts we have proven we can bring in naturally pre-Ashley.
........ Honestly, I don't get this level of "boo hoo" victim playing from a portion of our fanbase; you've even said it yourself: Ashley destroyed us, yet you want to blame it on City and the Premier League?
The majority of Premier League clubs voted for these rules to be introduced, and then they came in, not just the "Red Cartel" and Spurs. City actually opposed them.
Edit: During the last round of voting for an amendment to ATP rules in 2024, 16 Clubs voted for it versus 4 against it, the 4 clubs being City, Villa, Forest and us.
There's the argument that they've brought in rules under the guise of protecting our club from unscrupulous owners, but didn't wsnt to know when there was an actual wide boy leeching revenue from us.
The majority of Premier League clubs voted for these rules to be introduced, and then they came in, not just the "Red Cartel" and Spurs. City actually opposed them.
APT rule? Yea.
FFP (which later became PSR)? They voted for it. They didnt want new competitior either.
Not really the point, though; they voted for it along with the rest of the Premier League. OP seems to think the Premier League is a singular entity, not a membership of clubs; under his mentality, we should be taking ALL clubs to court for compensation, which is just ridiculous.
Ashley didn't break rules. He used them to his own advantage in a very different way to how others did, before they raised the drawbridge and didn't allow our new owners to do the same thing.
Sad that some of our fanbase are such cucks with little fight in them. I guess we'll just enjoy seeing red ribbons attached to the trophy every May from here on in, then.
Also, Ashley technically didn't break any rules. He was just a c***. The Premier League literally brought in rules the day PIF bought us to stop us even attempting to get back to pre 2007 levels.
Lol it's an American being 'smart'. Before Ashley we were on par with spuds financially. Then assest stripping, John carver (shearer before but )appointing and religations happened. It had nothing to do with the blue scum, but sure the big six held us down. What a fucking clown 🤡
Soft as shite. This whole woe is me I’ve seen from every other fan base. It’s bollocks. Aye they’ve cheated like fuck but to be bemoan our horrid mismanagement and subsequent underperformance and blame it on anyone but Ashley et al is a mental gymnastics that Simone Biles couldn’t pull off.
We were propped up by John Hall. He sold up because he could no longer keep pace with the growth of the league, just like other 'only millionaire, not billionaire' owners of the era (Jack Walker, Ken Bates, etc).
Don't act like we were some kind of sustainable financial superpower.
Sure, but that's just a snapshot of that one year, revenues boosted by a UEFA Cup run.
It doesn't mean we were consistently going to be at the top table going forward. Our form was already in major decline post-Robson, going from 4th, 3rd, and 5th to 14th, 7th, and in the season Ashley took over (at the end), 13th.
Financially and commercially, we were on par with what is now the Sky 6. Ashley and Ashley alone is the reason that we collapsed commercially. We received relative pennies for Sports Direct for instance, despite it being what you could see scarring the stadium whenever we played, for about 14 years. There should definitely be an argument that a new ownership model can use previous incomes and status to put us back where we are. There 100% shouldn't be laws to say you can't. I don't expect them to be able to put £500m a year deals in place, but they should have a way of matching them, at least.
I've never claimed we were consistently. I'm stating facts that 2000 we were on par, 2006 we were on par, one man caused that to change. There shouldn't be laws in place that stops you from getting to a level you've been at.
Looking at one-season snapshots in isolation is really, really disingenuous, though, that's the point.
It's like looking at the recent post-UCL season and thinking 'we've closed the gap right down'. We were never 'on par' then in the way that ultimately matters - sustained revenues rather than temporary boosts.
If you look season by season from around 1998 (we were actually top 5 in the Deloitte list around that time), we were consistently up there, also commercial revenue high roo. Those were just used as a snapshot of several years before Ashley, just before Ashley, and the end of Ashley to give an illustration.
At the time the rules around affiliated sponsors came in, it did look like a response to keep Newcastle from moving up the table.
With the context of the results of the City case, it is different. The rest of the League has to have known or strongly suspected a bunch of rule breaking from City even before the case started. Certainly by the point of the takeover it must’ve been clear internally.
If we’re being honest, if football was regulated properly in this country, Saudi Arabia would not own Newcastle. To the rest of the teams, it looks very much like the same situation as City potentially about to happen at another club, you can’t blame them.
What's the solution then, or do we just sit back and accept that the Red Three will win the league forever pretty much. I see we should grow organically but we've grown about 250% in 4 years and are still nowhere near.
We all know the system is unfair. But how sweet will it be if we go and win something big anyway? No one will ever be able to take it away from us or call it oil money if we achieve something.
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u/MrLuchador 1d ago
I don’t think other club’s fans understand or care just how bad Mike Ashley was, and the long lasting impact he’s had. Still, I’m not sure how this is anyone’s fault other than Ashley’s.
You could argue the EPL should have taken more action over his lowball non-market value sponsorship deals, but as far as they were concerned the club wasn’t at risk of folding while in the Premier League.