Take-OVER
The news that Newcastle fans had dreaded bloke on 31st July, with confirmation that the prospective owners of Newcastle United had pulled out of the battle to buy the club.
An initial statement from the public relations camp of the PCP Capital group makes depressing reading.
“With a deep appreciation for the Newcastle community and the significance of its football club, we have come to the decision to withdraw out interest in acquiring Newcastle United Football Club.
We do so with regret, as we were excited and fully committed to invest in the great city of Newcastle and believe we could have returned the club to the position of its history, tradition and fans’ merit.
Unfortunately, the prolonged process under the current circumstances coupled with the global uncertainty has rendered the potential interment no longer commercially viable. To that end, we feel a responsibility to the fans to explain the lack of alternatives from an investment perspective.
As an autonomous and purely commercial investor, our focus was on the building of long-term value for the club, its fans and he community as we remained committed to collaboration, practicality and the proactivity through a difficult period of global uncertainty and significant challenges for the fans and the club.
Ultimately, during the unforeseeably prolonged process, the commercial agreement between the Investment Group and the club’s owners expired and our investment thesis could not be sustained, particularly with no clarity as to the circumstances under which the next season will start and the new hors that will arise for matches, training and other activities.
As often occurs with proposed investment in uncertain periods, time itself because the enemy of the transaction, particularly during this difficult phase marked by the many real changes facing us all from Covid-19.
We feel great compassion for the Newcastle United fans, with whom we shared a great commitment to help Newcastle United harness its tremendous potential and build upon the impressive and history legacy which working closely with the community.
We would like to say that we truly appreciated your incredible expressions of support and your patience throughout the process. We are sorry it is not to be.
We wish the team and everyone associated with it much good luck and success.
The deal itself had been with the Premier League since April 16. And what subsequently transpired was a geopolitical storm, played out across all forms of media and social networking platforms, the like of which has never been seen before.”
For Magpies fans at least the months of endless torment is over, although it will take some time for the reality of returning to the Mike Ashley stagnation to kick in.
The club at least finally broke almost 1/3 of a year’s silence not he matter, with Lee Charnley publishing a statement:
“We acknowledge the statement issued on Thursday. Never say never but to be clear Mike Ashely is 100% committed to this deal. However our current focus must now be on supporting Steve Bruce in the transfer market and on the preparations for the new season”
And whilst there has been a subsequent call to arms, with Amanda Staveley interacting with one supporters group and laying a challenge at our door to do all we can to persuade the powers that be make a positive decision in this case, there seems nothing but false hope left in this take-over ever happening.
For their part, the Reuben brothers, who have been such fantastic supporters of the region including making significant and undisclosed donations to the NUFC foodbank during recent months, provided a glimpse into a world that could have been.
Martin Cruddace, Chief Executive of the Arena Racing Company said:
“As owners of Gosforth Park and Newcastle racecourse Arena Racing Company is very disappointed to learn that the bid to takeover Newcastle Football Club has been withdrawn. Given our shareholders were to be an integral part of the deal we had many plans for our venues and sport in the North East.
We were planning on creating one of the premier sporting hubs in the UK, undertaking development work that is vital for the region and enjoying valuable synergies with the Football Club. We continue to hope that those exciting plans are not in vain.
We would welcome any resurrection of talks and progress with the Premier League and are aware that the Reuben brothers remain totally supportive of the deal should there be a way forward”
Again this statement show further commitment to the intent behind the failed bid. But with no way of holding the Premier League to account for burying the test and failing in their duty to protect our game and support one of their member clubs, their sentiments will ultimately prove fruitless.
In our view, the Premier League has not only failed in their duty to impartially undertake one of their own processes in good time, but in doing so has caused irreparable damage to the area of Newcastle and prosperity of an entire region.
Shame on you!