Amanda Staveley & Mehrdad Ghodoussi to leave Newcastle United

Newcastle United co-owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi are set to leave the club.

Transcript

00:00Big news from Newcastle United, the co-owners Amanda Staveley and Murdad Gadusi will be

00:05leaving the football club selling their remaining 5.7% stake. Staveley in particular was so crucial

00:12and almost a catalyst for the Newcastle United takeover back in October 2021. She showed the

00:18initial interest, brought PIF and the Rubens on board and made that takeover happen in many ways,

00:24got them to the table and agreed a deal with former owner Mike Ashley to take over the club

00:30for just over £300m. Since then the club has transformed. Staveley and Gadusi played almost

00:37a de facto sporting director, CEO role during the early stages shortly after the takeover,

00:42appointing Eddie Howe, working with him in that 1st January transfer window which proved to be

00:48so transformative, particularly with the signings of Kieran Trippier, Bruno Gimaraes,

00:52even Dan Byrne to a degree which really helped give that club a platform to not only survive

00:59relegation but build on that and to achieve Champions League qualification the next season

01:05and be a real competitive Premier League outfit now. But since the takeover the club have obviously

01:10brought more experienced footballing heads to the table like Dan Ashworth previously,

01:15now Paul Mitchell, Darren Eales, Peter Silverstone, people like that who have almost

01:21taken over the day-to-day running of the football club in many ways. But Staveley and Gadusi have

01:27continued to remain important figures behind the scenes, negotiating deals, things like that.

01:31And of course there's been a few errors of judgement, mistakes behind the scenes as any

01:35ownership model experiences. But Staveley and Gadusi have always seemed to have the club's

01:40best interests at heart, they've been passionate about the football club and they've always been

01:45open and active with support as in engaging on social media, with club events, at matches,

01:52everything like that. That enthusiasm and that openness is a real rarity in the modern game

01:57really and a change of pace certainly from the previous regime. While Staveley was the enabler,

02:03the catalyst of the takeover if you like, I understand the long-term plan was always for them

02:08to eventually step away from the football club. So that's it, Amanda Staveley and Murdad Gadusi

02:12will be leaving Newcastle United, leaving behind a very strong legacy at St James's Park.