Mike Ashley, philanthropist

[Happy Face 29]

"But like any business with assets the club has debts. I paid £134 million out of my own pocket for the club. I then poured another £110 million into the club not to pay off the debt but just to reduce it.

 

"The club is still in debt. Even worse than that, the club still owes millions of pounds in transfer fees. I shall be paying out many more millions over the coming year to pay for players bought by the club before I arrived. But there was a double whammy. Commercial deals such as sponsorships and advertising had been front loaded. The money had been paid upfront and spent. I was left with a club that owed millions and part of whose future had been mortgaged.

 

"Unless I had come into the club then it might not have survived. It could have shared the fate of other clubs who have borrowed too heavily against their future. Before I had spent a penny on wages or buying players Newcastle United had cost me more than a quarter of a billion pounds.

"Don't get me wrong. I did not buy Newcastle to make money. I bought Newcastle because I love football. Newcastle does not generate the income of a Manchester United or a Real Madrid. I am Mike Ashley, not Mike Ashley a multi-billionaire with unlimited resources. Newcastle United and I can't do what other clubs can. We can't afford it.

 

"I knew that the club would cost me money every year after I had bought it. I have backed the club with money. You can see that from the fact that Newcastle has the fifth highest wage bill in the Premier League. I was always prepared to bank roll Newcastle up to the tune of £20 million per year but no more. That was my bargain. I would make the club solvent. I would make it a going concern.

 

"I would pour up to £20 million a year into the club and not expect anything back. It has to be realised that if I put £100 million into the club year in year out then it would not be too long before I was cleaned out and a debt ridden Newcastle United would find itself in the position that faced Leeds United.

 

"That is the nightmare for every fan. To love a club that overextends itself, that tries to spend what it can't afford.

 

"That will never happen to Newcastle when I am in charge.

 

Mike is clearly a philanthropist we should be grateful to for saving us.

 

Of course, we're in credit on transfers this year after selling Milner....and he was still trying to get a few quid for Owen and Barton, despite the squad being down to the bare bones already.

 

My main bugbear is this quarter of a billion spent claim.

 

This is his second season, going on past seasons I make his income...

 

£60M on gate receipts (even more considering the number of people who've paid for 3 years down the line)

£50M in TV money

£50M in commercial (pies, pints, strips, programs etc)

 

Of course he isn't going to mention what he's made while he's been here in a statement designed to pull at the heart strings, but it seems to me he's spent less on the debt/new players than he's made from the 3 main income streams

 

He's not going to sell for less than £300M apparently. So from a £250M input, he'll have gotten back £460M?

 

£200M profit in 2 years?

 

Smart dude.

 

Why exactly does he believe he's more than doubled the value of the club, by clearing only a portion of it's debt with a portion of the clubs own income?

 

I might be a bit slow businesswise, so let me know if I'm being unfair.

Edited September 16, 2008 by Happy Face

[NJS 4446]

It's obvious to me that those expressing "sympathy" for poor Mike can't count as you illustrate.

 

 

In the article by Parky's lass, some analyst mentions the club "haemorraging £20m a year" - utter fucking bollocks.

[Guest alex]

He hasn't put anything in he doesn't plan on recouping, plus a canny bit more.

[Park Life 71]

It's obvious to me that those expressing "sympathy" for poor Mike can't count as you illustrate.

 

 

In the article by Parky's lass, some analyst mentions the club "haemorraging £20m a year" - utter fucking bollocks.

 

 

I love her she can write what she likes.

[sammynb 3640]

Let's face it, Ashley is a lying cunt (or at least a selective teller of facts) and his only objective is to take all Newcastle supporters for as much as he can!

[Gemmill 47106]

HF your numbers are way off. He doesn't get to keep club income, there are costs against that like wages etc.

[Happy Face 29]

HF your numbers are way off. He doesn't get to keep club income, there are costs against that like wages etc.

 

 

Well spotted

 

Based on past amounts...

 

 

£170M

£99M

£25M

£324M

 

Total = £618M

 

divided by 8 years = £77M per year

 

2 years = £154M

 

So his profit should he get the £300M asking price would be £46M.

[Park Life 71]

HF your numbers are way off. He doesn't get to keep club income, there are costs against that like wages etc.

 

 

Well spotted

 

Based on past amounts...

 

 

£170M

£99M

£25M

£324M

 

Total = £618M

 

divided by 8 years = £77M per year

 

2 years = £154M

 

So his profit should he get the £300M asking price would be £46M.

 

 

He won't get 300m.

 

The core value of the business is around 240m Turnover x3

 

If under this there is ongoing debt (I wish MA would make his mind up about what we are to believe)....Nobody is going to pay over the odds. Cause these people will do due diligence unlike fatty.

[snakehips 0]

Who knows the truth? I doubt we would believe anyone giving us a set of figures regarding the finances.

 

FACT! (as close to being as can be): Ashley paid £130m for NUFC.

 

FACT! The Northern Rock money was already spent. This was substantiated by the guy put in to run NR who said that tax payers were not paying Newcastle United players as the money had been sent to NUFC a long time ago.

 

Other than that, we know nowt for certain.

 

We can guess at tv money and a rough guess at ST income, but after that we don't know much.

 

What I tend to believe, however, is that Shepherd left NUFC in a pretty shitty state financially. He seems to be getting away without any criticism.

 

Did Ashley want to get NUFC away from the ridiculous mess we were in? I honestly believe he did. However, the fact that he chose to back Lambias, Wise et al over Keegan was his downfall. But how could he back Keegan??? Ashley had his business plan which was an attempt to get the club away from the financial mess it was in. Perhaps Keegan did want trophy signings, which would have gone against Ashley's plan. Then, Ashley went to put the rest of the team up for sale (oh, hang on, do we know this as a FACT! ????). If the other players were put up for sale, perhaps it was an attempt to off-set the money going to be spent on bringing Schweinsteiger (sp) to Newcastle (a move which went a bit of a way, if reports are true) ?

 

Confused? Of course you are.

 

Unless we get an owner who is prepared to bankroll NUFC to the tune of at least £50m pound a year, the situation aint gonna change any time soon.

[Park Life 71]

Who knows the truth? I doubt we would believe anyone giving us a set of figures regarding the finances.

 

FACT! (as close to being as can be): Ashley paid £130m for NUFC.

 

FACT! The Northern Rock money was already spent. This was substantiated by the guy put in to run NR who said that tax payers were not paying Newcastle United players as the money had been sent to NUFC a long time ago.

 

Other than that, we know nowt for certain.

 

We can guess at tv money and a rough guess at ST income, but after that we don't know much.

 

What I tend to believe, however, is that Shepherd left NUFC in a pretty shitty state financially. He seems to be getting away without any criticism.

 

Did Ashley want to get NUFC away from the ridiculous mess we were in? I honestly believe he did. However, the fact that he chose to back Lambias, Wise et al over Keegan was his downfall. But how could he back Keegan??? Ashley had his business plan which was an attempt to get the club away from the financial mess it was in. Perhaps Keegan did want trophy signings, which would have gone against Ashley's plan. Then, Ashley went to put the rest of the team up for sale (oh, hang on, do we know this as a FACT! ????). If the other players were put up for sale, perhaps it was an attempt to off-set the money going to be spent on bringing Schweinsteiger (sp) to Newcastle (a move which went a bit of a way, if reports are true) ?

 

Confused? Of course you are.

 

Unless we get an owner who is prepared to bankroll NUFC to the tune of at least £50m pound a year, the situation aint gonna change any time soon.

 

FS must be giggling into his coffee every morning.

[Happy Face 29]

Who knows the truth? I doubt we would believe anyone giving us a set of figures regarding the finances.

 

FACT! (as close to being as can be): Ashley paid £130m for NUFC.

 

FACT! The Northern Rock money was already spent. This was substantiated by the guy put in to run NR who said that tax payers were not paying Newcastle United players as the money had been sent to NUFC a long time ago.

 

Other than that, we know nowt for certain.

 

We can guess at tv money and a rough guess at ST income, but after that we don't know much.

 

What I tend to believe, however, is that Shepherd left NUFC in a pretty shitty state financially. He seems to be getting away without any criticism.

 

Did Ashley want to get NUFC away from the ridiculous mess we were in? I honestly believe he did. However, the fact that he chose to back Lambias, Wise et al over Keegan was his downfall. But how could he back Keegan??? Ashley had his business plan which was an attempt to get the club away from the financial mess it was in. Perhaps Keegan did want trophy signings, which would have gone against Ashley's plan. Then, Ashley went to put the rest of the team up for sale (oh, hang on, do we know this as a FACT! ????). If the other players were put up for sale, perhaps it was an attempt to off-set the money going to be spent on bringing Schweinsteiger (sp) to Newcastle (a move which went a bit of a way, if reports are true) ?

 

Confused? Of course you are.

 

Unless we get an owner who is prepared to bankroll NUFC to the tune of at least £50m pound a year, the situation aint gonna change any time soon.

 

The fact is he's not a quarter of a billion down and losing £100M a year as he likes to paint it in his statement.

 

I thought his sensible spending approach was for the best of the club and i had no problem with it whatsoever.

 

To try and turn it round as if he's throwing good money after bad at the insistence of Newcastle fans is utter shit.

[Guest alex]

The fact is he's not a quarter of a billion down and losing £100M a year as he likes to paint it in his statement.

 

I thought his sensible spending approach was for the best of the club and i had no problem with it whatsoever.

 

To try and turn it round as if he's throwing good money after bad at the insistence of Newcastle fans is utter shit.

Spot on again.