Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
E over Karren Brady.. there’s a First Lady of football in Toon
something out of a fairy e cast her spell and it was irst sight as she enchanted gling obligingly at the racy o text. armed the Queen and an e Philip, quickly dazzling alace and Balmoral with her in heels”. ew was so besotted with hell Amanda Staveley, he od to get the decorators in Park royal pad. It was 2003, was settling down and the r his second Royal Wedding. he nice girl from a nice arismily who had snagged her id the unthinkable. When osed, she turned him down. was 14 years ago and since he has been named Busioman of the Year and made 4million fortune thanks to ing of mega-deals, most fitably as financial fixer to e world’s richest sheiks. So Staveley would probably prefer us all to stop repeating the tale of her royal romance. But the most infamous anecdote about the Park Lane financier seems to sum her up best as she hits the headlines this week. Staveley could soon be eclipsing West Ham’s Karren Brady as the First Lady of Football after her firm PCP Capital Partners reportedly signed a confidentiality agreement ahead of a rumoured £300million bid for Newcastle United. After all, the question being whispered around the football terraces is: who is Amanda Staveley? As her reported dealings with Newcastle Jordan when he met Staveley. Six months later, he asked her to dinner. “I was delighted but flabbergasted,” she recalled. Everyone approved of the match but, as Staveley later admitted, “romance and business didn’t mix”. She said it took her mum three years to get over it when she turned him down in 2003. Meanwhile, Staveley proved she had made the right decision. In 2005, she set up Dubai-based PCP Capital Partners, securing international deals for clients in Qatar and the UAE.
The most high-profile included the £210million sale of Manchester City FC, which she “matchmade” for Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-nahyan. She reportedly pocketed £10million. Her title of “Queen of Football” isn’t new...
Then there was the Barclays deal. In the 2008 crash, it got a bailout from wealthy Gulf backers – while other banks needed Government lifelines.
Later, Staveley introduced Sheik Mansour to a further capital-raising deal by the bank worth £7billion. Her firm was said to have pocketed around £30million.
And she has dabbled in politics too – Theresa May is a pal. Although Staveley is a Remainer, she made her Park Lane office available to Mrs May for her Tory leadership bid and still backs the PM. But it hasn’t been all business since that infamous royal “No”. Despite once saying, “Whoever marries me would have to be a hell of a hero to put up with me and my life”, she eventually found a love that married up with business too – wedding Iranian Mehrdad Ghodoussi, who she had worked with at her company, in 2011. They had son Alexander in 2014 – she did go into labour in the boardroom.
Their wedding was lavish with 530 guests and a dress by Sarah Burton, who designed Kate Middleton’s.
There will be another big celebration if she seals the Newcastle deal. Ashley bought the club for £134million in 2007 and reportedly wants £400million... and a deal before Christmas.
One thing is for sure, money is not her driving force. She said: “It wouldn’t matter if I was making £8million or £200million. I just want to go to bed at night and say I’ve done a good job.”
If she does take the reins at St James’ Park, the Geordie faithful will be praying she still wants to do “more and more”... all the way to the Premier League title.