TYNE Ecstatic Hall
SIR JOHN HALL will be in his executive box at St James’ Park today hoping Newcastle’s new owners can recapture the Kevin Keegan years.
It was Sir John, 88, who came to the rescue of the club which in 1992 was in danger of going to the wall.
Four years later Keegan’s Entertainers – with stars including Les Ferdinand, David Ginola, Robert Lee and Peter Beardsley – came close to being crowned Premier League champions.
Now there’s a spring in his step again because, like the rest of the Toon Army, he’s been dismayed at life under Mike Ashley – who Hall and former chairman Freddy Shepherd sold out to 14 years ago.
He said: “When Ashley came in I asked him why did he want to buy the club? He replied that he basically wanted to use it to market his goods in the Far East through a successful football club.
“He thought if he had that he could sell loads of his sporting produce in that part of the world. It would also globalise the club which all made sense. But the moment he brought in Dennis Wise and the London mafia the club started to fall apart and for many years Mike has just been like a caretaker.”
Thanks to the Saudi Arabia billions and the negotiating skills of Yorkshire-born businesswoman Amanda Staveley, Tyneside has now been re-energised and a full house against Spurs will herald the beginning of a new era.
“I’ll be there in my box,” said Hall. “Who wouldn’t want to be there?”
“I’m ecstatic. You have got to congratulate Amanda because she had the determination and the stamina to see it through.
“I didn’t think she could pull it off because all the cards appeared to be stacked against her, especially with the Premier League’s stance.
“If those players don’t motivate themselves today then get rid of them tomorrow. The atmosphere will be
electric and if that doesn’t bring out what skills they have then I don’t know what will.” At least, unlike 29 years ago, Newcastle United is already financially secure.
Hall said: “I discovered that the club was about to go bust because the bank was withdrawing its overdraft facilities. I had to take it over to save it so I was in deep and we had to make the most of it.”
Under manager Ossie Ardiles they were sliding towards relegation to the third tier.
Ardiles was sacked and the call was made to Keegan to end his Spanish exile and return to the club he had helped win promotion to the top flight as a player. It was our club sponsors, Scottish and Newcastle Breweries, who suggested that we should go for Kevin. He was living abroad but the brewery regularly brought him back to this country to do talks. “I made the call saying there are just two people who can save this club and they are both involved in this conversation. For a few glorious years it worked.”
Fast forward to the present day and a similar situation confronts the new custodians of the club, with current boss Steve Bruce under pressure.
Hall said: “Like we did, the new owners have got to get the next manager right. That decision is easily the most important. “You can get your back-up staff, your chief executive who will run the business side of things and sort out the money – but the manager is at the hub of all this.
“But it’s a guessing game really over whether your choice comes off. We were lucky with Kevin but after that, look at all the top names we had as Newcastle managers and most of them were useless.
“They failed totally and it has contributed to the situation in which the club finds itself now, with fans completely fed up and disillusioned where anger has turned to apathy because they couldn’t see any light at the end of a long tunnel.
“I’m a great lover of Arsene Wenger, a great intellectual who changed the game.
“If we could find somebody like him I would welcome that. You’ve got to look to the next generation and someone who has similar ideas and beliefs.
“I think Brendan Rodgers is high up on those values and has the experience with Liverpool, Celtic and now Leicester.
“Like ourselves in 1992, right now it’s about consolidating and not being relegated. It’s not the time to bring the stars in, it’s about some players willing to fight and take the club to safety as we did with the likes of Brian Kilcline.”
Hall is excited about the future but warned: “Any success isn’t going to arrive overnight. I imagine it could take anything up to five years to build a winning team and a buoyant club.
“The thing with Kevin was he knew the players he wanted, the ones who would keep taking the club to a higher level.
“I wish the new owners well. They are running a multi-million pound business and have to make the decisions, not the fans. Hopefully they make the right ones.”