DO YOU FANCY BEING DIRECTOR OF FOOTBALL?
Toon owner ‘made joke job offer to banker’
MIKE Ashley jokingly offered a banker a job as Newcastle United’s director of football during a drunken night out, a court heard.
The revelation came as the Sports Direct mogul hit back at claims by an investment banker, who is suing Mr Ashley for £14m, that he staged business meetings in pubs.
Mr Ashley said Jeffrey Blue’s claim was “nonsense” and he said he was “really p ***** off”.
He said he is not “Obi-Wan Kenobi running the Death Star” when asked about his control of the clothing giant and insisted he did not take “serious decisions” on “drunken nights out”.
Mr Ashley, 52, was giving evidence on the third day of a High Court trial in London.
Mr Blue says Mr Ashley promised to pay him £15m if he used his expertise to increase Sports Direct’s share price to £8 a share, during a meeting in a pub.
He says Mr Ashley paid only £1m and he wants £14m damages.
Mr Ashley, who referred to Mr Blue as “that liar”, denies the claim.
He says the £1m he paid Mr Blue was not related to any agreement allegedly made in a pub.
Mr Justice Leggatt began analysing evidence at the trial on Monday.
The judge has heard the dispute between Mr Blue and Mr Ashley centres on a conversation in the Horse and Groom pub four years ago.
Mr Ashley told the court he and Mr Blue went for drinks with Espírito Santo employees Peter Tracey, Simon McEvoy, and Russell Clifton, hoping to attract investment in Sports Direct.
Mr Ashley said Mr Blue had organised the night out and asked him to come along and help everyone have a “fun night”.
He added: “Mr McEvoy says that I offered him a job at Newcastle United that evening but he didn’t take me seriously because it was obviously just banter.
“I think that this shows how ludicrous it is that Mr Blue by contrast claims that we had a serious conversation that evening about a bonus for him.”
Mr Blue previously told the judge that Mr Ashley is a “serious businessman”. But he said Mr Ashley sometimes did business “in unorthodox ways and in unusual venues”.
Mr Blue told Mr Justice Leggatt how Mr Ashley vomited into a fireplace after a Sports Direct senior management meeting which was “effectively a pub lock-in”.
He said Mr Ashley would also nap under tables at “boring” meetings.
Mr Ashley outlined his case in a written witness statement before being questioned by barrister Jeffrey Chapman QC, who is leading Mr Blue’s legal team.
Mr Ashley told Mr Justice Leggatt, in a witness statement, how he met Mr Blue and three other finance specialists at the Horse and Groom in January 2013.
“When we got to the pub we started drinking heavily at the bar and consumed a lot of alcohol during the evening,” said Mr Ashley.
“We must have had four or five rounds of drinks in the first hour.
“I can’t remember the details of the conversations that we had in the pub as it was a heavy night of drinking.” He said he recalled talk about football. “I can’t remember the detail of these conversations but I do remember that we had a lot of drinks and a lot of banter,” said Mr Ashley. “We were pulling each other’s legs about what hypothetical value my shares would be worth ‘on paper’ at different share prices. It was a fun night, as it was intended to be, and everyone was on good form.
“We got on well, so much so, that we ended up going out after the pub to a bar in the West End where we stayed until the early morning.
“I had drunk so much that I can’t remember which bar we went to. I don’t remember Mr Blue joining us and I can’t remember what time he left.”
Mr Ashley added: “I find it incredible that Mr Blue is actually suggesting that I made a binding agreement for £15m. It’s nonsense.
“If I did say to Mr Blue that I would pay him £15m if he could increase [Sports Direct’s] share price to £8, it would be obvious to everyone, including Mr Blue, that I wasn’t being serious.”
The hearing continues today.