TOON TAKEOVER
His family tell of their ‘devastation’ at tragic loss Football superagent Stretford’s tribute
FORMER Newcastle United chairman Freddy Shepherd harboured secret ambitions to buy the club from Mike Ashley – two years after leaving the hotseat at St James’ Park.
After playing a major role in signing stars like Alan Shearer and Tino Asprilla and then bringing in marquee players that thrilled fans, like Patrick Kluivert, Jonathan Woodgate and Michael Owen, Shepherd also attempted audacious swoops for the likes of Rivaldo, Gazza, Chris Waddle and Luis Figo.
There’s no doubt that, despite his critics, Shepherd wanted nothing but the very best for Newcastle.
Shepherd, who passed away peacefully this week at his home, was devastated to see the club relegated to the Championship in 2009 and expressed an interest in taking the club off Ashley’s hands after fans revolted against his poor performance as owner.
Shepherd wanted to take the club back to its rightful place in the Premier League and keep it there with club legend Alan Shearer in charge.
After being relegated from the Premier League eight years ago, a summer of silence followed from the corridors of power at St James.’
The club had been up put up for sale via an internet advert and the communication to supporters dried up until the start of the next season.
The situation also left Shearer completely in the dark, weeks after he’d submitted an action plan to Ashley and his board after agreeing to take on the challenge of getting the club back to the top flight.
Shepherd always had an incredible rapport with Shearer and played a huge part in signing him for Newcastle in a world record transfer worth £15million.
Shearer – who had just eight games to save the Magpies from relegation – had support from Shepherd during those difficult weeks. And the Chronicle understands that Shepherd was prepared to back Shearer’s plan to take the club back to the top.
Shepherd had never wanted to leave United in 2007 when Ashley snapped up 70% of the club’s shares. Speaking to the Chronicle in 2012, Shepherd said: “I wasn’t keen on selling. I didn’t need the money and selling the club was not in our plans. Everybody knows I didn’t want to sell the club and I wasn’t keen to sell.”
Shepherd was also linked with bids to buy Glasgow Rangers and Leeds United after leaving St James’ as club supremo. Nobody knows whether Shepherd returning to the club in 2009 would have restored the club to its previous successes – but Newcastle came very close to finally lifting a trophy during that period.
As chairman Shepherd was at the helm when the club reached two FA Cup finals, two FA Cup semi-finals, one UEFA Cup semi-final and significantly two top-four finishes with subsequent Champions League qualifications.
In an interview with the Independent earlier this year, Shepherd said: “I respect Ashley, he has a fantastic business but maybe with Newcastle being relegated twice, he’s realised it’s a much harder game than he thought it was.”