MIKE ASHLEY I think I could own this football club for ever

IN A RARE AND EXPLOSIVE INTERVIEW, THE NEWCASTLE UNITED OWNER TALKS EXCLUSIVELY TO CHIEF SPORTS WRITER MARTIN SAMUEL

Mike Ashley is reflecting on his 12 years at Newcastle. ‘i’m a negative to that football club,’ he says, without a hint of self-pity.

‘it’s not a secret. i don’t feel sorry for myself. it is down to me, not Newcastle. i give myself one out of five in some aspects because i made proper mistakes, and football isn’t a very forgiving place. i didn’t just shoot myself in the foot; i blew my own leg off.

‘People would look at me and think i’d gone temporarily insane. They didn’t know what i was doing. Will i be there, first game of the season? Maybe.

‘What i don’t want is for it to be negative. Why would i go if it causes the fans an issue? if i’m not there, maybe they can get behind steve Bruce and get on with it. That’s probably better. i don’t want people to think i’m making it worse. i don’t want people to be asking how our players can perform in these conditions. i don’t want them booing every ‘two minutes.’

The low point for Ashley was a game at st James’ Park when the fans chanted his name. The sunderland fans, in the away end, raucously celebrating a win by singing ‘There’s only one Mike Ashley’.

he winces. ‘That was a really tough day,’ he adds. ‘i could hear it and i’m thinking, “Mike, this is bad. This is really, really bad”. i’ve got to admit, i was struggling with that.’

Despite this — despite the best part of a decade of it — Ashley still describes himself as an optimist, a dreamer, excitable when it comes to football. And many will scoff, not least those who would run him out of Tyneside on a rail, for mismanagement, for lack of investment, for a perceived charge sheet that could cross to Gateshead and back again.

yet when he talks about football, the moment he moves away from the dry, pragmatic, financial responsibility of running Newcastle, a different man can be seen. The travelling england fan who floated his company and bought a Premier league football club for the fun, and the hell, of it. Who appointed kevin keegan because why on earth wouldn’t he? Ashley talks more like the average punter standing behind the goal than 90 per cent of the folk who populate boardrooms.

he is still capable of unimagined enthusiasms and leaps of faith — writing in a £20million bonus for the players if Newcastle won the FA Cup several seasons ago, giving Alan Pardew an eight-year contract — of being utterly enchanted by the passionate emotions of his new manager, or the potential in some bright young thing.

he made a two-hour stop-off at the training ground this week and came back talking of breaking some of his stricter rules of engagement to see if he can light a spark in the club this season.

Ashley broke the club’s transfer record for Joelinton in July, having already done so for Miguel Almiron in January.

‘i go to the training ground, hot day, all lovely — you can’t help getting carried away,’ he says. ‘i’m like, “What can i do to help? Can we get another one in? What’s he like, is he fast?” it’s one of the amazing things about owning a football club, the way you get caught up. it’s like someone has put something in your coffee. you look around, you want to lift the place, hit the ground running. i hope we’re not finished at Joelinton.’

With Ashley’s circumstances at Newcastle, however, there is always a deeper reasoning to consider.

‘What i fear, from the club’s point of view, is to make a promise and then something goes wrong,’ he adds. ‘it’s a big issue of reputation for the club because of my ownership. if that happens, people think we were never serious, that it’s a stunt. if we get something wrong, or it doesn’t happen for whatever reason, it becomes worse than not doing anything at all.’

Plainly, Ashley is torn. he hasn’t got the fortune required to make Newcastle competitive at the top of the table, but he does dream of delivering more than a decent balance sheet. On the day of our conversation, Tottenham had signed a shirt deal worth £45m each season, across eight years. ‘er, Ok,’ says Ashley. ‘That is many, many times what Newcastle can get.

‘We’re not anywhere near that – nobody is, outside the top six. And i’m being told liverpool could get £100m for the same deal.

‘so just on technical kit sponsor alone, we could start more than £90m behind them, in one year, on one sponsorship. Now add the rest of it up and you’re starting £300m behind liverpool, or £400m behind Manchester United. To keep up with that? it would wipe me out. i’d be gone. i wouldn’t even be able to afford a season ticket — and it wouldn’t take long.

‘it is so much bigger than when i got involved. i thought at the time i could put in £10m, £20m and it would make a big difference. And it would have done. Now — it’s nothing.

‘Put in £10m and it’s a joke. Ok, that’s how the market is. But it’s not something i can afford, and it’s not something Newcastle can afford while i own it. The overriding reality is that i am just not wealthy enough to own Newcastle. i genuinely believe you need £1billion. People say £500m but i’d bet anyone that these days you can’t do it for that. Not to compete at the very top.

‘Manchester City can afford to have an ageing team; they can afford to just write players off. how can we do that? it’s not possible. Therefore you have to go for the best young players and hope they develop that little bit and become world-beaters. That is our principle and it hasn’t changed for many years. But to compete, i need someone to take Newcastle off me who literally wants to put in £1billion.’

For the Ashley Out campaign and his many detractors, here comes the bad news. ‘so i have to assume i will stay running this football club. There are no offers. Define an offer. i’m not a believer any more. Peter kenyon convinced me last Christmas that it was going to get done. i’m never doing that again. i think i could own this football club for ever. That is my new mental state. The reality is with these deals that once it gets out, if it’s not done, it’s probably not going to get done.

‘The day someone buys Newcastle, they’ll do their due diligence — and finished. it will happen like Manchester City. By the time the media find out, it’s already complete. There’s no need for a delay with Newcastle. it is, honestly, a very well-run football club.

‘The last bid, the one from UAe, he’s a prince and he’s got £38bn or £100bn, all these numbers — well, why would you even care what you’re paying then? What difference would £10m either way make? you would want speed, you would want certainty, you would want the keys and to get on with it.

‘i will not stand in the way of Newcastle United. i will not stop that, if it happens. if such a person comes along i will think i’ve done quite a good job and i will want to keep going to watch them. i’ll keep a box, because my parents will demand it. every time there’s a story that i’ve sold, i get the phone call. “you haven’t included our box in the sale?” When you own a football club, the whole family are in.’

That was the original plan. Fun. Family. Friends. Ashley was a home and away england fan who was in the Azteca stadium for the hand of God and Turin for Gazza’s Tears, who floated sports Direct in 2007 and heard Newcastle United was on the market. Nobody thought he could get it and he was so keen to prove them wrong that, famously, he didn’t even bother with due diligence and missed some Tyne Bridgesized holes in the accounts. he

IF YOU’RE A FAN, AND YOU CAN HAVE KEVIN AS MANAGER, IT’S VERY EXCITING. AND I’M AN EXCITABLE BLOKE

FANS DON’T BELIEVE THE ACCOUNTS AND ASK: “WHERE’S THE MONEY?” WHAT ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT? HOW DO I FIDDLE IT?

THE REALITY IS I’M NOT WEALTHY ENOUGH TO OWN THE CLUB. I GENUINELY BELIEVE YOU NEED £1BILLION