ASHLEY: I’M THE PANTO VILLAIN
+++ In personal letter to secretary of state for sport, Newcastle owner defends his running of club +++ Says staff have been victims of obscene abuse which has been referred to police +++
Mike Ashley says that he is being treated as a ‘pantomime villain’ over his running of Newcastle — and that a parliamentary petition against him led to employees of his companies receiving ‘unprecedented’ levels of abuse, harassment and intimidation.
The claims are contained in a letter sent last week to secretary of state for Digital, Culture, Media and sport, Jeremy Wright, in response to a parliamentary petition raised by Chi Onwurah, MP for Newcastle Central.
in the letter, dated August 3, Ashley fiercely defends his stewardship of the club, setting out the levels of investment during his takeover and Newcastle’s commitment to community projects since.
Onwurah had stated Ashley should offer more support to manager Rafa Benitez and that this ‘should include investment in players, training facilities and community engagement’. it is the sweeping nature of the criticism that appears to have angered Ashley, who calls the petition ‘irresponsible and misleading’.
he adds that some of the obscene calls and material received by staff at companies including sports Direct have been referred to the police.
Ashley, a one-time shareholder at ibrox, has been an unpopular figure with Rangers fans over the years, too. They staged a boycott of sports Direct thanks to his connections with the previous board. And the current regime now face a £500,000 legal bill after a battle over the contract to sell the ibrox club’s new strips was settled out-of-court
This has been a summer of escalating tensions at st James’ Park, largely focused on Ashley’s perceived lack of investment. While six players have arrived, the combined cost of Martin Dubravka, Fabian schar, yoshinori Muto, kenedy, former Celtic midfielder ki sungyueng and salomon Rondon is only £10.5million.
Against that, Newcastle have raised £43.5m in sales. Ashley also insists on meeting all transfer fees in full and up front — to minimise liability in the event the club is sold — while buyers often pay Newcastle in instalments.
Benitez is complaining of lost transfer opportunities and said at the weekend that he and Ashley were not going in the same direction. Benitez’s mounting dissatisfaction provoked Defence: Mike Ashley (top) sent Jeremy Wright a letter (above); an excerpt of the correspondence (right) Onwurah’s petition, presented to parliament on July 24 and awaiting a response from the secretary of state.
By pre-empting that, Ashley clearly hopes his reaction will be taken into account. he concludes by offering to answer any further questions the department may have. The letter — sent by email and post and seen by Sportsmail — accuses Onwurah of presenting ‘a wholly inaccurate assessment of the situation at Newcastle’. Ashley then defends his record, stating he has provided the club with £144m in interest-free loans, while writing off third-party debts of £76m and incurring finance costs of £6.5m.
he says this is responsible for season-ticket price freezes and reductions benefiting 20,000 supporters.
Other parts of the letter appear to answer Onwurah’s criticism of poor training facilities and community engagement.
‘Our training facilities have greatly improved during my tenure,’ Ashley writes, ‘and very clearly do not have a negative impact on performance, given we secured a place in the top ten of the Premier league last season.’
he compares Newcastle’s instant return from relegation with the fortunes of significant rivals including Aston Villa, sunderland and leeds. he writes of providing ‘continued financial support’. Finally, Ashley blames Onwurah for verbal and social media attacks on his staff. he insists: ‘Following publication of the petition, an unprecedented volume of unacceptable abuse was directed towards staff at sports Direct and its associated companies, via social media, email and telephone.
‘This included digital material of an obscene nature, incitement to commit criminal damage and language that was clearly intended to intimidate and harass staff.’
Whether Ashley’s letter earns much sympathy on Tyneside, however, is unlikely. A campaign ‘if Rafa goes, we go’ advocates boycotting the club if the manager leaves.
Critics will contrast Ashley’s concern for sports Direct staff with a 2016 report into working conditions at the company’s shirebrook warehouse, in which MPs drew comparisons with a Victorian workhouse.