Mike Ashley (businessman)
Encyclopedia
Michael James Wallace "Mike" Ashley (born 1964/5, Burnham, Buckinghamshire
) is an English
millionaire
retail entrepreneur in the sporting goods market. He is also the owner of Newcastle United
after paying around £135 million to buy the club.
Ranked 16th in the 2010/2011 version of the FourFourTwo Rich List with estimated wealth of £950 million, Ashley was seen as an intensely private person, who never attended industry functions or gave interviews. Philip Beresford
, who compiles the annual Sunday Times
list, said neither he nor his staff have ever managed to contact Ashley, and describes him as "easily Britain's answer to the late Howard Hughes
."
However, since Sports Direct International Plc
went public, and his purchase of Newcastle United where he took to sitting in the stands with fans, Ashley has taken on a more public and accessible persona. However since the departure of Kevin Keegan
as manager and the club's relegation, Ashley has only made low key appearances when attending Newcastle matches.
, Buckinghamshire
, where his parents still live in a modest bungalow
. He was educated at Burnham Grammar School
.
In 1988 aged 24, he married Linda, a Swedish-born economics graduate, and the couple had three children: Matilda, Anna and Oliver. The family home was a former 16-bedroom hotel. The couple quietly divorced in 2003, agreeing one of the biggest settlements in British legal history, with Ashley reportedly handing over the family home, property and assets with total worth of £50m.
Little is known of Ashley's private life today. He is known to prefer casual dress of shirt and chino's or a track suit over a suit, and often carries his essential business tool of a mobile phone
in a plastic carrier bag over a brief case. Thought to live alone in a large house on the edge of a Hertfordshire
village, the building is hidden by trees, and CCTV cameras keep watch over the locked gates at the entrance to the half-mile drive. When the local newspaper attempted to find out more about him, they eventually resorted to placing an advert in their own pages appealing for information - No one responded.
followed by others in and around London
. The chain expanded quickly funded by private money, and by the late 1990s had rebranded the chain Sports Soccer and opened over 100 stores across the United Kingdom
. As a sole trader and not having to file accounts at Companies House
, little was known about him. The business became a limited liability
company in 1999.
Presently Nottinghamshire
based group Sports Direct International Plc
, with headquarters in Shirebrook
, Mansfield
has over 400 UK stores including the chains Sports World
, Lillywhites
(acquired in 2002) and Gilesports. The group employs more than 20,000 people in the UK and at stores in Ireland
, Belgium
and Slovenia
. In 2006 it overtook JJB Sports
as the UK's largest sports wear retailer. In mid-2006 it was also revealed that Ashley had held talks with John Hargreaves
, founder of Matalan
on both taking a 25% stake in the retail business and installing mezzanine floors in larger Matalan stores, on which Sports World outlets could be operated.
Ashley has made his money by buying brands. The first major brand he bought was Donnay. In February 2003 Ashley bought the Dunlop Slazenger
brand for £40 million, followed up by acquiring outdoor gear manufacturer Karrimor
in March 2003, Kangol
for £10 million, boxing brand Lonsdale, most of these brands were bought from distressed sellers. After considering a takeover, Ashley took a £9 million stake and signed a long-term deal with Umbro
.
Ashley has a 29.4% stake in Blacks Leisure Group
, the owner of Millets and Mambo, and is thought to hold stakes in JJB Sports
and 19% of JD Sports
. "He likes to park his tanks on peoples' lawns", said one banker.
In late November 2006, a number of business newspapers reported that Ashley was looking at an IPO
of Sports World International. He hired Merrill Lynch
, who initially valued the group at up to £2.5bn ahead of the flotation on the London Stock Exchange
.
On 31 January 2010, the BBC
North East and Cumbria produced a 30min documentary detailing Mike Ashley's business successes and lows. Journalist Chris Jackson travelled to Thailand to visit the factory's in which Ashley's material for his brand of Lonsdale
is made. Neither Ashley or his representatives showed interest in taking part in the film, declaring that the film was producing a majority of inaccuracies. They did however state that they would be reviewing the film closely. No further comment has been made.
's 41.6% stake in Newcastle United
at one pound per share, for a total cost of £55,342,223 via his company St James Holdings
Ltd. Under the terms of UK takeover law, having purchased more than 30% of a listed company, he was obliged to make an offer to buy the remaining shares at the same or a greater price. On 31 May it was reported that the Newcastle board were considering Ashley's offer. On 7 June 2007 it was confirmed that chairman Freddy Shepherd
had agreed to sell his 28% share to Ashley, which left Ashley free to take control of the club. As of 15 June 2007, Ashley owned a 77.06% stake in Newcastle United, on course to withdraw the club from the stock exchange having surpassed the 75% threshold required. 100% acquisition was achieved in July with Ashley paying a total of around £134 million to buy the club. Ashley appeared to have saved the club from certain financial ruin by paying off large sums of debt inherited from the previous regime, although he was criticised for not doing due diligence
when buying the club, as he subsequently revealed he had been unaware of issues such as the upfront payment of club finances such as the Northern Rock
sponsorship, and the presence of outstanding liabilities for long past player transfers.
Ashley's ownership of the club was initially popular with fans, despite press scorn for his unconventional approach, by installing Chris Mort
as chairman to run the club, while Ashley acted as one of the fans, drinking in local bars and clubs, and watched the team from the stands with the supporters wearing the team shirt. This caused fierce local rivals Sunderland AFC to publicly refuse to give Ashley permission to wear it in the Stadium of Light
corporate box for the November 2007 Tyne-Wear derby
. Instead of donning more appropriate attire, Ashley chose to take his usual place among the travelling fans for the game. An apparent anomaly with the fans was the choosing 'Smith 17' as the number of his shirt, after a squad player Alan Smith he admired and 17 being a lucky number for Ashley. Ashley's popularity rocketed with the return of Kevin Keegan
on 16 January 2008 as manager to replace the previous regime's relatively unpopular choice Sam Allardyce
. His Smith 17 shirt was promptly replaced by a "King Kev 1" shirt.
On 30 August 2008 Ashley was shown on live television downing a pint of beer while with fans in the away stand during Newcastle's game against Arsenal F.C.
in London, contravening Premier League licensing rules stating that alcohol may not be consumed in sight of the pitch. Ashley subsequently "received words of advice" from the police during the game. A Newcastle United statement declared that Ashley had been given the beer and told that it was non-alcoholic despite the fact that Arsenal
do not sell non-alcoholic beer at their stadium. This was the beginning of the dispute between Ashley and the club's supporters.
As the transfer window closed at midnight 2 September, rumours started to appear in the press stating that Keegan was extremely unhappy with Director of Football Dennis Wise
' interference in team matters. The following morning Keegan had a meeting at St. James Park with Wise and Managing Director Derek Llambias
, it is unknown what exactly was said in the meeting but witnesses saw Keegan storm out of the meeting claiming to be sacked. Keegan drove to Manchester to consult with the League Managers Association
chief-executive Richard Bevan, while in this meeting it is thought Ashley found out from Llambias of the row and attempted to contact Keegan. On 4 September 2008, Keegan resigned from the club following days of talks with the board of Newcastle United headed by Llambias. This led to prolonged protests by fans directed chiefly against Ashley and Wise, being dubbed the "Cockney
Mafia
." The club was warned by the League Managers Association on 5 September 2008 to develop a structure which would satisfy the next manager to replace Keegan to avoid a similar situation repeating itself and damaging the club's image.
On 14 September 2008 Ashley made a statement announcing he had put the club up for sale, a day after the first home game since Keegan's resignation, which Ashley did not attend. In his statement, Ashley stated "I have listened to you. You want me out. That is what I am now trying to do." He also stated that while he had the utmost respect for Keegan, he no longer wanted to subsidise the club due to believing it would not be safe for him or his family to attend matches in future. Ashley appointed Joe Kinnear
to take temporary full-time charge of the squad as he began his search for a new owner. In the following weeks, after an apparently unsuccessful trip to the Middle East
to reportedly solicit potential buyers, Ashley later instructed London law firm to handle the sale of the club. Ashley's actions and subsequent media coverage of fan reaction saw the creation of a new organisation, the Newcastle United Supporters Club
, to properly represent fan's views to any future board. Interest also mounted around the feasibility of a fan buyout of the club, seeing the launch of the Newcastle Fans United group. On December 28 Ashley announced that the club were no longer up for sale, after he had failed to find an acceptable buyer.
In January 2009, it was reported that interim manager Joe Kinnear had been offered a full time position at the club by Ashley. Kinnear however suffered heart trouble the following month, given leave by the club to recover. In April 2009 Ashley appointed Alan Shearer
to replace Kinnear as interim manager. Shearer however was unable to achieve more than 5 points from the 8 games he was in-charge, and on 24 May 2009 Newcastle United were relegated to the championship. Ashley apologised to Newcastle United F.C. fans on 25 May 2009 for the mistakes made throughout the season, but nonetheless praised all staff, including Shearer and Kinnear, for all their efforts throughout the season.
Since the club's relegation, Ashley struggled to find a buyer capable of providing proof of funds to purchase Newcastle United F.C. Throughout August and September 2009, local businessman Barry Moat was reported to have opened negotiation talks with Ashley. In October 2009, a premier league arbitration panel found the club guilty of "constructive dismissal" and Mike Ashley was made to pay Kevin Keegan £2,000,000 compensation plus interest for his mistreatment during the time at the club.
On 27 October 2009, Ashley took Newcastle United F.C. off the market after again failing to find a suitable buyer for the club. A Newcastle statement confirmed, "Mike Ashley is totally committed to the future success of Newcastle United and will be focused on gaining promotion back to the Premier League. Mike will put a further £20m into the club this week." The move to withdraw the sale proved questionable among many as he had stated little more than a week before that he regretted the purchase of the club and felt he never had the required stance and knowledge to own a football club. The club released future plans in the same statement, announcing the club would attempt to sell the club's stadium naming rights to raise funds to clear debts of the club, causing outrage among Newcastle fans across the world who felt the club would lose tremendous heritage with the name of St James' Park
changed. On 4 November 2009, it was announced that Ashley's own company would sponsor the stadium, rebranding it the "sportsdirect.com @ St James' Park Stadium" until the end of the season.
Upon broadcast of the BBC documentary, Mike Ashley Uncovered, his dealings at Newcastle United were detailed, with it being announced that he only discovered upon purchase of the club how much debt the club were in, and that it cost him another £100m upon purchase to steady the club's financial security, having not viewed the account books prior to purchase. Ashley and his representatives refused to comment, claiming the film produced a majority of inaccuracies.
In December 2010, Newcastle United sacked manager Chris Hughton
, in a controversial move that proved to be unopopular with many fans of the club, and led to Ashley being personally criticised for the decision.
Ashley again drew criticism on 31st January 2011, when the club agreed to sell Andy Carroll
to rival Premier League Club Liverpool F.C.
for £35,000,000, with no replacement. At a 1 February 2011, press conference, Pardew claimed Carroll had demanded the transfer, while the press claimed Carroll had said he'd been forced from the club.
Burnham, Buckinghamshire
Burnham is a village and civil parish that lies north of the River Thames in the South Bucks District of Buckinghamshire, and sits on the border with Berkshire, between the towns of Maidenhead and Slough. It is served by Burnham railway station in the west of Slough on the main line between London...
) is an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
millionaire
Millionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
retail entrepreneur in the sporting goods market. He is also the owner of Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
after paying around £135 million to buy the club.
Ranked 16th in the 2010/2011 version of the FourFourTwo Rich List with estimated wealth of £950 million, Ashley was seen as an intensely private person, who never attended industry functions or gave interviews. Philip Beresford
Philip Beresford
Philip Beresford is well-known as the compiler of the Sunday Times Rich List, compiled in January every year featuring the richest 100 people in the United Kingdom. He also does many interviews and new stories with many influential people. He is known as an expert on charitable giving by the...
, who compiles the annual Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
list, said neither he nor his staff have ever managed to contact Ashley, and describes him as "easily Britain's answer to the late Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
."
However, since Sports Direct International Plc
Sports Direct
Sports Direct International plc is a British retailing group. Founded in 1982 by former county squash coach Mike Ashley, the company is now the UK's largest sporting retailer through a number of retail subsidiaries and sports equipment brands. Although now a publicly traded company on the London...
went public, and his purchase of Newcastle United where he took to sitting in the stands with fans, Ashley has taken on a more public and accessible persona. However since the departure of Kevin Keegan
Kevin Keegan
Joseph Kevin Keegan, OBE is a former international footballer and former manager of the England national football team and several English clubs, most notably Newcastle United....
as manager and the club's relegation, Ashley has only made low key appearances when attending Newcastle matches.
Personal life
Ashley grew up in BurnhamBurnham, Buckinghamshire
Burnham is a village and civil parish that lies north of the River Thames in the South Bucks District of Buckinghamshire, and sits on the border with Berkshire, between the towns of Maidenhead and Slough. It is served by Burnham railway station in the west of Slough on the main line between London...
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, where his parents still live in a modest bungalow
Bungalow
A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many of these definitions include being detached, low-rise , and the use of verandahs...
. He was educated at Burnham Grammar School
Burnham Grammar School
Burnham Grammar School is a co-educational grammar school in Burnham, Buckinghamshire. It is a community school, which takes children from the age of 11 through to the age of 18. The school has approximately 1200 pupils....
.
In 1988 aged 24, he married Linda, a Swedish-born economics graduate, and the couple had three children: Matilda, Anna and Oliver. The family home was a former 16-bedroom hotel. The couple quietly divorced in 2003, agreeing one of the biggest settlements in British legal history, with Ashley reportedly handing over the family home, property and assets with total worth of £50m.
Little is known of Ashley's private life today. He is known to prefer casual dress of shirt and chino's or a track suit over a suit, and often carries his essential business tool of a mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
in a plastic carrier bag over a brief case. Thought to live alone in a large house on the edge of a Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
village, the building is hidden by trees, and CCTV cameras keep watch over the locked gates at the entrance to the half-mile drive. When the local newspaper attempted to find out more about him, they eventually resorted to placing an advert in their own pages appealing for information - No one responded.
Sports Direct
After leaving school at 16, he was a county level squash player. But after injury, he became a county-level squash coach. In the 1980s Ashley opened his first Sport and Ski shop in MaidenheadMaidenhead
Maidenhead is a town and unparished area within the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It lies on the River Thames and is situated west of Charing Cross in London.-History:...
followed by others in and around London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The chain expanded quickly funded by private money, and by the late 1990s had rebranded the chain Sports Soccer and opened over 100 stores across the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. As a sole trader and not having to file accounts at Companies House
Companies House
Companies House is the United Kingdom Registrar of Companies and is an Executive Agency of the United Kingdom Government Department for Business, Innovation and Skills . All forms of companies are incorporated and registered with Companies House and file specific details as required by the...
, little was known about him. The business became a limited liability
Limited liability
Limited liability is a concept where by a person's financial liability is limited to a fixed sum, most commonly the value of a person's investment in a company or partnership with limited liability. If a company with limited liability is sued, then the plaintiffs are suing the company, not its...
company in 1999.
Presently Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
based group Sports Direct International Plc
Sports Direct
Sports Direct International plc is a British retailing group. Founded in 1982 by former county squash coach Mike Ashley, the company is now the UK's largest sporting retailer through a number of retail subsidiaries and sports equipment brands. Although now a publicly traded company on the London...
, with headquarters in Shirebrook
Shirebrook
Shirebrook is a town in the Bolsover district of north-east Derbyshire on the border with Nottinghamshire, England. At the 2001 UK Census it had a population of 9,291 , 10,412...
, Mansfield
Mansfield
Mansfield is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the main town in the Mansfield local government district. Mansfield is a part of the Mansfield Urban Area....
has over 400 UK stores including the chains Sports World
Sports World
SportsDirect.com is a British sporting goods retailer, the primary retail asset of Sports Direct International plc. The company was formerly known as Sports World and before that Sports Soccer, but since 2007 branches of the chain have been rebranded as SportsDirect.com, the domain name of its...
, Lillywhites
Lillywhites
Lillywhites is a sports retailer based at Piccadilly Circus, London, United Kingdom. It is currently a division of Sports Direct International.-History:...
(acquired in 2002) and Gilesports. The group employs more than 20,000 people in the UK and at stores in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
. In 2006 it overtook JJB Sports
JJB Sports
JJB Sports plc is a United Kingdom sports retailer. It currently operates 251 stores in the UK and Ireland.- History :The sportshop chain was founded in 1971, when ex-footballer Dave Whelan acquired a single sports shop in Wigan. The original store was established by JJ Broughton in the early...
as the UK's largest sports wear retailer. In mid-2006 it was also revealed that Ashley had held talks with John Hargreaves
John Hargreaves
John Hargreaves is the founder and chairman of the large UK out-of-town discount clothing and homeware chain Matalan. He went into the retail business when he was only 16, and opened the first Matalan store in Preston in 1985...
, founder of Matalan
Matalan
Matalan is a British retailer that specialises in shoes and clothes. It was founded by John Hargreaves in 1985. It currently has 200 stores across the UK. The 200th store opened on 22 September 2006 in Croydon...
on both taking a 25% stake in the retail business and installing mezzanine floors in larger Matalan stores, on which Sports World outlets could be operated.
Ashley has made his money by buying brands. The first major brand he bought was Donnay. In February 2003 Ashley bought the Dunlop Slazenger
Dunlop Slazenger
Dunlop Slazenger was a sports equipment manufacturing company formed by BTR plc by consolidating the various sports brands acquired as part their take-over of Dunlop Holdings in 1985...
brand for £40 million, followed up by acquiring outdoor gear manufacturer Karrimor
Karrimor
Karrimor is a brand of outdoor and sports equipment and clothing. It was founded in 1946 by Charles and Mary Parsons with Grace Davies who hand-sewed cotton-duck cycle pannier bags from the upstairs of their Lancashire cycle shop....
in March 2003, Kangol
Kangol
Kangol is a British clothing company famous for its headwear.Founded in Cleator, Cumbria, England in 1938 by Jaques Spreiregen, Kangol produced hats for workers, golfers, and especially soldiers...
for £10 million, boxing brand Lonsdale, most of these brands were bought from distressed sellers. After considering a takeover, Ashley took a £9 million stake and signed a long-term deal with Umbro
Umbro
Umbro is an English sportswear and football equipment supplier based in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, England. The company is now part of Nike. Umbro designs, sources, and markets sport-related apparel, footwear, and equipment...
.
Ashley has a 29.4% stake in Blacks Leisure Group
Blacks Leisure Group
Blacks Leisure Group plc of Northampton, UK owns British outdoor retailers Blacks, Millets and Free Spirit. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE Fledgling Index.-Structure:It is based at , Northampton...
, the owner of Millets and Mambo, and is thought to hold stakes in JJB Sports
JJB Sports
JJB Sports plc is a United Kingdom sports retailer. It currently operates 251 stores in the UK and Ireland.- History :The sportshop chain was founded in 1971, when ex-footballer Dave Whelan acquired a single sports shop in Wigan. The original store was established by JJ Broughton in the early...
and 19% of JD Sports
JD Sports
JD Sports Fashion plc, more commonly known as just JD, is a sports-fashion retail company based in Bury, Greater Manchester, England with shops throughout the United Kingdom and with one in Ireland...
. "He likes to park his tanks on peoples' lawns", said one banker.
In late November 2006, a number of business newspapers reported that Ashley was looking at an IPO
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
of Sports World International. He hired Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...
, who initially valued the group at up to £2.5bn ahead of the flotation on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
.
On 31 January 2010, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
North East and Cumbria produced a 30min documentary detailing Mike Ashley's business successes and lows. Journalist Chris Jackson travelled to Thailand to visit the factory's in which Ashley's material for his brand of Lonsdale
Lonsdale
-People:*Angela Lonsdale*Bruce Lonsdale*Christopher Lonsdale*Corrine Lonsdale*David Lonsdale*Derrick Lonsdale*Earl of Lonsdale*Edmund Lonsdale*Frederick Lonsdale, English dramatist*Gordon Arnold Lonsdale*Gordon Lonsdale*Harvey Lonsdale Elmes...
is made. Neither Ashley or his representatives showed interest in taking part in the film, declaring that the film was producing a majority of inaccuracies. They did however state that they would be reviewing the film closely. No further comment has been made.
Whistleblower
Ashley turned whistleblower on industry rivals in 2000, handing the Office of Fair Trading evidence of business meetings held by sports retailers to fix the price of football shirts. Ashley attended a meeting at the Cheshire home of David Hughes, the chairman of now bankrupt rival Allsports. At the meeting Dave Whelan, the founder of JJB Sports, reportedly told Ashley: "There's a club in the north son, and you're not part of it."Newcastle United
On 23 May 2007, in a surprise move, Ashley bought Sir John HallJohn Hall (businessman)
Sir John Hall is a property developer in North East England. He is also life president and former chairman of Newcastle United.-Biography:...
's 41.6% stake in Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
at one pound per share, for a total cost of £55,342,223 via his company St James Holdings
St James Holdings
St James Holdings Limited is a company set up by tycoon Mike Ashley, specifically to acquire shares of Newcastle United Football Club. The company name is a reference to St James' Park, the stadium of Newcastle United.- 2007 – Newcastle United takeover bid :...
Ltd. Under the terms of UK takeover law, having purchased more than 30% of a listed company, he was obliged to make an offer to buy the remaining shares at the same or a greater price. On 31 May it was reported that the Newcastle board were considering Ashley's offer. On 7 June 2007 it was confirmed that chairman Freddy Shepherd
Freddy Shepherd
Freddy Shepherd , is an English businessman and the former chairman of Newcastle United football club.During his time at Newcastle, both as an active assistant to and later replacement of Sir John Hall as chairman for ten years, Shepherd proved an often outspoken and controversial figure, at times...
had agreed to sell his 28% share to Ashley, which left Ashley free to take control of the club. As of 15 June 2007, Ashley owned a 77.06% stake in Newcastle United, on course to withdraw the club from the stock exchange having surpassed the 75% threshold required. 100% acquisition was achieved in July with Ashley paying a total of around £134 million to buy the club. Ashley appeared to have saved the club from certain financial ruin by paying off large sums of debt inherited from the previous regime, although he was criticised for not doing due diligence
Due diligence
"Due diligence" is a term used for a number of concepts involving either an investigation of a business or person prior to signing a contract, or an act with a certain standard of care. It can be a legal obligation, but the term will more commonly apply to voluntary investigations...
when buying the club, as he subsequently revealed he had been unaware of issues such as the upfront payment of club finances such as the Northern Rock
Northern Rock
Northern Rock plc is a British bank, best known for becoming the first bank in 150 years to suffer a bank run after having had to approach the Bank of England for a loan facility, to replace money market funding, during the credit crisis in 2007. Having failed to find a commercial buyer for...
sponsorship, and the presence of outstanding liabilities for long past player transfers.
Ashley's ownership of the club was initially popular with fans, despite press scorn for his unconventional approach, by installing Chris Mort
Chris Mort
Christopher "Chris" Mort is an English lawyer and former chairman of Newcastle United Football Club.-Biography:Mort is a lawyer for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, where he is co-head of the leisure sector group and oversees relationships with companies in the gaming, holidays, hotels, pubs and...
as chairman to run the club, while Ashley acted as one of the fans, drinking in local bars and clubs, and watched the team from the stands with the supporters wearing the team shirt. This caused fierce local rivals Sunderland AFC to publicly refuse to give Ashley permission to wear it in the Stadium of Light
Stadium of Light
The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light has the fifth-largest capacity of any English football stadium. The stadium primarily hosts Sunderland A.F.C. matches...
corporate box for the November 2007 Tyne-Wear derby
Tyne-Wear derby
The Tyne and Wear derby is a local derby between the association football clubs Newcastle United and Sunderland. The derby is an inter-city rivalry in North East England with the two cities of Newcastle and Sunderland just ten miles apart. The first meeting of the two sides took place in 1883, with...
. Instead of donning more appropriate attire, Ashley chose to take his usual place among the travelling fans for the game. An apparent anomaly with the fans was the choosing 'Smith 17' as the number of his shirt, after a squad player Alan Smith he admired and 17 being a lucky number for Ashley. Ashley's popularity rocketed with the return of Kevin Keegan
Kevin Keegan
Joseph Kevin Keegan, OBE is a former international footballer and former manager of the England national football team and several English clubs, most notably Newcastle United....
on 16 January 2008 as manager to replace the previous regime's relatively unpopular choice Sam Allardyce
Sam Allardyce
Samuel "Sam" Allardyce , nicknamed "Big Sam", is an English football manager and former professional player. In June 2011 he was appointed as manager of West Ham United....
. His Smith 17 shirt was promptly replaced by a "King Kev 1" shirt.
On 30 August 2008 Ashley was shown on live television downing a pint of beer while with fans in the away stand during Newcastle's game against Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
in London, contravening Premier League licensing rules stating that alcohol may not be consumed in sight of the pitch. Ashley subsequently "received words of advice" from the police during the game. A Newcastle United statement declared that Ashley had been given the beer and told that it was non-alcoholic despite the fact that Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
do not sell non-alcoholic beer at their stadium. This was the beginning of the dispute between Ashley and the club's supporters.
As the transfer window closed at midnight 2 September, rumours started to appear in the press stating that Keegan was extremely unhappy with Director of Football Dennis Wise
Dennis Wise
Dennis Frank Wise is an English former football manager and player, and former Executive Director at Newcastle United....
' interference in team matters. The following morning Keegan had a meeting at St. James Park with Wise and Managing Director Derek Llambias
Derek Llambias
Derek Llambias is an English businessman and long-term associate and friend of both Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley and Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew.He is currently managing director of Newcastle United...
, it is unknown what exactly was said in the meeting but witnesses saw Keegan storm out of the meeting claiming to be sacked. Keegan drove to Manchester to consult with the League Managers Association
League Managers Association
The League Managers Association is the organisation which collectively represents all Premiership and Football League managers in English football...
chief-executive Richard Bevan, while in this meeting it is thought Ashley found out from Llambias of the row and attempted to contact Keegan. On 4 September 2008, Keegan resigned from the club following days of talks with the board of Newcastle United headed by Llambias. This led to prolonged protests by fans directed chiefly against Ashley and Wise, being dubbed the "Cockney
Cockney
The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...
Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
." The club was warned by the League Managers Association on 5 September 2008 to develop a structure which would satisfy the next manager to replace Keegan to avoid a similar situation repeating itself and damaging the club's image.
On 14 September 2008 Ashley made a statement announcing he had put the club up for sale, a day after the first home game since Keegan's resignation, which Ashley did not attend. In his statement, Ashley stated "I have listened to you. You want me out. That is what I am now trying to do." He also stated that while he had the utmost respect for Keegan, he no longer wanted to subsidise the club due to believing it would not be safe for him or his family to attend matches in future. Ashley appointed Joe Kinnear
Joe Kinnear
Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kinnear is an Irish football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Newcastle United....
to take temporary full-time charge of the squad as he began his search for a new owner. In the following weeks, after an apparently unsuccessful trip to the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
to reportedly solicit potential buyers, Ashley later instructed London law firm to handle the sale of the club. Ashley's actions and subsequent media coverage of fan reaction saw the creation of a new organisation, the Newcastle United Supporters Club
Newcastle United Supporters Club
The Newcastle United Supporters Trust, or the NUST, is a supporters trust consisting of fans of Newcastle United , an English football club. The prime role of the group is to "represent the interests of and provide a voice for the fans of Newcastle United"...
, to properly represent fan's views to any future board. Interest also mounted around the feasibility of a fan buyout of the club, seeing the launch of the Newcastle Fans United group. On December 28 Ashley announced that the club were no longer up for sale, after he had failed to find an acceptable buyer.
In January 2009, it was reported that interim manager Joe Kinnear had been offered a full time position at the club by Ashley. Kinnear however suffered heart trouble the following month, given leave by the club to recover. In April 2009 Ashley appointed Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer OBE, DL is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team...
to replace Kinnear as interim manager. Shearer however was unable to achieve more than 5 points from the 8 games he was in-charge, and on 24 May 2009 Newcastle United were relegated to the championship. Ashley apologised to Newcastle United F.C. fans on 25 May 2009 for the mistakes made throughout the season, but nonetheless praised all staff, including Shearer and Kinnear, for all their efforts throughout the season.
Since the club's relegation, Ashley struggled to find a buyer capable of providing proof of funds to purchase Newcastle United F.C. Throughout August and September 2009, local businessman Barry Moat was reported to have opened negotiation talks with Ashley. In October 2009, a premier league arbitration panel found the club guilty of "constructive dismissal" and Mike Ashley was made to pay Kevin Keegan £2,000,000 compensation plus interest for his mistreatment during the time at the club.
On 27 October 2009, Ashley took Newcastle United F.C. off the market after again failing to find a suitable buyer for the club. A Newcastle statement confirmed, "Mike Ashley is totally committed to the future success of Newcastle United and will be focused on gaining promotion back to the Premier League. Mike will put a further £20m into the club this week." The move to withdraw the sale proved questionable among many as he had stated little more than a week before that he regretted the purchase of the club and felt he never had the required stance and knowledge to own a football club. The club released future plans in the same statement, announcing the club would attempt to sell the club's stadium naming rights to raise funds to clear debts of the club, causing outrage among Newcastle fans across the world who felt the club would lose tremendous heritage with the name of St James' Park
St James' Park
St James' Park, known for sponsorship reasons as the Sports Direct Arena, is an all-seater stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United Football Club and is the sixth largest football stadium in the United Kingdom with a capacity of between 52,387 and 52,409.St James'...
changed. On 4 November 2009, it was announced that Ashley's own company would sponsor the stadium, rebranding it the "sportsdirect.com @ St James' Park Stadium" until the end of the season.
Upon broadcast of the BBC documentary, Mike Ashley Uncovered, his dealings at Newcastle United were detailed, with it being announced that he only discovered upon purchase of the club how much debt the club were in, and that it cost him another £100m upon purchase to steady the club's financial security, having not viewed the account books prior to purchase. Ashley and his representatives refused to comment, claiming the film produced a majority of inaccuracies.
In December 2010, Newcastle United sacked manager Chris Hughton
Chris Hughton
Christopher William Gerard "Chris" Hughton is a professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Birmingham City F.C....
, in a controversial move that proved to be unopopular with many fans of the club, and led to Ashley being personally criticised for the decision.
Ashley again drew criticism on 31st January 2011, when the club agreed to sell Andy Carroll
Andy Carroll
Andrew Thomas "Andy" Carroll is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Liverpool and the England national team....
to rival Premier League Club Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
for £35,000,000, with no replacement. At a 1 February 2011, press conference, Pardew claimed Carroll had demanded the transfer, while the press claimed Carroll had said he'd been forced from the club.