Amanda Staveley has made a name for herself as a background puller, now she is to rebuild Newcastle United. Who is the woman who should turn a gray mouse into a top address in Europe?
Amanda Staveley has never had to worry about football clubs and how to run them. It almost happened twice, but four years ago and the spring before last, the takeover plans of PCP Capital Partners failed. A few weeks ago, the business went on for the third time and Amanada Staveley has been the most important woman at Newcastle United Football Club ever since.
The 48-year-old holds ten percent of the shares with her company, Reuben Brothers Sports & Media also owns ten percent and the biggest piece of the pie, 80 percent, belongs to the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF). The sheikhs send PIF boss Yasir Al-Rumayyan as the new chairman of the Magpies, and Jamie Reuben is appointed director. And Amanda Staveley a seat on the board of directors and the task of leading Newcastle United to the top of the Premier League in the first step. And to win the Champions League in the second, third or fourth step. But it’s not that far yet.
Amanda Staveley: Self-made millionaire with a bite
Amanda Staveley grew up in the best of circles. Father Robert is the inventor and founder of the Lighwater Valley Theme Park in Ripon, a town of 15,000 in North Yorkshire, mother Lynne a former show jumper and model. Amanda was ten years old when she first worked for money: in one of her father’s restaurants.
In addition to school, there is little time for hobbies, which is why she gives up jumping and athletics early. Despite being accepted, she does not even begin studying at the renowned Cambridge University: Instead, Amanda Staveley wants to start earning her own money as early as possible. With a quarter of a million euros on loan, she opens her own restaurant, Amanda Staveley is only 18 years old. The restaurant is your stepping stone into the business and financial elite in the Middle East. With her company Q.ton she operates worldwide, including with King Abdullah of Jordan.
A few years later, the liaison with Prince Andrew opens up entirely different possibilities. Staveley has been a public figure since then. At some point she comes into contact with the royal families in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In 2008, Staveley’s company arranged the deal between Barclays Bank and the Qataris, a four billion euro investment. Staveley allegedly collects a commission of 130 million euros for this. Just a few months later, Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan paved the way for the purchase of Manchester City.
In theory, Newcastle has 30 times as much money as ManCity
The second option, together with Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to buy 49 percent of Liverpool FC and thus to get a place on the boards of the Reds, fails. With a delay of twelve years, Staveley has now reached its destination. In Newcastle, with “the best team in the world, in the best league in the world,” like them Sky Sport News UK credibly assured. And what is not yet, should be soon.
“Newcastle deserve to climb to the top of the Premier League. We want to go there! It will take some time, but we will do it,” said Staveley. “We want to get to the trophies, in the Premier League, in Europe. But that also requires patience, investment and time.” Patience and time are scarce resources in professional football, but the Magpies should definitely not fail in the coming years due to the insufficient investment framework. Saudi Arabia’s PIF is filled to the brim with around 850 billion euros. That’s about 30 times the money the Manchester City owners have on their hands.
And because Amanada Staveley is now holding all the strings in Newcastle and the relationship with the royal family has grown over the years and both sides trust each other, it will be she who will more or less determine the course of the club in the near future. In the first step, she got rid of trainer Steve Bruce. He was allowed to make the 1,000th game of his coaching career against Tottenham and lose 2: 3. Then there was the “separation by mutual agreement”.
Working with one’s own husband
Now Staveley is building the new Newcastle United in the background – together with the only accomplice with whom she regularly and confidentially exchanges information: Mehrdad Ghodoussi is an Iranian businessman, managing director of PCP Capital Partners and, coincidentally, has also been the man in Amanda Staveley’s life for ten years . The two have a six-year-old son, and the family commutes between London and Dubai. Contact with the donors is always close and the decision-making process is as short as possible. Because there is a lot to do.
The stadium needs to be spruced up, “St. James’ Park needs a little love,” Staveley told the Guardian. The conditions at the club center with all training grounds and facilities are “terrible”, she sees “no chance of fantastic players if they have to train under these conditions”. Because that is what it is ultimately about, regardless of all the expenses for the infrastructure and a new coach: Newcastle United needs a new team. Currently, the Magpies are penultimate, threatening to crash into the championship.
“It excites us very soon to strengthen the squad. But of course we have to move within the limits of financial fair play. That is why it will take a while,” says Staveley. “But we want to invest at all levels. We want the best team we can get.” Of course, Staveley overheard the massive protests against donors from the Middle East, but was not surprised.
Staveley: “… that’s how I do business”
“Football connects everyone, that’s the great thing about this sport. I understand the reactions and questions about human rights and we treat it really appropriately. But I would never bring a partner into the consortium without a clean past and the PIF is opposite to them Saudi Arabian government autonomous and independent. Newcastle belongs to the PIF, not the Saudi state, “says Staveley in all appropriate diplomacy and then explains her very own approach again:” We are proud of the PIF: We need strong, courageous partners. And I love brave, passionate people. This is how I do business. “
Establishing contacts, convincing people, tackling challenges, doing business: That’s Amanda Staveley’s thing. Newcastle United is now their biggest project, probably the project of a lifetime. “NUFC is a pretty jewel,” she says, “and you really have to polish it up now.”
