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Former Newcastle United co-owner Amanda Staveley has said she was “devastated” at leaving the club, but added that she “didn’t want to get in Newcastle’s way”.
Staveley, who helped to broker the £305m takeover of Newcastle in 2021, left earlier in July after herself and husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi sold their remaining stake in the club.
“I am devastated. It’s such a wonderful club, so it feels very bittersweet. It has become part of my DNA, something you love so much and don’t want to let go. It’s very painful,” Staveley said in an interview with The Athletic.
“I would wish to be there every day, but it’s also not fair. The club’s management team need to have the chance to deliver their business plan.
“We did a great job and it’s been a privilege to be part of it, but they need to be left to do their jobs, too,” she added.
Staveley originally took a 10 per cent stake in the Magpies alongside her husband, with the pair doing “pretty much every job” in the initial period after the takeover. The club later finished in the Premier League top four in her first full season at the helm.
“There just weren’t any staff so we were doing the commercial stuff, the director of football stuff, the buying, PR, fan engagement,” she explained.
“We were doing the role of the chief executive and the Premier League stuff, constantly fighting while trying to build a relationship with other clubs.”
The 51-year-old later emphasised that she had left Newcastle in “incredibly safe” hands, adding that “the club has all the ingredients” for future success under the Reuben family and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Staveley remains as the chief executive of investment fund PCP Capital Partners, and recent reports suggest the company has raised £500m while looking at other football-related investments, specifically the purchase of a minority stake in Tottenham Hotspur.
She told The Athletic that she couldn’t say much about those reports, but added that her “preference would have been to stay with Newcastle, but life doesn’t always work out exactly how you want it to. Nothing is going to replicate that”.
“I didn’t want to get in Newcastle’s way. It’s got to be about what’s best for Newcastle,” she added, though she didn’t rule out the possibility of becoming involved with another football club.
“Mehrdad and I are keen to be hands-on. We’re hard-working people, I love to be very busy and to engage and I love football.
“Very sadly, we have to move on to other projects and that might involve us taking a stake in another club or buying another club and that’s difficult. But it’s possible.
“I don’t know what my future holds, but you can never move on from the love I have for Newcastle.”
