The main stand had virtually emptied by the time Yasir al-Rumayyan and his four bodyguards walked slowly down the concrete steps leading from the directors’ box to the St James’ Park pitch. As the Newcastle chairman’s entourage headed on towards the tunnel en route for the home dressing room, the handful of journalists still in the ground feared for Eddie Howe.
It was early January 2022, Newcastle had just lost 1-0 at home to League One Cambridge United in the FA Cup and Rumayyan was over from Riyadh, checking on the progress made since the club’s controversial Saudi Arabian‑led takeover three months earlier.
