Sir John Hall has revealed he feels uneasy at Newcastle United being known as the world’s richest football club. A £300million deal to buy the Magpies was completed last October - with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia acquiring an 80% stake.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, the former owner admits to feeling ‘hope’ that United may finally win a trophy but remains sceptical about state-backed ownership. Hall has called for the ‘powers that be’ to legislate English football amid government approval for an independent regulator.
Following the fan-led review in the aftermath of the European Super League fiasco, proposals to hand governance of the game to an independent body were announced this week and should come into effect by 2024. Ex-Magpies chairman Hall - who saved the club from bankruptcy and relegation to the third tier in 1992 - believes more needs to be done and wants restrictions on dubious foreign ownership.
He said: “It's time for the powers that be to sit down and say, 'How do we control football?'. When billion-pound TV deals came in, football started to appeal to a different type of investor - people who know money. They're not interested in the sport. It's another means to make another billion.
“When people say, 'Newcastle is the richest club in the world', I shudder. I don't want to be known as that. There is more to life than money - it is how we use it. If you're not going to ban (state-funded ownership), you have to put restrictions on it. Too much money is leaving the game. How can we use that in a better way?
“For me, the Premier League and Government have a responsibility to put a taxation on transfer fees and put money back into the sport. Sadly, I cannot see any system stopping it at the moment.
"It is the greed of the clubs trying to break away from the Premier League that horrifies me. I hear they are still trying to challenge it. Stuff them, I say.”
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