The Good Shepherd has made Newcastle United rich and famous
I know most Newcastle fans (at least the ones we hear from) may not be too fond of Freddy Shepherd and the job he has done for nearly 10 years - come December 1st - as chairman of Newcastle United. But from a bigger perspective Shepherd has actually some major achievements in getting the Newcastle United brand well established around the world.
In the next few years football in general - and the Premiership league in particular - is going to be bigger than ever. It’s already started with the new global TV deal.
Here in the USA they put some 4-5 Premiership games a week on the Fox Soccer Channel – which is dedicated to soccer over here (it’s called soccer here so as not to get confused with American Football). The Premiership games are becoming very popular – particularly with the American youngsters - who play soccer over here as an organized sport at weekends.
One of the major jobs of any chairman is to raise the profile of their football club – globally - and while we would all like the profile raising at Newcastle United being by winning major trophies – which continues our major goal – nevertheless there have been other ways in which Newcastle’s profile has been raised - over the last few years - to make the club one of the top clubs in the world.
In the latest Deloitte Football Money League for the 2005-2006 season (released in February of this year) the total revenue of the world’s Top 20 clubs is now over €3.3 billion – and Newcastle are 13th in terms of total annual revenue (85.9M pounds) and also 13th in actual capital value (how much the club would cost to buy) – not bad for a club that hasn’t won anything for close to forty years.
Here’s the Deloitte Football Money League. :
There are a number of things that Shepherd has achieved that have significantly added to the value of the Newcastle United brand worldwide.
- Helped to get St. James’ Park stadium expanded from 36,000 capacity to 52,000 while making it one of the best football stadiums in Europe.
- Created one of the most outstanding training facilities anywhere in the world at Little Benton
- Placed Newcastle as the central team in the film Goal! The Dream Begins (2006) – beating out both Manchester United and Liverpool.
The film was successful and seen throughout the world (also shown here in the USA – my wife (a Geordie) thought it was great) and it added positively to Newcastle’s image around the world.
- Always backed his managers with money for transfers – even when it wasn’t available.
It’s not Freddie’s fault that money has been spent on players who should never have been bought in the first place. Also attracts the best players to the club by paying the going wages (even when some of them don’t earn it – like this season).
- Bought Michael Owen with a coup from under the noses of his former team, Liverpool – when everyone was almost laughing at Newcastle’s bid to capture Owen.
The Newcastle group (that included Shepherd, Shearer and Souness) took Michael to a country home and wowed him with the potential greatness of Newcastle United and the fact that living in Newcastle is a great place to raise a family (not always an easy sell to be truthful).
Owen is the biggest signing by United since Alan Shearer and while obviously it hasn’t paid off yet - we are all waiting to watch Michael drive Newcastle forward in the next couple of years.
- Recently announced a 300M pounds ground expansion that will roll out in a three-stage plan to include a major conference room, a hotel and luxury apartments. This will be paid by the Newcastle Council and private business and no money will be paid out by the club – what a deal for both the club and the city of Newcastle!
The ground capacity will rise from 52,000 to at least 60,000 thereby keeping St James’ Park amongst the finest stadiums in Europe.
- Finally we have got the youth program going – under the initial watchful eye of Glenn Roeder – so we can capture the great players that emanate from the north-east.
Hopefully we will no longer have to watch locally raised talent play for other teams – as in the past. Players like the Charlton Bothers, Alan Shearer, Brian Robson, Michael Carrick and the like will now be captured (and retained by the club – potentially saving a fortune in transfer fees.
The youth team has reached the semi-finals of the youth cup two years running now – with the other three teams in the semi-finals this year being Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal (not bad company to be in).
A report on Newcastle’s youth policy is posted on the Newcastle United blog.
While there is obvious and justified frustration and anger about the playing side of the club - Freddie Shepherd should be complimented on running the business side of Newcastle United Football Club with some notable successes.
That fact is supported by Newcastle United being one of the best known clubs world-wide.
Just think what it will be like when we actually starting winning things.
Read other Newcastle United stories on Ed Harrison’s blog dedicated to Newcastle United.
- Newcastle bag Rozehnal but lose Bakari to Arsenal
- Newcastle board to resign / we need more defenders / 11 Dicks on the field
- Ashley to kick out Newcastle board
- Newcastle after Baye, Sam has keys to the vault
- Newcastle after Bent, Rozehnal in for 4 years
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What a rubbish, lightweight article. Are you Alan Oliver in disguise?
1. The stadium is bigger, pretty basic stuff nothing exceptional about that, loads of clubs have increased their capacity or have built brand new stadiums
2. Built a training ground, nothing out of the ordinary we should have already had one anyway! To use that as an example of his ‘amazing’ work is a bit like Gordon Ramsay boasting that all his customers get a plate with their meal.
3. We were in a bad film coz Adidas make our kit the same as Real Madrid in the sequel. Man Utd wear Nike, Adidas put money up for the film, so no clashing brands allowed. Also whilst Man Utd and Liverpool actually have success, Fat Fred just pretends to in a film. Is that your mark of success?
4. He’s given managers money to spend at times (Our money by the way not his), but he certainly hasn’t backed them. Read Sir Bobby’s book and see how he repeatedly tried to flog players behind his back. Also Remember when we qualified for the CL and only got Bowyer in on a free? Remember the “Keeping our powder dry” shite? Now that would have been the time to spend £50m instead of giving it to Souness to piss up the wall in a vain attempt to buy his way out of trouble.
5. Yes got in Owen, but he only came so he could keep his place in the England team during World Cup year. Also that sums up his approach, he loves a big popstar signing, not too keen on the boring building a squad part of it hence our weakness in many positions. Other teams parade trophies, we parade trophy players. Also paid far too much with £17m of overdraft.
6. So we bolt a hotel onto the Gallowgate so what? The team is going down the toilet, we haven’t even been filling the stadium this year, especially for cup games. Many people are talking of giving up their season tickets, so how we’ll fill 60,000 god knows.
7. Yes the youth policy does seem to be turning out players, but Roeder was supposed to be in charge of that, planning for the next 10 years ahead etc. All very well and good but he’s not doing that now coz Fat Fred wanted a manager on the cheap so that’s a perfect example of Shepherd’s ability to plan long term.
And as for the Football rich list if you look at that I think you’ll find we’re falling down the list every year.
Shepherd has been a disaster, in 10 years we’ve gone backwards. We were 2nd only to Man Utd and now look at us, not far off relegation & desperate to get into the Intertoto, this after he claimed 5th place wasn’t good enough. With him in charge we won’t win anything. Him and Hall (What does he do exactly?) have made themselves rich, they’ve done a great job for themselves not Newcastle United.
And I haven’t even mentioned Spanish Brothels, getting sued by his own supporters, or announced to the world “Man Utd are a rudderless ship” Yeah that’s right Fred you tell that lot where they’re going wrong! The man is a buffoon, everytime he appears in the media spouting yet more verbal dioharrea makes me cringe.
Try these sites
http://www.nufc-finances.org.uk
http://www.nufcmismanagement.info/
Shepherd Out!
he should stick to the admin. side of the club and leave football matters to a first class manager not a loser like roeder.
I don`t know who wrote this pap (maybe it`s Freddy himself )but to say your wide of the mark is a understatement.
Newcastle football club is widely regarded in Europe as a joke football club, a bit like them awful film`s “goal” and goal 2.
Couple of issues Ed Harrison has failed to tell you all…
They don`t own their own Ground they rent it off the council that is why they don`t have to stump up any of the £300 million for the regeneration because it`s not theirs.
They are £150 million in debt, so if you wanted to buy them it would cost £85.9M pounds + £150 debt for a club with No ground to call there own.
The Manager is the worst manager in Europe , with having had the last 3 team`s he managed relegated.
Michael Owen had to go to Newcastle because he needed to play club football in order to get fit to play for England for the World cup, Newcastle had to pay £5 million more than any other club to land him there they payed 17 million liverpool Fc refused to pay 12 million.
Their youth set up mirrors their first team…..Pant`s.
And as for ” best football stadium in Europe” if you could picture half a Monster truck welded to a corvette then you would have some idea of what the stadium look`s like.
But dont take my word for it google “St james park” you will see what i mean…Ed Harrison you sir are a liar.
what a bunch of miserable blokes you lot are - r u mackems, i think so! one thing is for sure, you aint supporters, not real ones anyway. you should also do your homework a bit better on some of the things you say, for instance, the debt being 150 million (completley wrong). its actually bouncing around the 80 million mark with the club valued at slightly more. to buy the club you would have to stump up 80 million for the club and 80 for the debt, around 160 million in total. besides which, these clubs like to run in this way. Do you think man utd are a big club?? well, they are number 1 in the world rich list but have debts of over 300 million.
also the stadium id NOT owned by the council. as a matter of a fact, newcastle are constantly at war with the council over expansion plans, ever since the very begining of the club they have been at it logger heads. we were formed in 1892 but the ground was built in 1880 - 12 years earlier. we spent 12 years arguing over every last thing with the council. its been that way forever and always will be. they also blocked us on the new ground at the leazes. they stopped us having flood lights for ages and then when we got them made us turn them off at half time every match. If the council owned the bloody ground why would they submit plans to themselves and them spend years aguing over their own proposals, cumon lads!
ok, so what, we are mid table again, it would be nice to be higher i know and we should have been but its been a hard year for us, shearer finished and owen out for the season. its a club in a transitional period. roeder has done nothing wrong as far as i can see. Fergie was at man utd for five seasons doing crap and was constantly under the threat of getting sacked before he eventually turned it around. stability is key. we can not go around sacking managers every year (unless its souness that is). give roeder next season with a fit squad and one or two more fresh faces (one centre half and one left back i hope).
on a lighter note - do you like the knew strip???
Knew this article might be a little contentious - and this may be dangerous for my health - but here goes - will go through your points:
1&2. We have one of the very best stadiums and training grounds in the Premiership - fact.
3. However we got into the film GOAL it was very successful and showed Newcastle United in a positive light(remember we haven’t won anything for nearly 40 years).
4. Agree with some of this - Shepherd hasn’t hired good managers - and that’s part of his job - agree with that.
But once the manager has been in place my point was he’s backed them - much like Quinn is doing now at Sunderland - difference of course is that Keane looks to be an emerging top class manager.
5. Think you underestimate Owen as a person - we can only hope he comes out firing big time for us next season (or even starting on Monday at Reading). It’s all been unfortunate with his injuries - not his fault.
Still think Owen is going to turn into great signing for us - but we’ll both have to wait and see on that one.
6. The expansion to the ground and hotels etc is great for the City - and for the club. There can now be major conferences there - which is good for the city and the club.
7. Reaching the semi-finals of the youth cup two years running is great start - and the new guys we have in charge of our youth team seem to know what they’re doing. The youth policy and the upgraded scouting system are two things we should have done years ago.
On the other comments - fully agree this season has been somewhat of a disaster - and think Roeder has only one more year to get us back into Europe and hopefully a top six place - otherwise we need to get in another manager - and seems like Shearer is tied up at the BBC for next 4 years.
Believe me - I’m as anxious to have success at Newcastle as anybody
But if you research the history of football - more clubs win things in darker strips than lighter ones.
Yes - your right - for a laugh
I just made that up!
All power to you Ed for being upbeat. Though I must question how good that training ground really is if these injuries keep coming thick and fast.
I do think that Roeder isn’t especially suited to hands on management, he’d be better suited as a director of football and the blooding of the youth players, with a greater motivator as the manager instead - I’m thinking Shearer.
The key is steadying the ship before making the changes. Too much flux won’t get a club anywhere - for instance Man United during the wilderness years. All that’s needed is a catalyst (not necessarily money - though that helps).
Here’s a piece I wrote obn Sheaere as manager and Roeder becoming Director of Football - surprised but it didn’t get many comments…
http://soccerlens.com/when-will-alan-shearer-manage-newcastle-united/14291347.html
Heard that Alan Shearer has said this week he will honor BBC contract - which has 4 years still to go - that’s a bit far off - so if Glenn doesn’t hack it next season - we will have to get someone else in before Shearer.
Personally - I hope Glenn makes a success of it - his heart is certainly in the right place.
Ed, I’m sorry if I came across a bit too aggressive and slagging you off, you know I didn’t mean that, I just disagree with the article. I’m sure we could go out and have a few pints and get drunk together and have a laugh.
But, as for your response:
1&2 I agree with you we do have one of the best grounds and training facilities now, but for a chairman to do that, it’s just basic competence. my point was its not a sign of a brilliant chairman doing a great job.
3. Yes we were in a film, but so what.? By the time it came out us and Real Madrid had turned shite. My point was that no matter how many stunning shots of the Northumbria coastine you have, people in China, Thailand etc watch the Champions League, they see teams doing well buy the merchandise of those teams. How many people who saw Goal! thought “yes I want to support the 12th team in the premiership”. Success on the pitch dictates everything at a football club.
4. I don’t think you’ve addressed any of the points I made, he’s backed them financially at times and that’s it. He gave Dalglish £15m to spend and sacked him after 2 draws! What about the point I made about the sale of Speed & Bowyer behind Sir Bobby’s back? The man is a buffoon with terrible decision making.
5. Now don’t get me wrong Owen is a great signing, but that’s what Shepherd likes a big name who”ll sell shirts. And I don’t think he would have left Real Madrid if it hadn’t been a world cup year. But why are the only left backs we have Babayaro and Bernard? He’ll find the money for an Owen but not squad building. And Owen will play in the last 3 games, Fred’s got to get people to renew their season tickets and flog the new strip.
6. Yes so Allied Dunbar may have the odd yearly sales meeting at our new amazing conference centre, but if we can’t fill a 52,000 stadium where are the extra 8,000 going to come from when the team is doing shite?
7. The youth team is doing well, its great to see them coming through, but the point I was making is, Roeder was doing a great job and suddenly he’s gone from that position. Shepherd has no ability to plan for the future. He’s reactive not proactive.
And this season has been a disaster, and I don’t want to be too negative, if we’d done this in the 80’s, getting into europe, staying up we’d be dancing in the street. And the 90’s up to now has probably been one of the most consistent periods in our history. But what makes it so shit is the position of strength we were in when Shepherd took over and the decline since.
Oh well if I get a cheap flight to the states can I stop at yours?
Glenn
Shearer is not going to have much to do though at the BBC considering the fact that they have lost to ITV the highlight show.
Went to St. James for the first time in ten years. Superb stadium took two little monsters who really enjoyed themselves.
FF needs to ensure that we win something though otherwise his tenure will be poorly remembered. So far it looks like hes just built something to sell not to win trophies
Ed and Chris its clear from your post`s that you must be on the pay role of Mr Shepherd and are posting this nonsense on a American site in the vain hope of Trying to make Nufc look good.
Chris`s Quote: you should also do your homework a bit better on some of the things you say, for instance, the debt being 150 million (completely wrong). its actually bouncing around the 80 million mark. WRONG
I know the debt closer to £200 million but Newcastles daily newpaper (The Chronicle)which is PRo Shepherd came out and admitted it was £150 million The Chronicle`s the sites online if you care to look .
And as for you Ed and your Picture at the top, to have a man that openly laugh`s in the face of decent people of newcastle , bragging about how much he rips off the fan`s, and how the females of the city look like dog`s while he cavort`s in brothels in spain, dressed as a priest just show`s what a prig you are.
Ed`s quote: took Michael to a country home and wowed him with the potential greatness of Newcastle United and the fact that living in Newcastle is a great place to raise a family (not always an easy sell to be truthful).
The Truth of the matter Ed Newcastle has some beautiful countryside around it , the reason they have to pay over the odd`s for player`s/manager`s is that no one decent is willing to work/play for Freddy Shepherd and his cohort`s, for the Americans who are reading this , it would be like “boss Hogg from the Dukes of Hazzard running your favourite
Baseball/football team.
1) Craig said that about the debt, not me.
2) I’m fairly sure that this site is UK based, not American. Ed’s based in the US, yes, but he’s Geordie through and through.
3) Roeder only got West Ham relegated, and that happened whilst he had a brain tumour.
4) I’m a lifelong Man United fan, so there goes that shit about me being on Shepherd’s pay role.
rayne wooney that would be a play on words right! Fat bloke scores some good goals, used newcatle quite nicely to raise his own deal at man u. your beining to sound like a man u fan who has got boss hogg running his football club. As our academy players start to come through and were already seeing the benifits then newcastle will become again a force in world football. Considering we have not won much for some time we,ve still won more than most and never been lower than the 2nd tier. Not sure why we are always refered to as wannabes. We were and we will be again, its just a matter of when.
I was born and bred in St. Anthony’s estate - Newcastle - between Walker and Byker - and went to school initially at Wharrier Street primary school and was in Newcastle until I was 26.
You know when that happens you are a Geordie and Newcastle fan forever!
I’m very proud to have Newcastle - and that of my kids (who were born here in the States) - as our heritage - (my wife is from Newcastle) and am very well aware of the beautiful craggy countryside between Newcastle and Berwick.
Kind of knew this would be a contentious article - but let’s try to keep it civil (well as civil as possible as we debate and argue) - I don’t condone Shepherd and Hall’s behavior in Spain at all - it was an absolute disgrace - but I was pointing out some good things I think Shepherd has done - Newcastle United is a lot more known and liked - globally - than you may know or even believe - for me that’s good.
Don’t know why everyone seems to be so offended by this article. At least someone on this website is trying to be positive about our club which makes a change. (if you’ve read pretty much any article written by Ahmed Bilal then you’ll understand)
Just to keep it short: If you don’t have a clue about what you have decided to write about don’t put it into the public domain where it will insult and anger those of us who spend vast amounts of money following the club. Yes Shepherd is great woohooo he allowed all HIS bad appointments waste our money without putting any of his own in. He, being the only top flight chairman to take out more than he puts in. Please do research before talking tripe. Thanks.
Ed - didn’t know you held such controversial views
Here is a link to the Evening Chronicle Rayne (what a name!) is talking about - written by Adam Jupp and Lee Ryder.
http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/newcastleunited/news/tm_headline=part-2%2D-report-on-the-situation-at-united%26method=full%26objectid=18935346%26siteid=50081-name_page.html
Specifically our total liabilities are 152.7m. and of that about £80.9m can be considered as the total debt.
You need to rename the article, try plain and simply “Whitewash.”
Heres something to look at http://www.nufcmismanagement.info/Shepherd_Letter.pdf