The Athletic

Hello, I'm Flo Lloyd Hughes.

Welcome to the Athletic Football podcast.

Adam Crafton is alongside me.

The focus of today's pod is the takeover of Newcastle United by the Saudi Arabia financed consortium. We'll discuss the big decisions that need to be made by the new owners, the future of Steve Bruce, January spending and how to address the negative publicity surrounding the new owners and English football's obsession with money.

So let's start by looking at what the change of ownership means for Newcastle United on the pitch. We're joined now by Chris Waff, who covers Newcastle for the Athletic and also co-hosts Pod on the Tine.

First things first, I think you have to say, really, what is it like being in the city since the takeover was announced?

There's just been a renewed vibe.

I mean, we almost forget that sort of at the start of last week, Newcastle had just lost away at Wolverhampton Wanderers and had been awful.

And it felt almost the lowest it's been.

And that is saying something given how apathetic, angry, frustrated, disconnected Newcastle fans have felt for certainly the

last few years, if not longer, under the Mijashi regime.

And then by the end of the week, suddenly, Mike Ashi has gone, the moment that I think many

of them had come to think was possibly not going to happen or certainly not in the short term. And also new ownership, Mike Asch, she's gone. Perhaps the future of the football club could look very, very different. And so there was wonderful scenes outside St. James's Park on Thursday, even before the news was confirmed, but the news was confirmed at 5.18 p.m. And there was just, there was just there was flares going off, those people drinking.

There were just, it was just wonderful. And so many people that he's spoken to who have walked

away from the club, there have been thousands and thousands of fans who have refused to go

in the last few years in the Mike Asher regime. We've got parents and children hugging and talking

about being able to go back. And so from a purely footballing point of view, from that fact that fans have wanted this release of Mike Ashley going, it is just

been, yeah, it just feels like there's a new energy. Yeah, certainly, I mean, I was watching so

those clips on Sky Sports News, which were just like chaos, basically. Has there been a kind of

rise in ticket sales or shirt sales or anything like that

with people saying, right, I'm ready to come back now because of this news?

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