Newcastle United fans take protests to Sports Direct as tensions with Mike Ashley worsen

With tensions between fans and owner worsening in the past week, Newcastle United supporters will protest outside Sports Direct in the city later.

Fan groups have come together and formed the Magpie Group, with the aim of ousting of Ashley.

It comes after Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah started a petition, calling for owners to stop exploiting clubs - quoting Mike Ashley as an example.

Ashley replied to that petition, in the form of a letter to Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright, saying it was wholly inaccurate.

Mike Ashley’s letter to Jeremy Wright MP in full:

Dear Mr Wright,

Re: Petition - Football Club Ownership/Chi Onwurah MP

I am writing to you in relation to the above petition, which was presented to Parliament on July 24, 2018 by Chi Onwurah, Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central. A copy of the petition can be found in Hansard via the link contained in the footnote below.

The petition presents a wholly inaccurate assessment of the situation at Newcastle United. I was therefore disappointed that, to the best of my knowledge, Ms Onwurah made no attempt, in advance of presenting the petition, to contact or engage with me, or anybody at Newcastle United.

As owner of Newcastle United, I have provided the club with interest-free loans, the outstanding balance of which as at today’s date is £144million, whilst I also cleared all of its third-party debts, which stood at £76m in 2006/07 and incurred finance costs of £6.5m that existed when I purchased the club. This enabled Newcastle United to establish an affordable ticket-pricing policy for fans. This includes a number of season-ticket prize-freeze schemes, which allows over 20,000 supporters to secure their ticket at a significantly-reduced rate every season.

We operate numerous community-engagement programmes through our Foundation, who met with your predecessor Matt Hancock MP earlier this summer to discuss our work. I enclose below a link to the Foundation’s most-recent annual report for your information. Having attended Foundation Events on many occasions over the past few years, Ms Onwurah should be well placed to have a detailed understanding of the extensive good work our Foundation does within the community.

Our training facilities have improved significantly during my tenure. They are fit for purpose and very clearly do not have a negative impact on performance, given we secured a place within the top 10 of the Premier League last season.

Furthermore, my continued financial support, the huge contribution of the world-class manager we retained, together with the fantastic efforts of our players and staff, enabled the club to swiftly recover from relegation in 2017. This contrasts starkly with the experiences of clubs such as Aston Villa and Sunderland, and, less recently, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest.

In my opinion, the Parliamentary petition is an irresponsible and misleading attempt by a small number of MPs to create a media circus by portraying me as a pantomime villain. Following publication of the petition, an unprecedented volume of unacceptable abuse was directed towards staff at Sports Direct and its associated companies, via social media, email and telephone. This included digital material of an obscene nature, incitement to commit criminal damage, and language that was clearly intended to intimidate and harass staff. We are in the process of bringing examples of this behaviour to the attention of police.

I would therefore be grateful if you could take into account all of the above factors whilst considering any response that the Government may wish to make to the petition. I would be happy to provide written answers to any questions that you may have, not only about football ownership, but also about the manner in which the petition was presented and its subsequent repercussions.

Best wishes,

Mike Ashley

Owner - Newcastle United

In response, Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah said:

“I am pleased that Mr Ashley has finally decided to speak about his investment in Newcastle United, even if it is to the Secretary of State rather than the numerous fans, media and others who have attempted to engage with him over the years. My own attempt is here. His office responded by instructing me not to contact him again.

"However, his letter does not address the central point: the lack of investment in Newcastle United players which has left the club with one of the lowest net spend figures in the Premier League.

"The petition I presented is merely a reflection of the concerns and strength and depth of feeling of so many Newcastle United fans who contacted me as their Member of Parliament. I was particularly concerned by the ‘If Rafa Goes, We Go’ petition, knowing how important role Newcastle United plays in the lives of many of my constituents I do not feel they should have to choose between their club and its ownership. A quick review of social media will show the petition was received overwhelmingly positively received by fans unable to get Mr. Ashley's attention by other means.

“I’m very upset to hear that abuse has been directed at Sports Direct staff. I invite Mr. Ashley to join me in my longstanding efforts ensure the proper regulation of social media. However Mr. Ashley knows very well that the calls to boycott Sports Direct existed long before my petition and are generally connected to his appalling behaviour as a business owner rather than his record as a football club owner.

"Also at no time have I criticized the Newcastle United Foundation which does wonderful work in the community and whose funding is not, as Mr Ashley implies, entirely a consequence of his ownership.

“I will be writing to the Secretary of State, Jeremy Wright, to offer a meeting with myself and Newcastle United fans so he can judge for himself the depth of feeling on this issue and the crucial importance of football to my constituents

"Finally Mr Ashley knows I am a fan of Newcastle United as well as the MP for St James' Park. I boycotted the ground for three years because of his choice of Wonga as a sponsor. I admit to being motivated in part by my support for the club and desire to see beautiful Premiership football continue to be played at St James Park."