Five years ago today Mike Ashley finally sold Newcastle United as a consortium consisting of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the Reuben family and Amanda Staveley and PCP Partners ushered in a new era for the club.
After 14 years of mediocrity while owned by the Sports Direct magnate, Newcastle's rise in the years since has been rapid. The Magpies have twice qualified for the Champions League, reached two cup finals and ended their 70-year domestic trophy drought by winning the Carabao Cup in 2025.
Staveley's Departure from Newcastle
Across the first two-and-a-half years of the new ownership, Staveley was seen as the public face of the hierarchy and together with head coach Eddie Howe was seen as the spearhead of a revolution. Newcastle went from relegation candidates to the Champions League inside 18 months and the pair shared an excellent relationship. Staveley was seen as a symbol of hope to a lot of the fanbase but her time on Tyneside came to a sudden halt.
Staveley and her husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi agreed to sell their shares in July 2024 and leave the club as PIF became 85% shareholders and the Reuben family upped their stake in the club to 15%. At the time, Staveley insisted she would remain a Newcastle fan 'for life' and described it as an 'honour' to have been co-owner of the club. Since then, a lot has happened at Newcastle but also for Staveley, as she looks to get back into football ownership.
Emotional Return to the Spotlight
14 months after her departure from St James' Park, Staveley appeared on the High Performance Podcast in September 2025 to offer her reflections on her time at Newcastle, presenter Jake Humphrey read out a message from a Magpies fan page and Staveley could not hide her emotions.
The message read: "We are grateful for the investment, for the progress on the pitch and finally being able to see our club compete again but a football club is more than just a business. It is a community, it is a family and families thrive on communication, warmth and understanding. Without wor Mandy leading the charge in that regard Newcastle United risks losing a vital connection with its soul - the loyal, passionate black-and-white army. For the club to rediscover its voice, to reconnect with its fans and to bring back some of that much needed warmth that Amanda Staveley so brilliantly provided."
When Humphrey asked Staveley how that made her feel she could not hold back the tears. "That's really hard. God, sorry," Staveley replied. "That is really hard because that is really lovely and that is why I went into Newcastle because the fans are just so incredible and they really are. Leaving was the hardest thing I have ever done and took a long time to understand and do what is right for the club and PIF is going to be an incredible partner for Newcastle, and the Reubens. We left it in very safe hands. There are so many great people with great hearts who put so much into that club and into the community and in to everything about it. So for me it was a privilege. Every day I would go to work and think 'God, I am so lucky to do this job'."
Failed Bids for Spurs and West Ham
Around about the time of that appearance on High Performance, Staveley was linked with a credible interest in a takeover of Tottenham Hotspur. The Telegraph reported at the time that her PCP International Finance consortium failed in a bid to buy the club following the announcement that Daniel Levy had stood down as Spurs' Executive Chairman in September 2025.
Spurs confirmed in a statement that it had "received, and unequivocally rejected, separate preliminary expressions of interest in relation to proposals to acquire the entire issued, and to be issued, share capital of ENIC from (i) PCP International Finance... and (ii) a consortium of investors led by Dr. Roger Kennedy and Wing-Fai Ng through Firehawk Holdings Limited". "The Board of the Club and ENIC confirm that Tottenham Hotspur is not for sale and ENIC has no intention to accept any such offer to acquire its interest in the Club."
Undeterred from her failed Spurs bid, Staveley sought to buy West Ham United in the summer of 2026, with the allure of awakening another sleeping giant after the Hammers' relegation from the Premier League said to have been of great appeal to the financier. In July, the Gold family reached an agreement to sell their 25 per cent stake in the Hammers to Staveley and she was spotted, alongside husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi, taking in West Ham's 4-2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at the London Stadium last month.
But that prompted a process where existing shareholders in the club had the opportunity to buy the Gold family's shares and that opportunity was taken up by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, who became the majority shareholder in the club after increasing his stake to 46 per cent. As such, Staveley could not act upon the agreement she had previously struck with the Gold family and she released a statement explaining why she was not able to acquire a stake in the Championship side.
"We are obviously disappointed not to have been successful in our bid to acquire the 25% shareholding in West Ham United," Staveley said. "For transparency our original offer was for both David Sullivan’s 38.8% stake and Vanessa Gold’s 25.1% stake in the Club. There was always the potential that the other shareholders would take up their rights under the shareholders’ agreement, which is what they have elected to do. From the outset we and our global investment partners approached this opportunity with enormous respect for West Ham, its history, identity and most importantly loyal and committed supporters. We saw real potential to make a positive difference, rejuvenate the club and help West Ham compete consistently at the highest level of English football. Mehrdad and I along with our partners retain the greatest respect for the West Ham community who supported us both in the stands and online in recent weeks. We will continue to follow this process closely. Our ambitions for the club remain and we would be open to the opportunity to work constructively with the existing shareholders in the future, subject to us not taking up other opportunities that have been presented to our consortium over the past week."
What Happens Next?
It is unclear what those 'other opportunities' are but what is clear is that Staveley and Ghodoussi have an appetite to get back into football ownership and should similar situations to Spurs and West Ham arise, they will be ready to move if the project is the right one.
In recent weeks and months, Staveley has been remaining active with public appearances at an event organised by organised by The Citi Women London Network, the IWG Summit in Birmingham and just yesterday at The New Economics of Women's Sport panel at Sportico's Invest in Sports London. Today she was at Leaders at Stamford Bridge event, giving her verdict on the Manchester City charges, having played a role in brokering Sheikh Mansour's now controversial purchase of the club.
She retains a huge bond with Newcastle United and its fans and was present when they won the Carabao Cup at Wembley last year. But the fire clearly burns for another opportunity and she could wound up at one of their rivals in the near future.
