Things could be a lot worse for NUFC

Jan 13 2010 By Andrew Hebden, The Journal

IT is, of course, no coincidence that the mounting anger over Manchester United's financial woes coincides with a slump in form and humiliating exit from the FA Cup at the hands of their bitter rivals.

Here in the North East we don’t have to look far to find another example of a football club where fans’ anger over the ownership structure has been noticeably quelled by an upturn in fortunes on the pitch. Rest assured, should the second half of Newcastle United’s season fail to result in the expected return to the Premier League, critics of the Mike Ashley regime will become vocal once more.

Having said that, the disenchantment expressed by Manchester United supporters is well merited. As the excellent football journalist David Conn has been highlighting for some time now, the Glaziers’ ownership of a club once as successful financially as it is on the pitch has been a disaster for all those with an interest in its long-term wellbeing. In short, these American owners have turned a well-run ship into one burdened with so much debt that it is hard for anyone with an understanding of business to figure out just how it remains a going concern.

Fortunately for the Glaziers, they don’t just own any old football club and it is Manchester United’s special status in the game which will probably ensure it doesn’t become the next club to "do a Leeds United".

All the same, this week, the club’s owners began a "roadshow" spanning three continents designed to galvanise interest in a £500m bond issue, deemed the best way to secure the club’s financial position. With debts totaling some £699m, it had better prove successful.

The club’s supporters’ trust is right to accuse the controversial owners of doing little more than rearranging the deckchairs, but any further analogies with The Titanic are premature at the moment. You will find that Portsmouth FC – cast adrift at the foot of the top division – have already been cast in that role.

When controversial former Birmingham City owner David Sullivan predicted yesterday that a Premier League club will go bust sooner rather than later, he was probably referring to the South Coast club, whose Saudi owner Al Faraj has never even visited Fratton Park (although West Ham are facing a similarly uncertain future just now).

It was a state of affairs that Pompey’s executive director Mark Jacob valiantly tried to defend during a radio interview at the weekend, but with little success. You were left almost sympathising with the man who has been left as the spokesman for an owner who is about as committed to the footballing success of Portsmouth FC as the average Southampton season ticket holder.

Pompey’s plight has prompted demands from the Professional Footballers’ Association that the club’s owner steps out of the shadows. It seems a reasonable expectation that someone who takes ownership of a football club should be prepared to show their face.

All of the recent concerns surrounding foreign ownership of clubs brings us neatly back to the situation at St James’ Park. After the failed attempts by Mr Ashley to offload the club to a foreign investor last year, perhaps fans may agree it is a case of better the devil you know?