Ups and downs of game
Biggest surprise inclusion of 2010? Well, Mike Ashley's still there. We look at the changing faces of North East sport over the past 12 months.
CAST your mind back to August 2009 and you may recall that it was not the best of times for North East sport.
The dust was just beginning to settle on Newcastle United and Middlesbrough’s relegation from the Premier League after a disastrous season for the two North East clubs – whilst Sunderland had narrowly avoided making it an unwanted treble for the region.
When the previous edition of the Most Influential 500 was published that month, our commentary suggested that Alan Shearer remained the hot favourite to assume the manager’s job at St James’ Park, despite his failure to keep his beloved Magpies in the top flight.
A change of face did seem likely in the boardroom, however, and we suggested that it could well be the last time that Mike Ashley appeared in this particular publication as he stepped up efforts to offload the club as relations between him and the supporters reached new depths.
Down the road in Teesside, we thought that Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate was pretty safe in his job given the renowned patience of his chairman Steve Gibson. And Middlesbrough seemed a pretty good bet to make a swift return to the Premier League whereas the chaos at St James’ Park left many Newcastle United fans fearing that their club could go the same way as Leeds United.
How wrong we were. Despite protracted negotiations over the summer, Shearer never did get the chance to put right the disappointment of his brief spell as manager and ultimately it fell to Chris Hughton to step in again as caretaker manager.
Whilst he has been at the club since 2008, he has not appeared in the Most Influential 500 before and is the highest-profile addition for 2010 after guiding the club to the Championship title with ease.
United have made a mixed start to life back in the top flight – but the likeable former Tottenham man should stick around for some time to come to plot the Magpies’ progress.
In contrast, the status of most troubled North East football club has perhaps shifted to Middlesbrough where Mr Gibson’s patience ran out unexpectedly quickly with Southgate, despite the club riding high in the Championship table at the time. Frustration at the team’s unconvincing performances and dwindling Riverside attendances prompted the chairman to fire Southgate, bringing in ex-Celtic boss Gordon Strachan as the new manager.
The Scotsman failed to win the hearts of Middlesbrough fans, however, and he too lost his job as Boro, pre-season favourites for promotion, dropped dangerously close to the relegation zone.
At the Stadium of Light, Sunderland continue to establish themselves as a Premier League force, thanks to some much-envied off-field stability.
Elsewhere in football, the last 12 months witnessed relegation from the Football League for Darlington during a dreadful season in which they seemed to clock up more managerial changes than points, whilst Hartlepool and Carlisle were just grateful to retain their status in the third tier of the league.
It hasn’t been a year to remember for Newcastle Falcons, either, with rumblings of financial difficulties continuing for some time before the arrival of new investment thanks to Semore Kurdi, the Northumberland businessman. His role in securing the rugby club’s future earns him a place in the 2010 Most Influential 500.
Durham County Cricket club has experienced mixed fortunes since last August, with the notable high being its remarkable achievement in securing back-to-back county championship titles in 2009.
The 2010 season was less memorable on the pitch and the outstanding captain of the championship year, Will Smith, who featured in our last Most Influential, lost his form and the job and is replaced by Phil Mustard, who swept the board at the Player of the Year Awards this year.
It was a much better year off the field for the club, however, with high-profile sponsors such as Emirates and Brewin Dolphin providing some much-needed financial security, whilst the redevelopment of the Emirates Riverside ICG continues apace.
The club’s successes were reflected in chief executive David Harker taking the top honour at The Journal’s Business Executive of the Year awards 2009.
Elsewhere, the Great North Run celebrated 30 wonderful years and Middlesbrough long jumper Chris Tomlinson won a bronze medal at the European athletics championships.
