Amanda Staveley resigns from ‘Newcastle United’ but no one cares as stake reduced by PIF

Staveley watches on

Amanda Staveley has apparently resigned as director from ‘Newcastle United Football Club Limited’, but it’s not what it looks like.

The Newcastle chief played a huge hand in brokering the deal that saw the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) buy the club from Mike Ashley in 2021.

Stake reduced amid directorship changes

PIF own an 80 per cent stake, while PCP Capital Partners, Staveley’s firm, and Reuben Brothers each took 10 per cent.

Staveley’s stake has now been reduced to six per cent thanks to cash injections by the Saudis and the Reuben family, in a change that has also seen her directorship removed, but not from the one that matters.

As outlined by The Mag, who did some Companies House digging, she remains director of the actual football club, company number 00031014, but not the ‘Newcastle United Football Club Limited’ company, number 05981582, which is apparently dormant.

The Newcastle United company that counts still has Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Amanda Staveley, Jamie Reuben, Asmaa Mohammed Rezeeq and Abdulmajid Ahmed Alhagbani as the listed directors.

A source from Newcastle told Daily Record stated that these resignations are part of business housekeeping and best practice, and noted that many of the subsidiary companies are dormant.

“Into the realm of fantasy…”

Anyway, it’s been a testing few weeks for Staveley, who was ordered by a judge to pay Greek tycoon Victor Restis £3.4m owed from an investment he made in her businesses by next week.

The judge said her witness statement ventured “into the realm of fantasy and completely implausible” and said claiming a business deal was struck under duress had a “complete lack of credibility.”

Despite apparently being intimidated and under duress she referred to Restis in her correspondence as ‘sweetheart’, ‘darling’, adding ‘I love you so much.”

Staveley was also required last month to publicly apologise to Steve Bruce for claiming he didn’t want to come to work when he was manager of Newcastle, while the club’s recent accounts revealed that she owes the club quite the chunk of change.

Staveley received loans of £659,000 and £600,000 for unspecified legal fees and that her company, Cantervale, was paid £1.24m in advisory fees and £625,000 “to be refunded subsequent to the balance sheet date.”