West Ham United owners David Sullivan and David Gold have joined forces with all but one of their Premier League rivals to block Newcastle deals at an emergency meeting.
Newcastle’s takeover by mega rich Saudi fund PIF was pushed through last week.
The Magpies’s owners are worth a staggering £320 billion, making Newcastle the richest club in the world overnight and dwarfing the spending power of the likes of West Ham.
The takeover has dominated headlines and divided opinion since being confirmed.
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Controversial takeover is the talk of the Toon with Brady and Moyes having their say
Newcastle fans have been celebrating deliriously over Mike Ashley’s departure and the arrival of the big bucks.
Influential Newcastle site The Mag hit back at Brady, essentially saying people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones in reference to the West Ham ownership’s morals.
Hammers boss David Moyes claims he is completely unthreatened by Newcastle’s new found wealth.
Now West Ham owners Sullivan and Gold join forces with Prem rivals in vote to block Newcastle deals
The Scot is adamant Newcastle won’t be able to simply spend their way to being an elite club.
But West Ham clearly felt threatened enough to join forces with all but one of their other 18 Premier League rivals in taking unprecedented action against Newcastle yesterday.
As West Ham’s owners, David Sullivan and David Gold had to vote whether to pass through new legislation designed to prevent Newcastle’s Saudi owners from striking lucrative sponsorship deals.
According to The Guardian Newcastle made it clear at the emergency meeting of all 20 clubs that they considered the rule change, which will temporarily ban commercial arrangements that involve pre-existing business relationships, to be anti-competitive.
Newcastle feel vote is unlawful
Newcastle are understood to have made it clear that they feel the amendment is unlawful.
But West Ham and 17 other clubs pressed on with the vote in favour and only Newcastle were against.
Newcastle’s fellow mega rich owners Manchester City abstained from the vote. The Guardian claim they did so on the basis of legal advice that the process was unlawful.
“The rule will be in force for the next month – and it will apply to all 20 clubs – but many of them want it or something similar to become a permanent feature,” The Guardian reports.
Hammers vice-chair predicted ‘the day will come’ that Newcastle’s takeover meets stiff opposition
“A working party is to be set up – comprising a cross-section of clubs – to investigate what, if any, changes should be made. Newcastle have been asked whether they would like to be on it.”
Following the Newcastle takeover, the 19 other clubs demanded a special meeting with the League, wanting to understand why the deal had been signed off.
That perhaps fuelled comments from West Ham vice-chair Brady that ‘the day will come’ when the takeover will be questioned by the authorities.