On the cover: Interview with Amanda Staveley

It has been quite the start to the year for Amanda Staveley and husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Abu Dhabi to keep a deal to buy another football club alive; Miami, for a business and trade forum hosted by US president Donald Trump; Los Angeles, for a conference on Huntington’s Disease; and then home to London before speeches for International Women’s Day in Newcastle’s Civic Centre.

And Wembley. There will always be Wembley.

Nobody, least of all Amanda, will forget Sunday, March 16, 2025.

“It was just the most amazing day,” says the adopted Geordie.

She adds: “And the great thing was, we got to spend the day with the fans and celebrate.

“It was just incredible.

“Every part of the day was wonderful. I was crying. A lot.”

Newcastle’s Carabao Cup triumph ended 70 years of waiting for a major trophy for the city and the club’s supporters.

But it was still a case of what might have been for Amanda and Mehrdad.

The couple sealed the Saudi deal in October 2021, transforming Newcastle United into one of the richest clubs in the world overnight.

Though the deal was far from an overnight undertaking.

It took years of negotiations with former owner Mike Ashley, and was their second attempt to prise the club from his grasp.

She had already played a role in Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s purchase of Manchester City, when the Abu Dhabi royal family shook up the Premier League in 2008, and had attempted to buy a stake in Newcastle United in 2017.

Three years later, after leading a group on behalf of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), she owned ten per cent of the club, with the Reuben Brothers also securing ten per cent and 80 per cent going to PIF.

And after sacking Steve Bruce, the new board made the astute appointment of Eddie Howe, who steered the club to safety in five months and returned it to the Champions League in the following season.

The Magpies also reached the Carabao Cup final that season, losing to Manchester United.

As the club’s fortunes continued to change on the pitch, though, so too did they off the field, with Amanda and Mehrdad stepping down from their roles last summer.

Their love of the club, though, remains undiminished.

And there was no way they were going to miss Wembley, where they enjoyed the occasion with son Alexander in director Jamie Reuben’s box.

It was also the scene for reacquaintance with two other well-known figures of Newcastle United persuasion – Ant and Dec.

Amanda says: “They were next door, and to be there with them was very funny.

“I remembered the day they came to my house, when we were trying to buy the club, and we were very nearly walking away.

“We were about to give up. It had been dragging on for years, and I thought we were never going to get a deal.

“When they were leaving the house, they just said, ‘keep going, you will get there”.

“And Wembley was the time to thank them.

“I remember saying to Dec, ‘if you hadn’t said, ‘don’t give up!,’ I don’t know if we would have got there.”

Unlike the previous Wembley final, when Newcastle were outclassed by Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United, this time Howe and his players performed to perfection.

It really was the ultimate Geordie Day Out.

Amanda says: “We went down with the fans on the train, which was really lovely.

“The fans brought us into the deal. It was always about them.

“We fell in love with the club, we fell in love with the fans.

“That was an immediate thing, and it will never change.

“It was kind of like love at first sight.

“Eddie’s tactics were perfect, and I told him that afterwards.

“As a team, they were all fantastic, and it was nice to see them play so well.

“Apart from Chris Wood, who we sold to Nottingham Forest and has gone on to do great things, that was our team.

“All the fans were thanking us, and we felt so privileged to be part of it.

“Every fan was saying, ‘we can’t thank you enough – you’re Wor Mandy!’

“There were so many wonderful messages and I took a lot of selfies.”

You only have to spend a few minutes in Amanda’s company with Newcastle United fans in close proximity to appreciate their affection.

It is quite overwhelming.

Indeed, during her appearance at an International Women’s Day conference in Newcastle’s Civic Centre, when she was a headline speaker following her participation in a roundtable discussion addressing female inequality, Amanda was inundated for picture requests.

She is ‘Wor Mandy’.

She says: “I always laugh when I hear that.

“I was talking to a big American billionaire recently, who had seen it on my Instagram, and he said to me, ‘why do people call you ‘Wor Mandy?’

“That’s the nicest, loveliest thing, because I really do feel at home.”

Throughout the painful and frustrating takeover negotiations, which stalled at the first attempt eight years ago, it was such positivity from the Tyneside public that fuelled Amanda and her husband’s resilience.

Once the takeover was secured, however, there were still obstacles to overcome, not least Saudi Arabia’s human rights’ record and the nation’s treatment of women.

It is a question Amanda has faced, fronted and answered from day one – including during her visit to Newcastle when she addressed a room full of women.

She says: “PIF are great partners; I’m incredibly proud to be their partner in other areas and incredibly proud to work alongside them at Newcastle.

“When I came to the club, I knew there was only one really strong custodian who would actually be able to have the patience capital needed to build and deliver a football club that would invest in the city and community.

“It was really key to bring in partners that would allow the club to flourish.

“It wasn’t just about our tenure or legacy.

“We were very conscious PIF was the main investor, and we wanted them to get the benefit, because sometimes I felt guilty we were getting the credit from the fans, and we were so proud to work with PIF.

“I appreciate and understand there are a lot of people who still have questions.

“What I’ve seen from my own experiences – bearing in mind I’m a northern girl who’s experienced huge changes in my own life – I’ve had the pleasure of going to Saudi and seen the massive change that’s happened to women’s lives there.

“We always have to look to the future, we can’t always look to the past and apologise.

“I knew what they would bring to this community would be extraordinary, so there was no doubt they were the right custodians going forward.

“To be able to work with them was a real privilege, but it was also kind of bittersweet, because we didn’t want to overstep, we were very careful in trying to understand our place.

“What was so nice for us was that we were able to run the club.”

Their brief time at the helm may not have resulted in silverware immediately, but progress on and off the pitch has been seismic.

Newcastle United is a different football club from the one they walked into four years ago; it has re-engaged with the entire city and region, from businesses to ball boys and girls.

Amanda says: “It’s hard for us now, because, it was just the most perfect time, to be able to do those few transfer windows and have the opportunity to do it as chief executive.

“But it was tough running everything.

“The first year was so hard, working alongside PIF and Jamie, who worked equally as hard, because we had to make all the decisions on the football and make sure we signed the right players.

“There was so much on us, and we were so concerned we’d make mistakes.

“I’m a total workaholic. I love my work. I love my football.

“And it was just a huge thing; it’s seven days a week; you’re never, ever off whatever you’re doing, especially when you’re looking at players.

“It was very tough and very challenging, but we enjoyed every minute.”

Aside from laying the foundations for the Carabao Cup triumph, among Amanda’s greatest achievements is making the club a Living Wage Employer and establishing a women’s team, which won two successive promotions and, as N magazine went to print, just missed out on reaching the Women’s Super League.

Amanda says: “The men are doing incredibly well but to see the women’s team going from a collection of inspirational women who were being asked to pay to play to being promoted twice is really special.

“We have to encourage our families and friends to keep going to women’s football; we can’t take our foot off the gas – if we do, things will slow down.

“There is real momentum building around the women’s team.

“And we want that spirit to continue across the whole club, men and women.

“We really wanted to get a cup for the fans, to get to the Champions League again and felt we were responsible for that.

“That will never change.”