The Truth About Newcastle United's New Owners 

Can always count on Alfie to cut through the noise about these things. Top man

Hull is the perfect example of why I don't want investors owning clubs in Germany. They can do whatever they want with the club and mostly don't care about football or the fans

Wow Alfie did not hold back on this one. 😁 I can't wait to listen to the BBC's watered down comments on this. Were they try so hard not to offend anyone. 😂 Oh and Alfie, you continue to make powerful enemies as you go. 👍

A documentary on the rise of AFC Wimbledon and the nine promotions in eleven years. How the club are fan owned and that they have a stadium now.

When Newcastle play badly, "heads will roll", now has a more ominous meaning...

4:55 Jimmy Carr's career must have taken a huge dive seeing as he has to take a job at Starbucks

"Amnesty International FC" made me laugh way more than it should have lol.

You know alot of ..."football only matters on the pitch not outside " comments coming... By that logics Adam Johnson and Benjamin Mendy are good boys coz they pass the ball lol

Thank you Alfie, this was the level of research I was looking for. It’s gotten even weirder supporting Newcastle.

Honestly, by far what i've mostly heard from Newcastle fans, is that they shouldn't be blamed for this, or be ashamed of feeling happy for their club. And just as you said, they're right.

I love the guy accusing Amnesty of being jealous, I sincerely hope they were joking

That picture of Kroenke and his awful toupee never fails to make me laugh. You'd think a billionaire would be able to afford a half decent hairpiece.

My views are blame the system that allowed this to happen. Not the fans cause its not like fans opposing the takeover will suddenly make it stop.

Love the research that went into this. Another top video by a top man. Well done Alfie⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽

This is why sportswashing is so effective, no matter how morally corrupt and horrible the ownership of the club is you’ll still cheer them on when they succeed.

20:12 this has to be part of the most disgusting aspect of all this. The Premier league initially blocked the takeover for "two" reasons. The first reason was a very popular streaming service that let people in Saudi Arabia pirate Premier league games. The second "reason" was the human rights violations committed by the Saudi state. The first reason was addressed, but the second one really wasn't, proving that the Premier League doesn't give a fuck about the moral integrity of its owners.

brilliant piece of not only entertainment but nuanced and intelligent quality journalism. Alfie keep bleating, in the current and ongoing media landscape by so called journalists or 'experts' on mainstream channels, your perspective is gold and must be celebrated

1.The owners don’t really care about football. 2. or human rights 3. But they do have a lot of money!

I wonderfully well thought out, written and performed piece from Alfie. As a NUFC fan I must admit being swept up in excitement these past few days, but at the same time I’m totally aware of how awful these new owners are. It’s a really difficult minefield to get your head around

I feel like this was indirectly and directly aimed at the Irish Guy simultaneously.

4:55 I didn’t know Jimmy Carr works in Starbucks, but I guess both are known for tax evasion

Great video. If the Saudis invite you to their embassy to discuss it, I suggest a polite refusal.

As a newcastle pseudo-fan for the last 4 years, i have been very conflicted. obviously i end up landing on the side of fuck MBS and anything his regime has a heavy hand in, but at the same time i kind of get the hype of the Newcastle fans. i just wish they didn't try to justify their guilt. just accept it lol it wasn't up to them

In Saudi Arabia, Women are subject to fewer rights than men under the male guardianship system, including requiring a male guardian's approval to get married or travel. Men can file cases against women for "disobedience". Sexual harassment and domestic abuse is widespread.

In all honesty the 50+1 rule is needed in all of sports, but it is certainly very pressing currently in the EPL and all the other major leagues.

This is fantastic, feel so let down by other youtube commentators who are not mentioning this or just say “we’re here to talk about football”. Also - i knew you would be, but glad to hear you’re a comrade ✊

So glad you are releasing videos like this that don't censor themselves, too many youtubers seem happy to ignore the facts on this or don't have the guts to make this big of a stand.

I really hope that there’s gonna be a 50+1 rule like in Germany. By now every great league had a decline when they used to dominate: Bundesliga wasn’t able to compete anymore after HSVs Win in the Mid 80s and they only recovered when the „Italien Legionäre“ returned from stronger leagues, then rerised after some dark years from 98-04 where no one else except Bavaria was capable to play on a serious niveau. And now due to financial mismanagement, clubs like Schalke, Stuttgart and Werder aren’t as nearly as dominant as they used to be. Now the League title is literally owned by Bavaria Munich. Serie A collapsed in a corruption swamp, struggled with a declining national team, but they were able to turn their fortunes around. National team won the Euros, the title battle is actually very exciting and there are quite a lot of interesting progresses like for example Roma, Bergamo or AC Milan’s return. La Liga Clubs struggle due to the Corona pandemic (some smaller clubs from catalunia especially) When the Premier League declines, because of 50+1, disappointed investors or anything else it could turn out to be not a decline but a catastrophy. Or maybe the Prem will be dominant forever but then we’ll have the money league. I really hope that certain clubs have a back up plan cause once the investor is out, they will definitely need it. If the Prem declines there will be clubs who will decline at the same time.

Video Idea: The fall and future rise of Stockport County. If you look into it it is more interesting than you think 🔵⚪🔵⚪

Thanks Alfie for making this, I know some fans just don't really understand the situation, it's absolutely abhorrent what they're doing and should have no place in football

Alfie spitting facts over facts over facts

Who was it that said Arsenal fans would chant "Suddam Hussein" if he managed the club to trophies? Newcastle fans are pretty much doing exactly that right now, and the only "success" so far is Mike Ashley leaving.

I wouldn't blame anybody for not wanting to have anything to do with the premier league after this, it's pretty disgusting

The Premier League approved this deal just because the Saudis stopped and promised to pirating premier league games from Bein sport, the Qatari media company. Thry never cared about the human rights issues as reported and never will.

Great video Alfie, as a Newcastle fan I have never felt so 50/50 before, on one hand I am glad to see the back of Mike Ashley and I am excited to see my club hopefully compete for trophies rather than fighting relegation or being relegated every year, but on the other hand Saudi Arabia’s human rights laws are not to be overlooked, and the occasional Newcastle fans with Saudi Arabia flags on their profile or dressing up to look like a Saudi does leave a sour taste in my mouth. I celebrated the takeover news as more of getting rid of Mike Ashley, and the huge wealth the new owners have, although exciting, saddens me when I see clubs over 100 year old either relegated, deducted points, or even completely gone, and I have such sympathy for any fans of clubs going through financial struggles or who no longer exist.

The scenes outside st James Park show a vast number of the Newcastle fans are turning a blind eye. It's appalling how morals disapear out the window when there's a chance of their team being successful. I don't imagine the scenes would be different elsewhere either. Shows more and more that 50+1 rule is needed accross europe. But, these large owners wouldn't except it, so with every large takeover like this we're further and further from that being a reality. What would be nice, is if big name players come out and refuse to play for the team. But i suspect they're equally morally banrupt and will just follow the money.

Alfie, I love your work. You’ve got a wonderful way of wording things and explain everything very well. The Newcastle takeover is really hard for me as a fan. Yes MSB and Saudi Arabia in general are terrible and you’ve made it clear why your criticising and why you will continue to criticise Newcastle’s new owners. What they have done… to call it deplorable is an understatement. Not to brush this away, the football fan in me is extremely excited to see potentially what lies ahead for Newcastle. Going from a owner who wouldn’t open his wallet for anything, not just transfers mind you even the clubs infrastructure has been neglected, to ownership that has said they want to invest in Newcastle’s future, well I think any fan who’s experienced awful owners understands why that’s exciting. I think you can both be excited to see your club be invested in and also condemn Saudi Arabia’s actions. I do understand why a lot of Newcastle’s fans are jumping to defend their team in these ways, I mean even in this video it wasn’t until 24 minutes in until you acknowledged it isn’t Newcastle’s fans fault. So it can be pretty hard not to come out and angrily defend yourself when you feel someone is attacking your club. There’s not really any point I’m making here to be honest. Maybe just an opportunity to say words into the aether. Love your work man.

Great video again Alfie. Quality piece of journalism. Saudi Arabia may have some great journalists like you. It a shame they have no platform and face death for their actions. Your role in publicizing these atrocities to a broader audience and building more humility in the football community is crucial

As a person who lived in Saudi Arabia for 12 years I can say that Alfie would never be heard form again

Day 1: Downfall of South African Football

HERE WE GO

One of the best around at the moment. Love your work

The 50+1 rule has never been needed more than now.

Your best video yet. Utter madness how little some of this is being talked about. Been a subscriber from the very start and you really have hit your stride with your own style/brand of humour, really great to see.

Thank you for making this video. I'm sick of seeing fellow toon fans make these terrible arguments. What they're really saying is "I don't want to think about it".

Corruption in these owners will be exposed. As a fan all my life. This will not end well.

Thanks Alfie for this brave and comprehensive piece. I think you successfully navigated through the tricky arguments and I hope this gives cause to not only Newcastle fans, but true City and PSG fans to push for something better, i.e. club success with much less reliance on the morally corrupt regimes and owners who finance them. There should be no moral equivalence concept when it comes to billlionaires, and what the Gulf states perpetuate to the detriment of mankind far outstrip most Western multinationals and their owners. I have read Soccernomics recently and was dismayed to see arguments in the book touting that the EPL "need" so call sugar-daddies to enhance the competitiveness of the league. Whilst so many people detract from 50+1 because of the dominance of Bayern, I'd rather take the dominance by that club, over a competitive league financed and controlled by tyrants.

As a Newcastle fan, I completely agree with him. The level of violation of human rights is incomprehensible to me because to be honest, I'm so far removed from it... As every Newcastle fan almost certainly is. It makes it extremely difficult to put this all into context. I will not hold it against any fan who wants to associate with the club, or completely distance themselves. It's very odd for me and many others, because it'll be good for the club, the local community. We'll see huge investment, regeneration into the local area that has been sorely missed for so long. We'll see the local economy grow and more jobs created. However I also see how bad this is for the premier League, football and sport. I see the damage sportwashing can and is doing. I see the way people change based of their live for sport and their teams. It's important to remember the fans are mostly happy that Ashley is gone (at least right now). Please don't blame the fans for this, we love our club no matter what, and we didn't ask for the new owners. Many will defend them purely because they love the club. I certainly hope that this is the catalyst for people to really start questioning the impact of sportwashing across all sport including F1 and boxing to name a few. Let's remember we're all on the same side. We don't want this in the sport, we don't want this in the places we love, Let's remember that.

Very well done video. Easy to understand and very informative. So happy to be living in Germany where this could never happen.

Great video. I have nothing against Newcastle fans but that doesn’t mean we can’t question what the club is doing.

Hi Alfie, great calm, measured and as far as I can tell accurate video. Unfortunately I am a late viewer of your channel you seem to have a very clear view on these issues; can you point me in the direction of your videos of the other 19 premiership clubs:- their ownership structure, investment intent, alongside their credit, morale standing, their access to capital and its source. I am sure you have covered the exposure of those clubs to debt. Keep up the good work.

Amnesty FC are looking quite strong this year Alfie so you can’t blame their fans for being jealous 😭😂

Fair play man. Needed to be said and you said it eloquently

I'm so disappointed with the way this deal has been allowed to happen and the way fans have been celebrating it or wishing their team had been taken over. After the way the Super League was shut down by pressure from fans and ex-players I thought there was some hope left but this...I'm do disillusioned with football atm it makes me want to never watch a game again, it's sad

I'm a Portsmouth fan and I have to say we are the only team to be taken over by a Saudi that doesn't have any money a decade ago

Great video Alfie, Sadly i do not think the ignorant will ever watch it !!

The most important thing you didn't mention is the fact that Saudi Arabia has zero sanctions from the developed world. If they were sanctioned buying a football club wouldn't be possible but because... CAPITALISM. Yet here we are, the UK literally fund the Saudi government to maintain their Yemen war.

I appreciate these videos that go a little deeper than normal

The author of this video cites Assem Allam as being a more despicable owner than Ashley. I would point out that Allam is at least an owner who is resident in the Hull area has a flourishing business in the area and as far as I know doesn't inflict zero hour contracts on his workforce. Also he has donated millions to establish a medical research facilty at Hull University. Allam is no Mike Ashley. For the record I support Hull City and as much as I do want Allam to sell (and Allam is clear he badly wants to sell the club) I do acknowledge that under his stewardship we have had our most successful period in our history, such as it is. Perhaps the narrator would like to share with us his views on our potential new owner who also comes from a country with human rites issues and doesn't seem to have a huge amount of money behind him.

always enjoy your coverage... cheers mate 👍

*Alfie has surprisingly invited to the KSA embassy.

Thank you for adding some sanity to the conversation. As an Arsenal fan, all I hear is I'm jealous when I point out there should be no way PIF passed a fit and proper persons test in order to buy Newcastle.

Good points, and well researched. Must have taken a while, so I hope it gets views

Great to see a serious subject covered in depth & with humour. Good going!

You have a great way of putting a balanced and grounded view .... Well played 👍🏾

Yeah stunned that this hasn't been brought up more, I'd be appalled I do I was a Newcastle be fan.

There was whispers about the Saudis buying Man Utd a few years back. I have supported United since 1989, when I was 7 years old. I mentioned this gossip on my Facebook page at the time and stated that if the Saudis did buy United, I would be done with the club. I couldn’t have anything to do with a team owned by those utter scumbags. Jesus, did I cop some flak for that one. It seems that a worryingly large amount of people don’t care who owns the club as long as they can afford a few Brazilians and are linked to buying Harry Kane or whomever. I feel sorry for Newcastle Fans. A truly great club that are being given everything they could have dreamed of at an enormous cost.

youre a champ. let no one silence you.

4:55 Is that Jimmy Carr? Lmao

Drain the swamp! Drain the swamp!

The only thing I'll say about the UK foreign policy part is that yes UK citizens can have a say, it requires them to just not vote for the same two parties over and over again. But that falls into the strange world of politics where for some reason people think duopolies of political power will actually do something meaningful

Thank you. Nice to see some clarity in a sea of bull crap.

this could be your best work to date

As someone from mainland Europe, who supports a team from my country's league, the entire celebrations of Newcastle fans just seem extremely foreign to me. I would rather see my club relegated than in the hands of people who violate human rights on a daily basis

The only person who isn't afraid to speak the truth. Well done.

Wonderfully put as always Alfie !!!

Been waiting for this one since the announcement

and thats why sportswashing will never go away

Once again the majority of people don't care or question where the money is coming from or from what,they only care if it will benefit them personally.It can be money from oil,guns,drugs,human traffic,laundry,but who cares as long as the clube win games.Football is quickly becoming a legal laundry machine for this shady people,but as long as the clubs win games who cares or questions.

I been waiting for this video. Great work 👏 👍

This is applied moral philosophy. Watch, listen, admire and learn.

I'd watch my back after this video Alfie!

Great video Alfie! You deserve a raise from your boss.

The pure logic and moral clarity in this video is a joy to listen to.

Will Prem players be 'Taking the knee' in solidarity for Yemenis human rights?

I have a few questions as opposed to rebuttals: Is it specifically immoral for Newcastle to accept the funds? What I mean by that is I can agree that the KSA has an atrocious human rights record and I'll be honest, in trying to be the optimist, I believed what Amanda Staveley was saying was true. However, now that I've watched the video, I'm convinced that NUFC is now state owned. Something I thought though is that for example the City owners during the Super League fiasco were seen to be disappointing due to their "contribution to the city". They have a woman's team, gay players, LGBTQIA+ fans. Newcastle will have the same scenario with regards to fans and player and the investors will know they can't really discriminate due the laws in this comparably more democratic country (UK). So essentially they're willing to treat humans with greater respect in this country than their own...and give a vast sum of money to a football club to thrive and succeed. I'm just thinking if the cat's out of the bag with what sportswashing is trying to achieve, can't Newcastle just (continue to) condemn the country whilst reaping the rewards of the investment? I acknowledge it's not the healthiest of relationships but maybe the optimist in me is poking out again and hoping the ownership will encourage more dialogue in which they may be advised about implementing human rights. From your previous videos I also feel there is something of a parallel with Paul Kagame from Rwanda giving money to Arsenal that could be used more wisely in and for his own country. So am I naive, delusional, falling for the sportswashing or something along those lines or do I genuinely have a point? I genuinely don't know. Also isn't this primarily the failure of the fit and proper test from both long before and in it's current state? Ultimately, Someone like Roman Abramovich who can't legally step foot in the stadium of the football club he own should surely have failed the test before, as should the KSA now. Whilst I do acknowledge that the richest will bully to get their way, with all the fake sheikhs getting as far as they do and with the real MBS getting as far as he has, there is surely a major flaw is the test that needs amending. One last thing is what do you think is an acceptable way of interacting with these countries that are "inhumane"? It often just feels that there isn't an "acceptable" way of interacting with these states, especially in the gulf States, and this seems to othering, animosity and increased islamaphobia. Simultaneously, I accept that the difference cannot just be seen as cultural. So I just want to see if people can come up with a feasible way in interaction can favourably occur.

Great watch as always, Alfie. Sidenote - would love to see a video on the story behind the David Blaine, Uri Geller and MJ weirdness at Exeter City.

It shocks me how much I used to love football compared to how I feel about it now.

You're awesome what you do. Keep it up Alfie

In the late 90s Robin Cook, then Labour Foreign Secretary, tried to introduce a more ethical foreign policy agenda. He failed. The power of the money was just too great.

To begin with, love your videos and your channel, keep up the good work! Now adressing to the matter in the video, I am not a Newcastle supporter, in matter of fact I really don't care for then... But If I was a Newcastle supporter, I really couldn't care less where the money came from, I would just be happy to see my team getting such a huge financial boost...

I’ve been a lifelong supporter of football (Arsenal) But in the last couple of years I have come to despise much of the game. The only thing I really enjoy now, are these videos and Roy Keane!

Always love your content but have to slightly disagree- I don't believe it is complete gaslighting, that would insinuate that the supporters are being deceived. The supporters know who owns the club, we know who owns the club and the Premiership know who owns the club. Stavely has just given them all the ability to hide behind her statement, that's not to criticise Newcastle fans as any would do the same as Chelsea, City, PSG etc already have. Football is deeply corrupt to its core, never think otherwise

Great video, Alfie

Your best video yet. I'd like to see you harangue the Premier League in general in one of your videos for allowing the kind of owners,not just Newcastle's set,who own almost all of the clubs in their league.

Been waiting for this video since the announcement

Slight flaw, I'd argue we do get to dictate foreign policy via our democracy. Although, the Iraq war and protests against it would shoot my argument down straight away.

Absolutely perfectly done!! Thank you for breaking down all these absurd arguments that try to defend the PIF and Premier League - this video made me not feel crazy

thank you Alfie. very good , and truthful

Excellent video as always Alfie. Up until seeing this I felt very alone in my opposition to the takeover.