VIDEO: Saudi Arabia acquires Newcastle United, fans celebrate with traditional Ardah dance
Newcastle United supporters celebrate outside St. James' Park in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. AP
The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia announced the acquisition of Newcastle United, the English club, after two years of difficult negotiations.
Media reported that the value of the acquisition amounted to 305 million pounds.
The Saudi Investment Fund confirmed that an investment group led by the fund has completed the entire acquisition of Newcastle United.
For his part, Yasser Al-Rumayyan, Governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, said: We thank the Newcastle fans for their loyalty to this ancient entity over the years, and we look forward to working with them for the benefit of the club.
Immediately after the announcement of the Saudi ownership of the club, dozens of fans gathered in front of St. James Stadium to dance and sing, in anticipation of a better future for the club, whose last title in the English Premier League dates back to the 1926-1927 season, although it has many famous players.
In Britain, the news of Saudi Arabia’s acquisition of the club came out on Twitter under the hashtag #NUFCTakeover or “Acquisition of Newcastle.” The club’s English fans received the news with great joy, and some circulated videos of Saudi songs and popular dances, including the famous Arda dance.
In an interview with British media, a fan of the club said that the news made him shed tears of joy and hope that "Newcastle will return to where it belongs."
Despite the big dreams that the club's fans put on the era of British billionaire Mike Ashley, who bought the famous black and white shirt team in 2007, they were shocked when they saw their club move from one shock to another, and more than that and during 14 years at the head of the northern club geographically close to Scotland, the River Tyne team was relegated twice to the Second Division.
But the dreams of Newcastle fans woke up again two days ago with the announcement that the deal to buy the club had reached the final stages.
According to the newspapers, the Saudi Fund will inject hundreds of millions into Newcastle to turn it into a competing club in the Champions League and includes 3 phases: developing the Newcastle stadium, buying stars, and developing the academy’s youth for a successful future.
The 14 seasons in Newcastle before Ashley's era were prosperous, as Newcastle occupied one of the top 7 places (5 seasons in fourth place), reached the FA Cup final and ventured into the Champions League, not to mention qualifying for the Europa League semi-finals.
With Ashley, titles did not come, but the club was relegated twice, and the best achievement was to occupy the ninth place in the Premier League, and the owner's greatest goals were to avoid relegation.
But with Ashley's departure, and the Saudi monarchy is acquire, will give Newcastle fans a chance to dream again.
