Takeover – Ex-Mags and Gateshead lads hail immense ‘reach’ of new owners

Former Newcastle United defender Mike Williamson has spoken of exciting times ahead for both the fans and the city.

Mike Williamson has said he believes that ‘the depth and the reach‘ of Newcastle United’s new owners is endless, and he expects to see ‘success in the near future‘.

Williamson, who spent over five years at Newcastle, added that he is looking forward to seeing how the project at Newcastle grows, and expects the consortium to go about business ‘wisely and intelligently‘.

Consortium leader Amanda Staveley described the club as ‘extraordinary‘ in a recent video statement, before praising the supporters for being unlike any other set of fans.

Supporters have been impressed by the immediate communication made by members of the investment group and gathered in their thousands at St. James’ Park on the night of the announcement, but have also made clear that there is much improvement needed throughout the club.

This was echoed by Williamson, who believes that the facilities could do with ‘being updated’.

‘They’re good facilities, but when you compare them to Man. City, to Tottenham, to Man. United, there is a big difference’.

This feeling was also shared by two of Williamson’s current teammates at Gateshead, where the former Newcastle number 6 is currently player/manager.

Former forward Adam Campbell, who made five first team appearances for Newcastle, highlighted how ‘behind‘ the training ground is compared to the facilities of other clubs.

He went on to say that ‘I think that it is probably one of the first things that they need to do, is to create a new state of the art training ground and give young players a chance to develop and flourish’.

However, as a lifelong-Newcastle supporter, Campbell also saw the takeover from the perspective of the fans.

‘I think it’s absolutely amazing, obviously everyone knows that the last 14 years haven’t been great, so the fact that we’ve now got owners who look as if they’re going to put a lot of money into the club and give the fans something to cling onto and that little bit of hope again is great to see.’

Another of Campbell’s Gateshead teammates, Dan Ward, is also a supporter and academy graduate, and spoke of the benefits to young players investment will bring.

He stated that the experience young players at the academy will get from being around big-name players when they arrive will be great for their development, but did add that it may make it even harder for academy players to break through into the first team.

When asked about the consortium’s plans for the future at Newcastle in terms of success, Ward said that ‘it’s a big ask – we’re probably a million miles away from there right now‘.

‘I think the first thing to do is stay in the Premier League and then we’ll build from there ‘ hopefully she [Amanda Staveley] delivers on her promises’.

Daniel Wales -‘@danielwales023