Buyer with UAE ties may be lining up for Newcastle United

... In 2009 the business think tank Tomorrow’s Company released a stewardship table that judged the performance of EPL club owners. Newcastle United were not in the top tier of English football at the time but the charity’s chief executive Neil Davy does not think it would score highly under its current ownership. “The ideal owner would score 50 with 10 points for each of our criteria. On our current assessment ... Newcastle might scrape 14 points out of 50, which would put them pretty near the bottom of the league,” he tells The National. Mr Davy goes on to outline the criteria behind the Tomorrow’s Company stewardship table. “We have long argued that football clubs need owners who are stewards and not wheeler-dealers. We came up with five criteria for our table; we were looking for owners who promoted the success of the clubs and not themselves, who showed long-term commitment, who were clear on their role and purpose, who truly engaged the fans and the local community and who demonstrated passion for the club.” ... Read the full article here.