Mike Ashley has admitted that Newcastle United never quite “worked out on the pitch” during his spell as owner.
It comes after Ashley finally managed to sell the club to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in a deal worth £305million.
The billionaire chief executive of Sports Direct bought Newcastle for around £134million in 2007 and his ownership period has often been fraught with poor relations with the fans.
He has spent much of the past few seasons looking for a way out of the club.
Now, after cashing in, Ashley admits the new Toon owners have the deeper pockets he believes are now required to transform the club’s fortunes and enable them to compete at the top of the Premier League again.
Ashley, speaking to SunSport, admitted : “Owning a football club gets into your blood and l would love nothing more than to see Newcastle winning trophies.
“I accept that during my time at Newcastle we have not achieved the club’s full potential on the field.
“But I do believe that away from the pitch we got many things right.
"I am proud to leave the club on a solid financial footing with no debts, which is obviously a good foundation for the club going forward.”
Fans gathered at St James’ Park to celebrate the takeover but Ashley maintains that he holds no ill-will towards supporters who have wanted rid of him for a considerable period.
He added: “I’m pleased that a consortium backed by PIF is the new owner of Newcastle United. I am sure this will deliver the success that fans deserve.
“I’ve always said that I would only sell to a new owner if they can invest the necessary funds to enable Newcastle United to compete at the very highest level.
“I believe this change of ownership is true to that principle.”
However, there has been no shortage of criticism over the takeover, notably from Amnesty International who who described it as “an extremely bitter blow for human rights defenders”.
Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s CEO, said: “We can understand that this will be seen as a great day by many Newcastle United fans, but it’s also a very worrying day for anyone who cares about the ownership of English football clubs and whether these great clubs are being used to sportswash human rights abuse.
“In our assessment, this deal was always more about sportswashing than it was about football, with Saudi Arabia’s aggressive move into sport as a vehicle for image-management and PR plain for all to see.”
