The ups and downs of having your very own billionaire!
By Barry J. Hindmarch
The first I heard of the
arrival of Mike Ashley was
when my friend Smog
Monster texted me to say,
“You have been taken over
by a billionaire.” That was
all. At first I thought it was
a joke of some sort,
especially as it came from a
Middlesbrough fan, but a
quick check soon showed it
to be true.
It seemed that the long
suffering Newcastle fans
finally had their wish – the
evil empire of the Shepherds
was over, and the knight in
shining armour Sir Ashley of
Mike had arrived to set us
back on the path
started by Sir John
Hall in the early
90’s. Sure, nobody
knew anything about
him – the media called him
“reclusive”, but we did know
he was from darn sarf,
possibly a Spurs supporter,
and more importantly he was
a self-made billionaire who
owned Sports Direct. The
Entertainers Mark 2 was
coming!
Ashley further
endeared himself to the
Geordie public with his
much-publicised beer
drinking with the fans in the
Bigg Market, sharing the
banter and buying a few
rounds.