Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of the infamous Companies House movement that got Newcastle United fans so excited.
In what was dubbed as the ‘lockdown’ takeover, a new era beckoned. Mike Ashley was to never set foot back in St James’ Park and the richest owners in footballing history were set to build us a side to rival the days of Kevin Keegan’s entertainers.
As a fanbase, we were all on standby for an imminent announcement, with extra cans being purchased all over Tyneside just in case of an announcement.
Seemingly that dream remains alive. Confidence may well have wavered in any deal being done. Can you blame us a year on? But various reports state that arbitration is very much on the table if it hasn’t already started and both sides are desperate for a deal to be done.
Their was so much outrage with the proposed deal from all across the globe with many citing human rights abuse as a reason why it shouldn’t be allowed.
Even as someone who is overwhelmingly pro-takeover, it is impossible to ignore this and there are some genuine horror stories that you hear about the Saudi regime, none more brutal than the death of journalist Jamal Khasoggi.
You do feel slightly annoyed that these questions are being aggressively raised over little old Newcastle United and a deal that would literally benefit the whole region but when it comes to hosting heavyweight boxing bouts, a lot of the anger mysteriously vanishes.
And then you have Richard Keys and co. God, what an absolute waste of oxygen that man is. Not intent on winding Toon fans up slating the adored Rafa Benitez and lauding the despised Steve Bruce, Keys has seen bit to be vocal against the takeover, citing privacy as his reason.
So what is the state of play a year on? Very few people actually know that and I wish I was one of them but it seems there is still confidence that a deal can be struck.
A recent report stated that the club were confident of the deal and confidence has never been an issue for the prospective buyers.
This deal happening in the summer would be a fantastic end to a horrible season but we are Newcastle United fans, we never get what we want.