The former Sunderland chairman talks to Telegraph Sport about his fears over a European Super League and selling to Niall Quinn
For all the barbed comments directed at Newcastle United since their takeover by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund two years ago, there has always been a counter argument that no football club in the country - or supporters - would have rejected such wealthy and ambitious new owners.
Just as Manchester City did more than a decade ago, when Abu Dhabi’s ruling family decided to buy another struggling mid-table Premier League side with the intention of transforming it into one of the preeminent footballing powers in Europe, Newcastle took the money and swallowed their misgivings easily enough.
Supporters, depressed and downtrodden after 14 years of mediocrity and relegation battles under former owner Mike Ashley, allowed themselves to dream of future glory while their rivals cursed their good fortune at “winning the lottery.”
Newcastle fans will always shield themselves from criticism about Saudi Arabia’s terrible human rights record and shrug off persistent accusations about sportswashing, by claiming other clubs are merely jealous they are the club PIF chose to transform.
For Bob Murray, the former Sunderland chairman who saved Newcastle’s biggest rivals in the 1980s, before overseeing his own transformation of the team he supported as a boy into one of the most upwardly mobile clubs in the country, that is not true. Some clubs would have rejected the Saudis because of what they represent and stand for.
“I think we would have turned down the money,” said Murray. “There is one club, Sunderland would have turned it down. It [Saudi money] is not needed, it’s about the tradition and the fabric of our game. This threatens it. There might well be others who would have done the same.
“It’s not about Newcastle, it’s about the country that owns them. It’s about ownership issues. It took a war to sort out Chelsea. They won 20 plus trophies with Russian money. It took the war in Ukraine to stop that carrying on. Football has not got any control over the owners.
“Are Sunderland and Middlesbrough going to be left behind? Well, it’s going to be hard for anyone to compete with a State. But it is about what sort of club do you want? When Newcastle had Kevin Keegan, they played lovely football and were very popular. Newcastle supporters were very loyal and very vociferous, they loved their football and a lot of people could identify with that. They liked that team and what it represented but that’s not going to happen to Newcastle again. Newcastle are never going to be a popular club.
“Historically there is a lot that unites the North East clubs. Not anymore. The other week, the Saudi national team played Costa Rica and whoever else at their ground. There were 4,000 people there. The same night, we had the England women’s team playing at the Stadium of Light and it was a full house. I know which stadium I’d rather be at.”
Bob Murray became chairman of Sunderland in 1986 Credit: Telegraph/Craig Stennett
Murray is unashamedly old school. At the age of 77, he had a front row seat to observe the revolution in English football that began with the launch of the Premier League in 1992.
The North East was at the vanguard of the new order, with Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Sunderland owned by three ambitious local businessmen and all competing in the top flight. Newcastle had Sir John Hall, Middlesbrough had (and still do) Steve Gibson and Sunderland had Murray. It was a golden era. Only Newcastle have remained regular competitors in the Premier League. Sunderland and Boro are currently aiming for promotion from the Championship, but know they will face a huge battle to stay up if they get there.
Under Murray, Sunderland were more than that for a while. There were two top-six finishes under Peter Reid in the Premier League, a move to a sold out, 48,000-capacity stadium and a state-of-the-art training facility on the outskirts of the city.
In the 1990s, people spoke excitedly about a sleeping giant waking from its slumber. And it was Murray who rang the alarm.
Sunderland could not maintain it and the sacking of Peter Reid returned the club to a yo-yo existence, bouncing between Premier League and Championship, until Murray sold up to an Irish consortium, fronted by club’s former striker Niall Quinn in 2006.
“Football was in an awful way in the 80s,” reflected Murray. “We had hooliganism, we had the disasters at Bradford, Hillsborough and Heysel and companies didn’t want to associate with the game. There were some awful things going on and football reached its lowest point.
“I don’t know what Sir John Hall’s motivations were at Newcastle. He certainly made a lot of money out of football when he did his share deals and things like that. They made plenty of money. Steve Gibson is the other extreme, he only gives money one way at Middlesbrough. Nobody could do what he does there and they need to value him.
“It’s largely true that local businessmen like us can’t compete anymore. Not like it was in the 90s. When I sold Sunderland, it took me two years to find the right owner to get Niall [Quinn] in and I got £5.2m for selling Sunderland. And I’d put a hell of a lot more money in than that.
“I never took a penny out. I didn’t sell for money. Sir John Hall sold to Mike Ashley for money, he didn’t care about his legacy. Seeing the three North East clubs back on the big stage in the 90s, it was, looking back, a remarkable time. Then you had Jack Walker at Blackburn. I was there when someone said, for the amount of money you are spending on Blackburn, you should buy Spurs.
“But he wasn’t interested because Blackburn was his club. It was the same for Steve at Middlesbrough and for me with Sunderland. People buy clubs now who have no connection to the club or the area, it’s a completely different culture.”
Sunderland fans are desperate to return to the Premier League Credit: Getty Images/Eddie Keogh
Murray takes no pleasure in being proven right. He feared the direction of travel when the Premier League launched and, sadly, believes the journey will inevitably end with a European Super League.
The biggest and richest clubs in Europe have already tried and failed to breakaway from Uefa, before supporter opposition and the threat of government intervention forced the English clubs - Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur - to pull out. The project collapsed shortly after their departure. Murray suspects it is only a temporary reprieve.
“I was there when the Premier League started,” he explained. “It was a breakaway but it was mainly a grab for money and power. I could see it happening. The only reason it was successful was technology and Sky. It skyrocketed and for me, the European Super League inevitably came from there. They will try again for that. They want more money and they want to control the money.
“The big clubs will let the dust settle and try again. They will be having those conversations. They will be thinking about how and when is a good time to try and launch it again. The greed seems to be insatiable. When I left Sunderland in 2006, I didn’t like what football had become then. I’d fallen out of love with it.”
So what has become of his beloved Sunderland? There have been four different owners since Murray sold up. The Irish Drumaville Consortium, the wealthy American, Ellis Short, the English businessman Stewart Donald and now the young Frenchman Kyril Louis-Dreyfus. Under Donald the club was relegated to the third tier of English football for only the third time in its history. They spent four years in League One, but were promoted in 2022 and reached the playoffs in the Championship last season, losing to Luton in the semi final.
‘Tony Mowbray is perfect for where Sunderland are at’
With an intriguing plan to sign and nurture - and then sell - young players from across Europe, under the wily tutelage of veteran manager, Tony Mowbray, they sit fourth in the Championship. The dark days look as though they are behind them.
“At Sunderland we have the modern model, with a young owner from a wealthy family,” added Murray. “But I really like our owners. I’m very supportive of them because we had two really bad owners, the American Ellis Short - and I’m struggling to think of something he got right - and then the other chancers [Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven]. This lot are going about things the right way.
“Sunderland are very united now, that’s the main thing. The manager is perfect for where we are at. We’re a happy club, we are enjoying watching all these young players playing for their careers and each other.
“Sunderland will be back in the Premier League. If you look at the 20 best clubs in the country, or potentially the best, Sunderland are always going to be one of them. Sunderland will come up again at some stage in the short to medium term. Yes, it’s with foreign ownership, but he comes from a football family and the family is very wealthy. He’s a very wealthy young man who is wise beyond his years. He’ll be a good owner.”
Newcastle will argue they also have very good owners, but that is unlikely to be a view shared away from Tyneside any time soon.
