Huge Newcastle United commercial and marketing presence on Saudi Arabia trip – Close to 100 club personnel in total | OneFootball

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The Mag

·6 December 2022

Huge Newcastle United commercial and marketing presence on Saudi Arabia trip – Close to 100 club personnel in total

Article image:Huge Newcastle United commercial and marketing presence on Saudi Arabia trip – Close to 100 club personnel in total

Back in January 2022, Newcastle United made their first big trip to Saudi Arabia.

Three months after the NUFC takeover led by the Saudi Arabia PIF who took an 80% controlling interest in the football club, Eddie Howe and the Newcastle United first team squad travelled to Saudi Arabia.


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At the time, Eddie Howe and others at the football club insisted that it was purely a football trip, a warm weather get away that would hopefully help the squad in the relegation fight.

At that point, 21 Premier League games had been played and Newcastle had only won two of them, with only 15 points in the bank by the end of January, relegation looking a near certainty.

On that trip to Saudi Arabia eleven months ago, it was indeed very low key. No big publicity opportunities for local (Saudi Arabia) or Tyneside consumption. There was just training and a bit of sun, plus a behind closed doors 2-1 friendly (two red cards including one for Ciaran Clark!) victory over Al-Ittihad.

After 15 points in the opening 21 PL games, Eddie Howe and the Newcastle players returned from Saudi Arabia and picked up 16 points in the next six PL matches, effectively going from near certainties to go down, to near certainties to stay up, in only the space of a month or so.

When Eddie Howe was interviewed about this second Saudi Arabia trip by club media on Monday, he appeared to point to this visit being very different to that first one…

“I think part of our role here is to represent Newcastle United in the right way.

“Go out and meet people, try and improve our reputation globally, and we are delighted to do that.

“The break for the World Cup gives us the opportunity for a mini pre-season ahead of a crucial part of the season.

“Our trip to Jeddah in January was pivotal for us last season. It galvanised the group, and the hard work the players put in was rewarded in performances and results on our return.

“We will have access to world class facilities as refurbishments at our own training ground continue, and we look forward to facing Al-Hilal and playing in front of our growing numbers of supporters in the region.”

Rather than simply training and a behind closed doors friendly with no fans (or local dignatories…) there, this time the trip includes Newcastle playing for the ‘prestigious Diriyah Season Cup’, the friendly against Saudi Pro League champions Al-Halal, a headline attraction of Saudi Arabia’s Diriyah Season.

Tickets on sale (from £5 upwards) for the friendly match and with it being the first game to feature the Al-Hilal players after their World Cup adventure (Al-Hilal had 14 players in the 26 man squad) in beating Argentina (which sparked a national holiday) and almost qualifying for the knockouts, this game is going to be very high profile and no doubt have many leading Saudi Arabia figures at the match.

Now we have had another update / take on the Saudi Arabia trip from one of the regular NUFC covering journalists, Craig Hope speaking from the Al-Hilal training ground where the Newcastle United squad were going through their paces.

Craig Hope of The Mail is out in Riyadh – 6 December 2022:

“One interesting thing to note is that there is huge presence here with Newcastle United, in terms of commercial and marketing staff.

“They have brought close to one hundred club personnel all told.

“stc is the biggest mobile network provider in Asia..they have a new commercial partnership with Newcastle United.

“Now it’s not something huge like a new shirt sponsor but it is interesting that that is another Middle Eastern, another Saudi company onboard.

“And that deal has been finalised in the last couple of days, so you’ve now got Fly Saudi, you’ve now got stc, and it wouldn’t at all be a surprise during this next six months to a year, to see one of those, if not another Saudi based company emerge as the new shirt sponsor.

“So I think this trip is as much about solidifying and building upon that connection between Newcastle United and the Saudi owners.

“It was interesting that the players went out for a meal last night and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the Chairman (of Newcastle United) appeared, and spent about twenty minutes with them and gave them a little bit of a speech as well.”

A great evening with great people ❤️ #nufc #NUFCinRiyadhhttps://t.co/KNwslg0k09

As you can see above from last night’s night out in Saudi Arabia, as well as the likes of Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi, you can see Saudi Arabia PIF Governor and Newcastle United Chairman, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, just to the right of Matt Ritchie.

As Craig Hope outlines above, as well as the coaching staff, players, Amanda Staveley and her husband, a serious number of other Newcastle United personnel are out in Saudi Arabia, especially from the commercial and marketing side. The club making the official announcement of the stc deal earlier today.

Fair to say that the likes of CEO Darren Eales and CCO (Chief Commercial Officer) Peter Silverstone and their staff are working even harder than the players, as all NUFC personnel look to progress this club, on and off the pitch, as swiftly as possible.

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