Freddy Shepherd
Encyclopedia
Freddy Shepherd is an English
businessman and the former chairman of Newcastle United
football club.
During his time at Newcastle, both as an active assistant to and later replacement of Sir John Hall
as chairman for ten years, Shepherd proved an often outspoken and controversial figure, at times alienating the club's support.
home, the son of a lorry driver; and with his brother Bruce, expanded a road haulage business into a series of marine and related businesses; and property development through redevelopment of the former ship facilities along the River Tyne
. The assets of the company now include Mitford Hall
.
The brothers often worked with Sir John Hall, who owned the property development business Cameron Hall Developments, and had become a key share-holder in Newcastle United. After Hall's vision of building Newcastle into a sporting club along the lines of AS Roma or FC Barcelona
, he looked to consolidate the operations of Newcastle United. Shepherd Offshore had started to build a holding in Newcastle United, and so Shepherd became involved in the football business, alongside Hall's son Douglas Hall.
rugby
team, Newcastle Eagles
basketball
team; and the then Newcastle Cobras
ice hockey
team.
In 1996, Shepherd was tasked by Hall with bringing Alan Shearer
to the club, which he did for a-then world record fee. The confidence Shepherd showed in completing the deal persuaded Hall, who wanted to retire to Spain
, to effectively offload the day-to-day running of the club to Shepherd as chairman, and his son Douglas as the active Hall family member on the board. Shepherd agreed with his brother Bruce to take the position, while Bruce continued to run Shepherd Offshore.
in 1997, the Shepherds increased their holding. They owned 28.01% of the club, up from about 22% in April 2005. Since 1997, the Shepherds have made ₤8,351,298 from Newcastle United, ₤5,489,239 in share dividends and ₤2,862,059 in salaries. In 2005, Shepherd's annual salary from the club was £552,954.
exposé, led by the “Fake Sheikh” Mazher Mahmood
. The pair, believing Mahmood to be a wealthy Arab prince trying to set up a business deal, were caught mocking the club's own supporters for spending extortionate amounts of money on merchandise, calling female supporters “dogs”, and mocking star striker Alan Shearer
by calling him the "Mary Poppins
of football", all while frequenting a brothel
.
Amidst heavy media coverage, the Newcastle Independent Supporters Association and the then Minister for Sport, Tony Banks
, called for the resignation of the pair Although reports from sources close to Shepherd initially indicated he was contractually unable to resign, he and Hall had both left their posts within two weeks of the scandal breaking.
His general approach to running the club, as well as the ongoing fallout from the News of the World story, earned Shepherd a number of unflattering nicknames such as "Fatty Shepherd", the "Fat Controller" and "Baron Greenback
".
Only ten months after resigning, Shepherd and Hall, the majority shareholders at Newcastle, voted themselves back on to the board. This led to the immediate resignation of the PLC
chairman David Cassidy, who had taken the position just six months earlier. Shepherd then went on to take over as PLC chairman.
four games in to the new season. In the week before the sacking, Shepherd was quoted as saying that Robson would not be offered a new deal at the end of the season, and that Robson would be “in the Guinness Book of Records” if he were still the manager at 73 years old
It is unclear if Shepherd made his statement after consulting Robson, but Robson admitted that he had an agreement with the club that he would retire at the end of the season. Robson also stressed that there was an agreement that he would not be sacked. Shepherd said that sacking Robson was "the hardest thing I have ever done in my life", but then added "I didn’t want to be known as the man who shot Bambi
."
In his 2005 autobiography
Sir Bobby Robson provided detailed criticism of Shepherd's chairmanship, claiming that while manager he was denied information regarding the players' contracts and transfer negotiations. He also criticised Shepherd and Douglas Hall, the club's deputy chairman, for their focus only on the first team and St James' Park
, causing them to neglect less glamorous, although equally important, areas such as the training ground, youth development and talent scouts. The club's training ground has been notorious in the past, due to its unkempt state and for causing injuries to first team players.
Soccerex international football forum, stating that large and successful clubs should not be concerned about those struggling at the lower end of the industry. Shepherd said "When we have got 52,000 fans at each home game, the last thing we are worried about is clubs in the third division," and added, "There is no sympathy here."
resigned.
's adviser for revealing a clause in his contract which said that he could be sold for £9 million if the club failed to qualify for Europe. He alleged that they were trying to engineer his sale to one of the four leading clubs in the Premier League, preferably Liverpool or Manchester United.
On 11 May 2007, Shepherd was filmed joking with friend and Geordie con artist Steve Macneish through his car window, stating that Owen himself was not the problem and that his advisers were the ones causing upheaval. The video was later published on YouTube
.
had purchased the Hall family's 41.6% shareholding for £55m.
This followed numerous previous bid negotiations from which nothing had materialised. Under Stock Exchange rules Ashley then had to submit an offer for the remaining shares. Should he go over 50%, Shepherd would no longer be in control of the club and Ashley would be able to replace the board.
Shepherd initially came out fighting, but later agreed to meet with Ashley and the board on 29 May. On 7 June 2007, Mike Ashley had a bid accepted by Freddy Shepherd to buy his shares and in his role as chairman of the board Shepherd also advised the remaining shareholders to sell to Ashley.
Shepherd had been suffering from poor health over the previous six months, resulting in hospitalisation due to pneumonia
and a collapsed lung
, he was being treated at the time the Hall family publicly announced the sale of their shares to Ashley. On 24 July 2007, it was announced that Shepherd was stepping down with immediate effect, to be replaced by deputy chairman Chris Mort
.
that the club was up for sale, Shepherd was instantly linked with a possible buy-out. Shepherd had said, "never say never" on the issue of re-buying Newcastle, however on 30 June 2009 it was reported that Shepherd had launched a £60million bid to buy the club from Ashley. On 1 November 2010 reports circulated that Shepherd was planning on making an offer for the club and returning to Newcastle
as owner three years after selling it. This was later denied by the club; however, Shepherd would not comment on the matter.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
businessman and the former chairman of Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
football club.
During his time at Newcastle, both as an active assistant to and later replacement of Sir John Hall
John Hall (businessman)
Sir John Hall is a property developer in North East England. He is also life president and former chairman of Newcastle United.-Biography:...
as chairman for ten years, Shepherd proved an often outspoken and controversial figure, at times alienating the club's support.
Life and career
Freddy Shepherd was born into a working classWorking class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
home, the son of a lorry driver; and with his brother Bruce, expanded a road haulage business into a series of marine and related businesses; and property development through redevelopment of the former ship facilities along the River Tyne
River Tyne
The River Tyne is a river in North East England in Great Britain. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers: the North Tyne and the South Tyne. These two rivers converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters'.The North Tyne rises on the...
. The assets of the company now include Mitford Hall
Mitford Hall
Mitford Hall is a Georgian mansion house and Grade II* listed building standing in its own park overlooking the River Wansbeck at Mitford, Northumberland....
.
The brothers often worked with Sir John Hall, who owned the property development business Cameron Hall Developments, and had become a key share-holder in Newcastle United. After Hall's vision of building Newcastle into a sporting club along the lines of AS Roma or FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
, he looked to consolidate the operations of Newcastle United. Shepherd Offshore had started to build a holding in Newcastle United, and so Shepherd became involved in the football business, alongside Hall's son Douglas Hall.
Newcastle United
Initially, Shepherd became involved with the consolidation of the Newcastle sporting club to just Newcastle United, selling or reducing Hall's controlling stakes in: Newcastle FalconsNewcastle Falcons
The Newcastle Falcons is an English rugby union team currently playing in the Aviva Premiership. The club was established in 1877 and played under the name of Gosforth Football Club until 1990. The name was then changed to Newcastle Gosforth and the club began to play at Kingston Park stadium in...
rugby
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
team, Newcastle Eagles
Newcastle Eagles
Newcastle Eagles is a British Basketball League team from Newcastle upon Tyne. Since 2010 they have played all home games at the 3,000 capacity Sport Central arena at Northumbria University in the city...
basketball
British Basketball League
The British Basketball League, often abbreviated to the BBL, is the premier men's professional basketball league in the United Kingdom. The BBL runs two knockout competitions alongside the league championship; the BBL Cup and the BBL Trophy....
team; and the then Newcastle Cobras
Newcastle Vipers
The Newcastle Vipers were an ice hockey club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Former members of the Elite Ice Hockey League, the club previously held membership in the British National League.- History :...
ice hockey
Elite Ice Hockey League
Several competitions fall under the jurisdiction of the Elite League. In 2006–07, the EIHL ran a total of four competitions: the league, playoffs, Challenge Cup and Knockout Cup. The league consists of a single division, each team playing three home games and three away games against the other...
team.
In 1996, Shepherd was tasked by Hall with bringing Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer OBE, DL is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team...
to the club, which he did for a-then world record fee. The confidence Shepherd showed in completing the deal persuaded Hall, who wanted to retire to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, to effectively offload the day-to-day running of the club to Shepherd as chairman, and his son Douglas as the active Hall family member on the board. Shepherd agreed with his brother Bruce to take the position, while Bruce continued to run Shepherd Offshore.
Finances
Shepherd owned almost all of his Newcastle shares through Shepherd Offshore. Unlike the Halls, who had been steadily selling off their shares since floatationPublic limited company
A public limited company is a limited liability company that sells shares to the public in United Kingdom company law, in the Republic of Ireland and Commonwealth jurisdictions....
in 1997, the Shepherds increased their holding. They owned 28.01% of the club, up from about 22% in April 2005. Since 1997, the Shepherds have made ₤8,351,298 from Newcastle United, ₤5,489,239 in share dividends and ₤2,862,059 in salaries. In 2005, Shepherd's annual salary from the club was £552,954.
News of the World exposé
In March 1998, Shepherd and Douglas Hall were the target of a News of the WorldNews of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
exposé, led by the “Fake Sheikh” Mazher Mahmood
Mazher Mahmood
Mazher Mahmood is an undercover reporter with The Sunday Times newspaper. He previously spent 20 years working for the defunct British tabloid newspaper News of the World. He has been dubbed as "Britain’s most notorious undercover reporter."...
. The pair, believing Mahmood to be a wealthy Arab prince trying to set up a business deal, were caught mocking the club's own supporters for spending extortionate amounts of money on merchandise, calling female supporters “dogs”, and mocking star striker Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer OBE, DL is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team...
by calling him the "Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins (character)
Mary Poppins is a fictional character and the protagonist of P. L. Travers' Mary Poppins books and all of its adaptations. She is a magical nanny of unknown origins who arrives at the Banks home in Cherry Tree Lane where she is given charge of the Banks children and teaches them valuable lessons...
of football", all while frequenting a brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
.
Amidst heavy media coverage, the Newcastle Independent Supporters Association and the then Minister for Sport, Tony Banks
Tony Banks, Baron Stratford
Anthony Louis Banks, Baron Stratford was a British Labour Party politician, who was a Member of Parliament from 1983 to 2005, before being made a Member of the House of Lords. In government, he served for two years as Minister for Sport...
, called for the resignation of the pair Although reports from sources close to Shepherd initially indicated he was contractually unable to resign, he and Hall had both left their posts within two weeks of the scandal breaking.
His general approach to running the club, as well as the ongoing fallout from the News of the World story, earned Shepherd a number of unflattering nicknames such as "Fatty Shepherd", the "Fat Controller" and "Baron Greenback
DangerMouse
Danger Mouse is a British animated television series which was produced by Cosgrove Hall Films for Thames Television. It features the eponymous Danger Mouse, an English mouse who works as a superhero/secret agent. The show is a loose parody of British spy fiction, particularly James Bond and the...
".
Only ten months after resigning, Shepherd and Hall, the majority shareholders at Newcastle, voted themselves back on to the board. This led to the immediate resignation of the PLC
Public limited company
A public limited company is a limited liability company that sells shares to the public in United Kingdom company law, in the Republic of Ireland and Commonwealth jurisdictions....
chairman David Cassidy, who had taken the position just six months earlier. Shepherd then went on to take over as PLC chairman.
Sacking of Bobby Robson
In August 2004, Shepherd fired manager Sir Bobby RobsonBobby Robson
Sir Robert William "Bobby" Robson, CBE was an English footballer and manager, who coached seven European clubs and the England national team during his career....
four games in to the new season. In the week before the sacking, Shepherd was quoted as saying that Robson would not be offered a new deal at the end of the season, and that Robson would be “in the Guinness Book of Records” if he were still the manager at 73 years old
It is unclear if Shepherd made his statement after consulting Robson, but Robson admitted that he had an agreement with the club that he would retire at the end of the season. Robson also stressed that there was an agreement that he would not be sacked. Shepherd said that sacking Robson was "the hardest thing I have ever done in my life", but then added "I didn’t want to be known as the man who shot Bambi
Bambi
Bambi is a 1942 American animated film directed by David Hand , produced by Walt Disney and based on the book Bambi, A Life in the Woods by Austrian author Felix Salten...
."
In his 2005 autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
Sir Bobby Robson provided detailed criticism of Shepherd's chairmanship, claiming that while manager he was denied information regarding the players' contracts and transfer negotiations. He also criticised Shepherd and Douglas Hall, the club's deputy chairman, for their focus only on the first team and St James' Park
St James' Park
St James' Park, known for sponsorship reasons as the Sports Direct Arena, is an all-seater stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United Football Club and is the sixth largest football stadium in the United Kingdom with a capacity of between 52,387 and 52,409.St James'...
, causing them to neglect less glamorous, although equally important, areas such as the training ground, youth development and talent scouts. The club's training ground has been notorious in the past, due to its unkempt state and for causing injuries to first team players.
Lower Leagues Controversy
Shepherd courted controversy in a speech at the 2004 DubaiDubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
Soccerex international football forum, stating that large and successful clubs should not be concerned about those struggling at the lower end of the industry. Shepherd said "When we have got 52,000 fans at each home game, the last thing we are worried about is clubs in the third division," and added, "There is no sympathy here."
Newcastle Supporter Protest
Following the defeat to Sheffield United on 4 November 2006, more than 2,000 fans protested outside St James' Park, calling for his resignation. Websites such as True Faith and United For Change led a supporter campaign against him. Protests were again held after the club's defeat to Blackburn Rovers on 5 May 2007, after which Glenn RoederGlenn Roeder
Glenn Victor Roeder is an English football manager and former player, most recently in charge at Norwich City. As a player, Roeder represented England B on 7 occasions...
resigned.
Michael Owen rumours
In May 2007, shortly after sacking Roeder as manager of the club, Shepherd attacked Michael OwenMichael Owen
Michael James Owen is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester United.The son of former footballer Terry Owen, Owen began his senior career at Liverpool in 1996. He progressed through the Liverpool youth team and scored on his debut in May 1997...
's adviser for revealing a clause in his contract which said that he could be sold for £9 million if the club failed to qualify for Europe. He alleged that they were trying to engineer his sale to one of the four leading clubs in the Premier League, preferably Liverpool or Manchester United.
On 11 May 2007, Shepherd was filmed joking with friend and Geordie con artist Steve Macneish through his car window, stating that Owen himself was not the problem and that his advisers were the ones causing upheaval. The video was later published on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
Sale of Newcastle United
In May 2007, Shepherd was shocked to learn that billionaire businessman Mike AshleyMike Ashley (businessman)
Michael James Wallace "Mike" Ashley is an English millionaire retail entrepreneur in the sporting goods market...
had purchased the Hall family's 41.6% shareholding for £55m.
This followed numerous previous bid negotiations from which nothing had materialised. Under Stock Exchange rules Ashley then had to submit an offer for the remaining shares. Should he go over 50%, Shepherd would no longer be in control of the club and Ashley would be able to replace the board.
Shepherd initially came out fighting, but later agreed to meet with Ashley and the board on 29 May. On 7 June 2007, Mike Ashley had a bid accepted by Freddy Shepherd to buy his shares and in his role as chairman of the board Shepherd also advised the remaining shareholders to sell to Ashley.
Shepherd had been suffering from poor health over the previous six months, resulting in hospitalisation due to pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
and a collapsed lung
Lung
The lung is the essential respiration organ in many air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart...
, he was being treated at the time the Hall family publicly announced the sale of their shares to Ashley. On 24 July 2007, it was announced that Shepherd was stepping down with immediate effect, to be replaced by deputy chairman Chris Mort
Chris Mort
Christopher "Chris" Mort is an English lawyer and former chairman of Newcastle United Football Club.-Biography:Mort is a lawyer for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, where he is co-head of the leisure sector group and oversees relationships with companies in the gaming, holidays, hotels, pubs and...
.
Return to Newcastle United
Following Newcastle's relegation and the announcement by Mike AshleyMike Ashley (businessman)
Michael James Wallace "Mike" Ashley is an English millionaire retail entrepreneur in the sporting goods market...
that the club was up for sale, Shepherd was instantly linked with a possible buy-out. Shepherd had said, "never say never" on the issue of re-buying Newcastle, however on 30 June 2009 it was reported that Shepherd had launched a £60million bid to buy the club from Ashley. On 1 November 2010 reports circulated that Shepherd was planning on making an offer for the club and returning to Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
as owner three years after selling it. This was later denied by the club; however, Shepherd would not comment on the matter.
External links
- Freddy Shepherd Talks To Bobby Moncur – Part I NUFC.com – First broadcast on Century FM, 25 January 2001
- Newcastle United – Football Finances – Detail of Shepherd's Newcastle United shareholdings, 30 June 2009
- Football chiefs dodge the gallows as Newcastle fans vent their fury The Independent, 19 March 1998 – Shepherd's apology to Newcastle women
- Freddy Shepherd Is History nufcmismanagement.info – Details of Shepherd, the things he does and says