Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi’s classy gesture to Newcastle United players revealed

Jamaal Lascelles has revealed how he and his Newcastle United teammates have a direct line to co-owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi.

Staveley and Ghodoussi, through their own firm PCP Partners, own 10% of the Magpies and are in charge of the day-to-day running of the football club.

RB Sports & Media also own the same percentage, while the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia hold the majority 80% stake.

Jamie Reuben and non-executive chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan, along with Staveley and Ghodoussi, are on the board at Newcastle.

Since acquiring the club from Mike Ashley in October, the new owners have already taken a number of steps to improve communication and transparency levels.

For example, Staveley has often communicated with fans with updates via the club website, while Ghodoussi and Reuben are active on Twitter.

Newcastle players have direct line to Staveley and Ghodoussi

And there’s also been a big change behind the scenes too by making themselves available to Eddie Howe and his playing squad, a far cry from the previous ownership.

Asked about the ‘open door’ approach from United’s owners, Lascelles said: “That’s been really important.

“I didn’t think it would be because I’ve never really experienced it but experiencing such a close relationship, knowing you can always ring or message... they have a lot of involvement.

“When we were out in Saudi they were there, when we were in Dubai they were there. They’re often at the training ground, we sit down and have dinner.

“Because they’ve done so much for us and for Newcastle, we want to do so much for them. They’ve lovely people as well.”

Staveley, Ghodoussi and Reuben are regular watchers from the stands at Newcastle’s home and away games. Al-Rumayyan, based in Saudi Arabia, has travelled to watch home matches versus Tottenham and Cambridge United.

After investing around £90million in January to bring Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood, Bruno Guimaraes, Matt Targett and Dan Burn to Tyneside, Howe’s side have risen from 19th to 14th in the Premier League table, opening up a nine point gap over the relegation places.