Newcastle United will hand Darren Eales, the former Spurs executive who built the Major League Soccer Franchise Atlanta United from scratch, the job of moving them to “another level” on and off the field after he became the first CEO under the club’s new ownership group.
Newcastle announced the appointment of Eales as chief executive officer on Friday, confirming he will start work on Monday 8 August. Following on from Dan Ashworth’s introduction as director of football, it is the latest off-the-field hire in a summer that has the club’s football operation finally move into line with their Premier League rivals.
Eales – who has previously called the club a “sleeping giant” – will be the chief architect for an ownership who wants Champions League football in short measure.
And his three key tasks will be boosting the club’s commercial income, overseeing a major new training ground project and improving fan engagement – all jobs that he has extensive experience of.
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Eales turned Atlanta United into a commercial juggernaut, having been appointed by owner Arthur Blank two years before the franchise launched. They now regularly pull in crowds in excess of 70,000 – unheard of in the MLS.
Interestingly for Newcastle fans, he has also overseen two huge training ground rebuilds – firstly at Spurs as he masterminded the Hotspur Way project and then at Atlanta. United are set to move their own training ground project ahead next season, with a site near the city’s Racecourse earmarked.
Among the facilities being looked at are a possible mini stadium to host under-23 and women’s games, similar to that which Manchester City have at their Etihad Campus.
Well-connected, he has Daniel Levy and Mauricio Pochettino on speed dial from his time at Spurs. His appointment brings instant credibility to the Newcastle project.
“He has the personal touch with everyone. He is great with fans, with other clubs, other stakeholders. I’ve never heard anyone have a bad word about him,” a source told i.
Eales recounted to the Jed Hughes podcast earlier this year that he built Atlanta United’s fanbase “pub crawl by pub crawl” – drinking with supporter groups and applying the personal touch to the issue of fan engagement.
Indeed, he was so regularly pictured out drinking with supporters that when the club ended up looking for a picture of Eales for an MLS presentation, they ended up having to Photoshop the pint glass out of his hand.
Although Eales is bound by an NDA until he starts work in Newcastle, it’s understood that fans on Tyneside can expect a similar “hands-on” approach – with a particular focus on encouraging the next generation.
“I think if anything the Premier League probably takes supporters for granted a bit, because you’re born and then that is your club,” he told the Hughes podcast.
Newcastle certainly needs its commercial income to improve, as this summer’s occasional frustration in the transfer market illustrates the need to build the club to be able to spend big in transfer windows.
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They want a striker and winger before September but missed out on Hugo Ekitike, who has joined PSG. They have an interest in Leeds winger Jack Harrison and have pitched for Chelsea’s Armando Broja.
The idea is that in future years, their improved commercial and off-field impact will help increase their transfer budget.
“We’re building a skyscraper, so we need to make sure our foundations are solid,” co-owner Mehrdad Ghodoussi wrote of Eales’ appointment on Twitter.
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