When Mike Ashley finally walked away from Newcastle United, he left behind a club in disarray and a future filled with uncertainty.
The new owners who took over inherited not a thriving Premier League setup, but a hollow shell of a football institution that had been neglected for nearly a decade and a half.
Years of underinvestment, poor management decisions, and disregard for infrastructure left the Magpies miles behind their competitors. What should have been a football powerhouse was reduced to mediocrity, not only on the pitch but across every level of the organization.
During Ashley’s tenure, Newcastle United suffered from a staggering lack of ambition. The club’s facilities from St James’ Park to the training ground and academy were left outdated and underfunded.
While other Premier League clubs were modernizing, expanding, and innovating, Newcastle were being told by Ashley’s inner circle that simple resources like grass and cones were enough to compete.
Figures such as Lee Charnley and Derek Llambias echoed this false narrative, trying to convince fans that substandard conditions had no bearing on the club’s appeal or performance. Charnley even claimed, laughably, that no player had ever rejected Newcastle because of their poor facilities a statement that fans knew couldn’t be further from the truth.
Repeatedly, Ashley spoke of building through the academy, promising that Newcastle United would focus on developing local talent while recruiting the best young players from elsewhere. But those promises were hollow.
The academy received little to no investment, the training environment stagnated, and the pathway for young talent was almost nonexistent. The few promising players who did come through were working against a system that was failing them.
The neglect wasn’t the fault of individual coaches or players it was a top-down failure. Ashley’s refusal to invest in the future left the club’s youth setup lagging years behind their rivals.
When the new ownership group arrived, they knew rebuilding the academy would be a long, difficult process. But they also knew it was essential. Without a strong foundation, no club can sustain long-term success.
Slowly but surely, Newcastle’s leadership began to put the right structures in place investing in facilities, recruiting top coaches, expanding the scouting network, and identifying talented youngsters from both the local area and abroad.
The signs of improvement are now beginning to show. The Newcastle United Under-18s, once struggling at the bottom of their league, are finally starting to rise.
In the 2022/23 season, the youth team finished second from bottom, a painful reflection of how far standards had slipped. The year before that, in 2021/22, they finished dead last five points adrift, conceding the most goals and scoring the fewest in their division. These results highlighted just how deep the damage ran.
However, the situation has taken a positive turn. The new investment is bearing fruit, and there’s genuine optimism around the club’s youth setup again. On Saturday, Newcastle’s Under-18s faced Everton and produced a commanding 3-1 victory.
Mo Waddani, Matheos Ferreira, and Alex O’Donovan were all on the scoresheet as the young Magpies dominated the match. They even struck the woodwork and missed further chances to widen the scoreline. It was a statement performance — one that showed confidence, quality, and progress.
As of November 2, 2025, the Under-18 Premier League (North Division) standings looked like this:
| Position | Club | Played | Points | Goal Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United U18 | 8 | 19 | +14 |
| 2 | Newcastle United U18 | 8 | 19 | +12 |
| 3 | Liverpool U18 | 9 | 16 | +8 |
| 4 | Everton U18 | 9 | 13 | +5 |
Newcastle’s youngsters now sit level on points with Manchester United, separated only by goal difference a remarkable turnaround in such a short space of time.
This transformation did not happen overnight, nor could it have. The scars of 14 years of neglect cannot be healed instantly. The new ownership’s commitment to investing in youth development, however, has given the academy a fresh sense of purpose.
From upgrading training facilities to improving coaching standards, the rebuilding effort is finally putting Newcastle United on the path to long-term success.
The process will require continued patience, but the direction is clear. The foundations for a brighter future are being laid, and for the first time in years, Newcastle fans can look at the academy with hope instead of frustration.
The club’s focus on developing young players isn’t just about pride it’s about sustainability and identity. What happens now at the youth level will shape the stars of tomorrow, ensuring that the mistakes of the Ashley era are never repeated.
The damage done over a decade and a half was immense, but the recovery is real. Newcastle United are rising again not through short-term fixes, but through the steady, deliberate rebuilding of a football club from the ground up.
