Newcastle’s CAT hearing against the Premier League was one year ago today

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On this day in 2021, Newcastle United fans witnessed the preliminary CAT hearing as Mike Ashley tried to force through the takeover.

While the past year has been a whirlwind for Toon fans, it was a desperate state of affairs 12 months ago.

After PIF’s bid to buy Newcastle initially collapsed in the summer of 2020, Ashley launched two legal challenges to try and force through the deal.

One was the CAT hearing – the anti-competition case that was set to challenge the Premier League on how they acted during the takeover saga.

This was the second of Ashley’s cases, with the first being arbitration. That had been set to take place in the summer of 2021, but was delayed, much to the dismay of fans.

But on September 29th 2021, supporters watched on as the Premier League and Newcastle United went head-to-head.

Newcastle fans hung on every word of the CAT hearing

The hearing was streamed live, meaning fans could actually hear almost every word that was said. However, some moments were muted due to the private nature of what was being discussed.

It was an incredible day. We learned that arbitration was scheduled for January 2022, and that the Premier League threatened to expel Newcastle.

On top of that, it was stated that the takeover would be approved if it could be proven that the club would not be ran by the Saudi state.

Afterwards, it was reported that Ashley was happy with how things went. It was claimed by the Chronicle that he was glad fans could hear the club’s allegations against the Premier League.

The CAT case was incredibly intriguing, and gave fans some takeover hope at a time when it seemed bleak.

However, the real excitement was just around the corner.

Just over a week after the hearing, the takeover was done. Mike Ashley was gone, and Amanda Staveley and co were in. The rest is history.

The takeover approval meant the CAT case went no further, with Ashley getting the result he wanted. There was also no need for arbitration.

Since then the club is transformed from top to bottom, and continuing on an upwards trajectory. But it’s important to look back at what a crazy time the takeover saga was. And the CAT hearing will be remembered as one of the stranger days in Newcastle’s recent history.