'Thank you:' Darren Eales breaks silence following Newcastle United exit and makes telling omission from statement
Newcastle United recently underwent a big change at the top of the boardroom as CEO Darren Eales stepped down to be replaced by David Hopkinson.
Darren Eales' departure had been coming for a while after he had announced that he'd been diagnosed with blood cancer and was to step down from his position.
It took a while as the club did their due diligence to find a replacement, but once they had secured the services of David Hopkinson, the transition started to take place.
A lot of things were put on hold while that process took place, most notably the progress on a new/improved stadium, but with a new man at the helm, we expect things to pick up on that front soon.
Darren Eales penned a lengthy thank you message to the Toon Army
Darren Eales had been, somewhat understandably, pretty quiet for the past few months as his priorities had shifted, but now that the transition is done, the former CEO has said a heartfelt thank you to the club, the staff, the fans and everyone in the region in a statement posted on the official site.
It was quite a lengthy statement, but we're sure there were plenty more things he'd like to have said. We did notice one omission that seemed very deliberate.
"In 2023, you turned London into Newcastle-upon-Thames, throwing one of the biggest parties Trafalgar Square has seen (and then cleaning it all up). You stood and sang your hearts out at Wembley as the Carabao Cup final started, and kept it up even as the clock counted down to defeat. You screamed loud enough to be heard in Paris when two local lads scored at St. James' Park in the 4-1 thumping of PSG. You laughed and joked while waiting for a bus to Sunderland at 7am, and were still laughing 7 hours later as the team posed in front of you for their victory photo. Last season you watched history being made as Big Dan Burn scored that header, and Bruno lifted the club's first domestic trophy for 70 years. You showed up in the hundreds of thousands to celebrate - packing the streets, creating Geordie layer cakes out of car parks, and swarming the Town Moor with children on your shoulders and 'Blaydon Races' ringing in the air. And last week you welcomed back Champions League football for the second time in three seasons with yet another spectacular and electrifying Wor Flags display."
Failing to mention a certain Wembley goal scorer seemed very deliberate
There was no mention of a certain Swedish striker who ultimately scored the winning goal in that memorable game at Wembley six months ago, and honestly, we'll take that as a parting gift from Eales. One final flick of the middle finger to the man who ruined everybody's summer.
Time will tell if David Hopkinson can deliver on the things that Darren Eales wasn't able to and, more importantly, if the new CEO will improve the communication between the club and the fans, which has eroded massively over time.
As for Darren Eales, we thank him for his efforts and wish him a speedy and complete recovery from this awful disease.
