Well-known publican sets his sights on the Magpies

CUSTOMERS of a well-known publican could be swapping their favourite tipple for Newcastle Brown Ale if his latest investment venture kicks off.

Charlie Chawke, who previously helped put together the Irish consortium that bought Sunderland Football Club, is now setting his sights on a new goal.

The sports-mad bar owner wants to buy Newcastle United and reckons the troubled club is just the thing to quench his thirst for another foray into football financing.

Limerick native Chawke, who owns a string of pubs in Dublin, confirmed yesterday that he and fellow member of the former Sunderland consortium, publican Louis Fitzgerald, were trying to put together a new team to take over the Magpies.

Relegated from the Premier League in May, haemorrhaging key players and currently in managerial limbo, the club might appear to warrant the kind of health warning the region’s famous brew carries, but shrewd Chawke sees the venture in more black and white terms.

“Newcastle is a very viable option at the moment. It’s for sale at £100 million [€116m] – about £500 million less than what it was worth a year and a half ago,” he told RTÉ.

The eight-man consortium that bought Sunderland in 2006 included club chairman, former Republic of Ireland international Niall Quinn, and a variety of businessmen and property developers.

The club – ironically Newcastle’s traditional bitter rival – rose from the championship to the Premier League and the Irish angle was complete when Roy Keane was recruited as manager.

But Keane’s departure last December and the club’s takeover by American millionaire Ellis Short in May meant Irish fans were once again looking for a Premier League club to call their own.

Charlie said he believed Newcastle, home to Republic of Ireland winger Damien Duff, would fill that gap. “It is a great city. It’s a bit like Dublin – vibrant and full of fun,” he said.

Those descriptions do not apply to many property developers at the moment, however, and Charlie conceded it would be harder to find investors this time around although he insisted he was getting a good response.

They only need to come up with £12.5 million, but Charlie says any bid is still being worked out.

“People are doing their sums,” he said.