Yasir Al-Rumayyan withdraws from Newcastle United challenge following classy co-owner gesture

Newcastle’s final home match of the 2022-23 campaign sees them needing a result to guarantee a top four finish and Champions League qualification for the first time in over 20 years.

Last season, the Newcastle co-owners took to the pitch to mark the final home game of the 2021-22 season against Arsenal. Ghodoussi, Reuben, Amanda Staveley and former director Majed Al Sorour all celebrated the 2-0 win with the players as United survived relegation.

And this season, they’ve taken things a step further with Ghodoussi, Reuben and chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan taking part in the half-time shoot out competition on the pitch. The plans came about after one Newcastle made the suggestion on social media.

And this quickly gathered momentum as Reuben retweeted the supporter’s tweet, tagging Ghodoussi who replied: “Let’s do this @JamieReuben.”

Even chief executive Darren Eales got involved, tweeting: “The Magpies’ CEO tweeted: “This is going to be box office! @ghodoussi Vs @jamiereuben is set for half-time challenge on Monday night!

“Loser donates £5k to @nufcfoodbank. @nufc will match a further £5k. May the best man win!”

The loser on this occasion was Ghodoussi, who will donate £5,000 to the NUFC Food Bank. Ghodoussi scored none of his five attempts in the no-bounce challenge while Reuben scored three. Al-Rumayyan withdrew from the challenge halfway through after revealing he recently suffered an ACL injury.