Shola Ameobi explains how he found his place in Newcastle’s executive team

“I thought: how can I be most useful to Newcastle? Then the thinking started.” In an interview, Shola Ameobi looks back on the path that took him from the pitch to a role in the club’s executive team. Since July, he has been Newcastle’s head of corporate affairs, following seven years as loans coordinator.

His journey has been shaped by racism during his childhood. Ameobi says he grew up in Newcastle after moving from Nigeria at the age of six. He recalls fearing for his life while being harassed and chased by groups. “There were situations where I had to sprint to get away from groups of lads who didn’t like me because of what I looked like,” he says. He describes such incidents as frequent and recalls sometimes feeling he had to hide himself to keep doing what he loved.

The journeys between his family home and training made that anxiety tangible: the house was only a few pitch lengths from St James’ Park, while Newcastle’s training base was then in Benwell. Ameobi says the experience built his resilience and helped him both in sport and as a person, teaching him not to let other people’s opinions define his sense of self-worth.

The former striker scored 79 goals in 397 appearances for Newcastle, including seven against local rivals Sunderland. Today, his remit includes developing the club’s external relationships. He wants Newcastle to matter to the region and to be integrated into city life, through civic, sporting and community engagement.

The move into executive work took shape over time. Ameobi says that after an initial discussion, Hopkinson told him to take the weekend to think it over. Grateful for the trust placed in him, he nevertheless wanted to understand what the job would involve in practice. He began his previous role during the Mike Ashley era and says he built the department “from nothing”—an experience that helped him learn how to plan a business and build a team.

A course covering different areas of executive work also gave him a framework and greater confidence. Ameobi says it helped him recognise that he was already using skills that could transfer to that world. He points in particular to the experience of working under pressure, where people must handle difficult moments and situations that do not go to plan.

Time away from the pitch marked the beginning of his thinking about life after football. “Football wasn’t always going to be there, so who am I outside of the footballer?” he recalls, describing difficult questions and dark periods. He says his interest in leadership began early. His father, who led a church, had a major influence on how he understands responsibility and how to lead.

Ameobi also wants young people to be able to see themselves in the roles they aspire to. Having progressed through the club from the youth team to the first team and now into his current executive position, he believes people in positions of responsibility should share their experience. His own journey, he says, can show that possibilities are not confined to the pitch.