Amanda Staveley Takes Stake in West Ham – A New Era
Amanda Staveley returns to English football’s ownership stage – this time in claret and blue.
A consortium fronted by Staveley has agreed a deal to buy a 25.1% stake in West Ham from the Gold family trust, after Vanessa Gold decided to sell her late father David Gold’s shares in the club. The agreement lands at a pivotal moment for West Ham, now a Championship side just two years on from lifting the Europa Conference League.
The move also follows a failed handover of power. Gold had already shaken hands on a deal in June with fellow shareholder Daniel Kretínský that would have made his EP Group the club’s single largest shareholder. That agreement collapsed, and with it a clear path to majority influence for the Czech businessman.
Instead, the door has opened to one of the most recognisable figures in modern football investment.
From Newcastle’s rebirth to West Ham’s rebuild
Staveley, alongside her husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi and PCP Capital Partners, helped engineer the Saudi-backed takeover of Newcastle in October 2021, ending Mike Ashley’s long and unpopular reign. Under their watch, Newcastle surged from relegation trouble to the Champions League and, after their exit in the summer of 2024, left behind a side that went on to lift the Carabao Cup.
That track record is central to the appeal for Vanessa Gold, who stepped into a joint chair and director role at West Ham after David Gold’s death in 2023. Her family’s 25.1% holding has remained one of the key power blocs at the club, and what happens to it matters deeply in east London.
Gold made clear that this sale is about legacy as much as liquidity. She spoke of the honour of following her father into the boardroom and of his lifelong bond with the club – as youth player, supporter and, eventually, owner. Her stated aim throughout the process has been to “ensure the club has the right leadership and ownership” to help West Ham fulfil their potential and “return to its rightful place in the Premier League.”
The Kretínský route was supposed to be that vehicle. On 12 June, Gold and the Czech investor agreed a deal that would have elevated EP Group to the status of single largest shareholder. Since then, talks stalled. The original agreement failed to materialise, and other options also hit dead ends.
So the landscape shifted again.
A deal agreed – but not yet done
Gold has now turned to Staveley, Ghodoussi and PCP Capital Partners, agreeing to sell the family’s entire 25.1% stake to their consortium. The transaction, though, is not yet over the line.
Existing shareholders hold pre-emption rights, meaning they have the first option to buy the shares on the same terms. Only once that process is exhausted can the Staveley-led group formally complete their acquisition. For now, it is an agreement in principle, with the rest of the West Ham boardroom given a clear choice: match the deal or welcome a new power player into the club.
Gold has chosen transparency, going public before the process concludes to set out her intentions and reassure supporters. She pledged to continue acting in the club’s best interests during the transition, invoking the standards her father set and “would expect” of her.
The potential arrival of Staveley and Ghodoussi would inject a very different kind of experience into a club still wrestling with the financial and sporting shock of relegation. They have navigated the politics of a high-profile Premier League takeover, overseen a rapid competitive climb, and operated under the glare of global scrutiny.
Now the question hangs over east London: will West Ham’s existing shareholders step in to keep control tight, or will a consortium with a proven taste for transformation be allowed to help shape the next chapter of a fallen Premier League side?
