News comes on day Eddie Howe shortlisted for Premier League Manager of the Year award NEWCASTLE: Newcastle United have appointed Majed Al-Sorour, CEO of Golf Saudi, to the club’s board. A filing on Companies House in the UK confirmed the appointment of Al-Sorour, a former professional footballer and close confidant of Newcastle’s non-executive chairman, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, on Friday, taking the number of representatives on the club’s board up to four members — and the Saudi contingent to two. Al-Sorour joins Al-Rumayyan, RB Sports & Media’s Jamie Reuben and PCP Capital Partners’ Amanda Staveley in the St James’ Park boardroom. The former Al-Nassr board member has been a regular attendee at Newcastle games this season, and was present for the first match after the takeover by majority shareholders, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. Al-Sorour’s LinkedIn profile sparked headlines earlier this year when a post stated he’d been a board member at Newcastle since July 2021, which predated the $370million October buyout of Sports Direct sportswear tycoon Mike Ashley. It was then edited out of his profile. However, an application to be added as a director has since been ratified by the Premier League and Al-Sorour steps in to the club at a crucial time for Newcastle’s hierarchy, with the club exploring a number of new sponsorship deals ahead of the new season, one of which is rumored to be with Golf Saudi. The confirmation of the appointment of Al-Sorour comes just hours after images leaked online of Newcastle’s potential new playing kits for next season — and their change kit looks set to mirror that of the Saudi Arabian national team. Newcastle’s change kit, an alternative to their usual black and white stripes, is often traditionally blue or yellow, but has been known to switch to black or white. Leaked images online suggest the new kit, shown without sponsors but still produced by UK sportswear brand Castore, will be an all white affair with green trim and branding, including the club crest. Meanwhile, head coach Eddie Howe has been nominated for the Premier League Manager of the Year Award. A remarkable run has seen Howe steer Newcastle to Premier League safety with two games to spare, despite taking over the club when they were bottom of the top flight table. Newcastle have now become the first team in Premier League history to retain their top flight status despite not winning any of their opening 14 games. Howe is up against likely title-winning boss Pep Guardiola of Manchester City, quadruple-chasing Jurgen Klopp of Liverpool, Crystal Palace’s Patrick Vieira and Brentford"s Thomas Frank. On securing safety against all odds, which was confirmed when Leeds United were beaten by Chelsea in midweek, Howe said: “It’s an amazing feeling. It’s very difficult to comment when you feel potentially you don’t have enough points or it’s not mathematically certain, you’re always wary of making bold statements that turn out to be incorrect. “It was great to finally achieve the objective we’ve set out to do. Full credit to the players who from minute one have given us everything and everyone associated with the club has played their part in what has been a remarkable turnaround in form which we needed. “To have two games spare to do it in is not something we thought we’d be able to do but it’s great to be in this position.”