Newcastle United's last round of this season in the English Premiership against Aston Villa is crucial. It will spell not only the survival of the club in the Premiership, it may spell the survival of Newcastle United, period. This weekend will either see the Magpies remain in the elite, or have them relegated. Echoes reverberate of what happened to a once powerful force in English football, Leeds United, who also faced financial problems, relegation, administration, etc.

Potential American and Middle Eastern buyers of the club, who could salvage the club's fortune and restore it to its former glory, could only be won over if the club remains in the Premier League. So the Magpies could deny themselves a 140 million pounds sterling  takeover if they are relegated this weekend. A consortium made up of multi-millionaires from the United States and the Middle East have expressed their desire to step in at St James Park and purchase the club from current owner Mike Ashley, but only if Newcastle make a final Rorke's Drift stand on the final day of the season and survive to tell the tale, the Guardian reported.

Since purchasing the club from Freddie Shepherd for 134 million pounds sterling, Ashley has invested more than 100 million pounds in the team with little return, due to their woeful performances.

Newcastle United have reached the point of no return, where only a victory over Aston Villa on Sunday, May 24 will spell eventual change of ownership and fortunes. The situation is further complicated by the fact that Newcastle's survival in the top tier of English football is not entirely down to their performance against the Birmingham side on Sunday. The 1-0 home defeat by Fulham on Saturday last week leaves them one point behind 17th-placed Hull City. Accordingly, the Toon Army will hope that Sunderland or Hull City lose against either Chelsea or Manchester United, respectively. Alternatively, Shearer's boys could qualify with a draw, should Hull and Sunderland both lose. Newcastle are aware, however, that Manchester United play Barcelona at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome three days later. This means that Ferguson is likely to leave out several key players out of his squad, thus making the life of Hull significantly easier for their own battle of survival.

The international consortium was advised by football power broker Chris Nathaniel regarding the takeover which will make the English team from the Northeast the latest Premier League club to be acquired by foreigners.