Sir John Hall has again defended his sale of Newcastle United to Mike Ashley.

Hall sold his shares to the Sports Direct owner back in May 2007 for just over £55 million.

That transaction forced Freddy Shepherd to sell his share, and Ashley became and remains in full control of the club.

Hall told the Evening Chronicle: "I'm a businessman, I run businesses; family businesses. I am not a global player, and when you're a chairman at the top you have to make decisions.

"When Roman Abramovich came into the game, he poured the money into Chelsea.

"In my day we had local millionaires, fellas who stood on the terraces, like Jack Walker and Dave Whelan, and invested in our clubs because of the passion.

"Today, there's no local millionaires like ourselves to do that - they have to be billionaires.

"When Abramovich came in I just said 'I can't compete with this man'."