Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley officially put the club up for sale at a cut-price 100 million pounds ($158.9 million) on Monday in a small-ads style statement on the team's website.

"The board of Newcastle United can today confirm that the club is for sale at the price of 100 million," the statement said on the site (www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk).

"Interested parties should contact Newcastle United at admin@nufc.co.uk (or Keith Harris at (investment bankers) Seymour Pierce) for further details."

Last month Ashley said he had made "terrible decisions" in the running of the club, who have been relegated from the Premier League, and wanted to sell as soon as he could.

Ashley, who became a near-billionaire when he floated his sports equipment retail business on the stock market in 2007, bought Newcastle for 134 million pounds and ploughed in another 100 million.

He tried to sell the club for 400 million pounds last year but could not find a buyer.