The Virgin Money boss has said he was not even given the chance to bid to keep the partnership with NUFC going.
Sir Richard Branson: “Yeah, we would love to have stayed in touch with the club and the players.
"It was a great time, the timing was perfect when we took over, we became Virgin Money on the day they beat Manchester United, a great start for us.
“The club in their wisdom did the deal with Wonga without talking to us, whether we would have matched that who is to know. These things happen I guess.
“We will definitely still sponsor sports, we are still involved in major events, we will still keep an open eye one this.”