Mike Ashley

Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley celebrated with friends at a $220,000 party in a New York dancing bar as manager Kevin Keegan desperately fought for his job.

Sportsmail can reveal that while angry Newcastle supporters were demanding that Ashley step down over his handling of Keegan's resignation, the controversial billionaire had been partying with friends quaffing $7,500 bottles of Cristal champagne at the Pink Elephant club in swanky Manhattan.

Ashley had earlier refused to cut short his US trip after appeals from Keegan to meet face to face and told club managing director Derek Llambias to deal with the situation.

While Keegan then sought legal advice to try to salvage his role, Ashley racked up the astonishing bar bill after hosting a boozy party that was gatecrashed by local celebrities.

Ashley's party swelled to around 30 people after midnight, when a celebrity bash in a neighbouring club closed its doors and the crowd went in search of more free drinks.

Actors Kevin Connolly and Jeremy Piven, from U.S. TV series Entourage, swilled champagne with former Dallas Cowboys star Deion Sanders, ex-Boston Red Sox baseball star Mo Vaughn and Black Eyed Peas' singer Will.I.Am. They all joined in but none of them knew who Ashley was.

A source at the Pink Elephant said: 'They all partook in the drinking of the Cristal, but that was it. None of them know who he is.'

The club is ultra-trendy with walls that pump out aromatherapy scents and bejewelled chandeliers. No-one from Newcastle was available to comment last night. The incident will only serve to enrage the club's fans further.