Fresh Newcastle United St James’ Park expansion claim made as £12.4m investment confirmed
Newcastle United CEO Darren Eales has provided an update on the proposed St James’ Park expansion. Watch more of our videos on Shots! and live on Freeview channel 276
Newcastle United[2] are exploring their options regarding an expansion of St James’ Park as a feasibility study is conducted. The Magpies’ home ground has been a near sell-out in almost every competitive match since the October 2021 takeover.
The demand for tickets[3] has put added pressure on the club’s owners to look at ways to expand St James’ Park beyond its current 52,354 (official figure provided by Newcastle United) capacity.
Last year the club re-purchased the leasehold land at Strawberry Place next to St James’ Park from developers after it was sold by former owner Mike Ashley[4], renewing hope of a significant expansion of the Gallowgate Stand. In the meantime, the land will be used for the St James’ STACK fan zone which the club hopes to be completed by the end of the 2023-24 season. The club’s latest accounts confirm an investment of GBP12.4million was made to purchase the leasehold land and upgrade the first-team training ground at Darsley Park during the 2022-23 season.
The accounts also added: “The Group has commenced a study in relation to St James’ Park which is examining a range of options in relation to the enhancement or expansion of the Stadium. This is an early step on a long-term project to enhance the infrastructure of the Club.”
(L-R) Peter Silverstone, CCO at Newcastle United; Ibrahim Mohtaseb, Senior Vice President at Sela; Darren Eales, CEO at Newcastle United.
The study was expanded on by Newcastle chief executive officer Darren Eales as the club seeks answers on what is possible to be done on the St James’ Park site. “We’re very much going through the process now, but it didn’t really surprise me that the level of engagement was incredible with the people[5] feeding back,” Eales said. “Now it comes to the nuts and bolts of what is the art of the possible.
“We should be hearing in the next few months in terms of that report and getting it back, and that will be exciting to see because we will take it to the next level of, ‘okay, what’s possible in the next level of consultation with the supporters[6]?'” On the possibility of building a new stadium away from the St James’ Park site, Eales added: “I don’t want to second guess our process, so we’ve done the stadium feasibility exactly for that reason. I’ve lost count of the number of people who have told me what we can and can’t do at St James’ Park, that aren’t architects.
Everyone seems to be an architect! “St James’ Park is a great location at the heart of the community[7], up on the hill, and if we can expand St James’ Park, then clearly that would make sense. But we have to know what’s possible.
“That is our number one approach, and that’s what our experts are doing now.
We’ve got world leaders looking at it in terms of what is architecturally possible and what that would mean from a capacity and revenue perspective.
“To look beyond that is to be second guessing, but at the moment, if there’s a way that we can expand St James’ Park, then all things being equal, that would be the route that we’d like to take.”
References
- ^ Visit Shots! now (www.shotstv.com)
- ^ Newcastle United (www.shieldsgazette.com)
- ^ tickets (www.shieldsgazette.com)
- ^ Mike Ashley (www.shieldsgazette.com)
- ^ people (www.shieldsgazette.com)
- ^ supporters (www.shieldsgazette.com)
- ^ community (www.shieldsgazette.com)