Plans are underway for Premier League club Newcastle United to build a new 65,000-seater super stadium, Craig Hope has revealed.
Newcastle expert and Mail Sport journalist Hope has revealed that the Magpies are ‘preparing to take their intentions to the government’ and are confident of getting the ‘green light’ from Downing Street officials.
The north east club have played home games at St James’ Park since the 19th century.
It is the eighth-biggest stadium in England with a capacity of 52,305 and if a 65k arena is built, it would be the third behind Old Trafford and Wembley and ahead of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Manchester United announced plans this week to move away from Old Trafford into a 100k stadium.
Writing about Newcastle’s plans, Hope says it will be a ‘seismic shift in the club’s history’.
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There were initially plans to expand St James’ Park but the club will instead ‘retain it’s city-centre location in Leazes Park’ with a new stadium.
The report says:
The club are preparing to take their intentions to the Government for sign-off on a project that will create hundreds of jobs and pour money into the local economy.
The club’s alternative option for a redevelopment of St James’ Park has been shelved for now, and we can reveal that the plot for the new stadium will retain its city-centre location in Leazes Park.
The proposed site has no overlap with St James’, meaning the team can continue to play there at full capacity while the new home is built. The club have played on that site for 133 years.
The club’s Saudi owners were presented with the plans during a board summit at Matfen Hall last month and, crucially, chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan is said to be fully behind the project.
Chief operating officer Brad Miller and chief executive Darren Eales recommended then that a new build was the best way to maximise revenue and achieve the club’s goals, currently limited by the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules.
The next step is more talks with local authorities and Government before sign-off from Saudi’s Public Investment Fund, the club’s majority owners.
They have a bubble-wrap-type exterior and a parkland-style approach that will be Newcastle’s equivalent of Wembley Way.
It was originally thought that Newcastle chiefs would push for a capacity closer to 70,000. However, Eales has always guarded against going to a number that would see some seats remain unsold, even if just for one game in a season.
An increase of around 13,000 seats from the 52,300 that St James’ holds will go a long way to satisfying the current demand for tickets and allow for additional and more lucrative corporate offerings.
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