Newcastle United chiefs are inching closer to a decision over the future of St James’ Park.
Ever since the PiF takeover in 2021, Newcastle United have started asking questions around St James’ Park and whether a new stadium should be built.
It has boiled down to two options, either expand St James’ Park to 60,000 capacity, or build a new stadium on another site.
Newcastle have collected the results from a feasibility study which assessed the logistics behind expanding the stadium, and the owners have now entered the second phase of decision-making after holding crunch talks with the fan board.
They will aim to make an official decision in early 2025.
St James’ Park currently has a capacity of 52,000, but it has gone from being the second biggest club stadium in England when it was last expanded in 1998 down to seventh in the list.
St James’ Park expansion would cost £1bn
When previously speaking about the stadium project, Newcastle’s owners would prefer to expand St James’ Park rather than build a new stadium.
The club are pushing to increase all revenue streams to help steer clear of the Premier League Profit and Sustainability Rules which have hamstrung the club’s recent transfer plans.
A crucial part of that long-term plan is increasing the matchday revenue generated by the club.
In the latest 2022/23 club accounts, Newcastle generated £38m in matchday revenue from St James’ Park. That is a figure the owners would desperately like to increase.
It has now been suggested that expanding St James’ Park could cost £1bn.
It seemed as though Newcastle chiefs had decided to expand St James’ Park but the huge estimated cost could make them, and supporters, re-think.
PiF are now seriously considering a new stadium and it seems fans are getting more and more on board with that idea.
Newcastle United fans react to £1bn stadium news
Given that Tottenham were able to build a new state-of-the-art stadium for £1.2bn, the cost of expanding St James’ Park by a few thousand seats does seem steep.
It is an incredibly difficult decision to make given the rich history and heritage of St James’ Park and it’s central location in Newcastle. Alan Shearer warned PiF about a new stadium and insisted that they must keep a new build close to the original location if that is the option they choose.
The preference of most fans has been to remain at St James’ Park, but a lot of supporters are now changing their mind…
On X, formerly known as Twitter, one supporter wrote: “I was torn about new or upgrade. I’m now thinking new build, remember the owners said this is a one time deal.. they upgrade by 5000 seats and realise they could have went to 60-70 seater selling out every home game.. it’s a lost opportunity if we stay as is.
Another fan added: “Unpopular opinion but it’d be a mistake if PIF extend St James to 62,000 instead of building a 100k new stadium in Leazes Park. 62k is a 3rd round league cup tie up here. Get back to the UCL and we’d fill 100k all day.”
A third said: “I get the history, but for me, it has to be new stadium to compete. Maximum funds, maximum team build.”
READ MORE: The £52.5m reason why Newcastle United are now trying to copy Liverpool
The £1bn cost seems to be a real turning point, with another fan posting, “1 billion for an extra 10,000 seats is a total waste of time. Should just build a new 70000 stadium with potential expansion further down the line”
Another wrote: “You can build a State of the Art Stadium for that price. We love St James Park but we need to get with the times.”
There are plenty more examples of fans now opting for a new stadium, with one saying: “If the stadium expansion is as expensive as reported, we must be smart and not stupid! Taking the reported amount to build a new stadium is the smart man’s best choice”.
It seems this be a turning point in Newcastle’s stadium project.
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