Newcastle fans face lengthy stadium delay as senior man shares latest update
Newcastle United fans are waiting to hear whether or not the club will be leaving St James’ Park.
Newcastle have been exploring their stadium plans over the past couple of years, with both options of renovating St James’ Park or building a new ground on the table.
It is believed the favoured option is to build a new facility with a capacity of just under 70,000 at nearby Leazes Park, making it significantly bigger than the 52,000 St James’ Park holds.
Newcastle had been hoping to announce their stadium plans in early 2025, but the situation is more complicated than initially expected.
Newcastle chief drops ‘incredible’ stadium update
Newcastle won’t be leaving St James’ Park anytime soon after giving Uefa assurances the 52,000-seater facility will still be standing in its current situation in the summer of 2028.
Eddie Howe’s side were initially hesitant to commit to hosting games for Euro 2028 due to their stadium situation, but they have now agreed to become part of the bid and will host five games throughout the tournament.
David Hopkinson, who joined Newcastle as chief executive in September, is at the centre of the decision-making process alongside the club’s owners.
Speaking at the We Are United fan event at St James’ STACK on Monday (1 December), Hopkinson said (via The Athletic): “I don’t know. We’re not ready yet. What’s clear is to win consistently, to be at the top consistently we’ve got to grow revenues and that means we need world-class facilities to generate those revenues.
“St James’ Park is incredible, but I think there’s still opportunities but whether that’s a renovated or reimagined St James’, we haven’t made a decision yet. We are working on it literally every day.
“I know there’s a lot of pressure. I don’t know when that will be. That’s not today and I don’t think it will be next week either. We’re working on it furiously. The complexity around financing, it’s an incredibly complex project. This will be the most ambitious project this club has ever taken on.”
While Newcastle chiefs are clearly taking the matter seriously, Hopkinson’s admission suggests the club’s fans could be facing another lengthy delay before any decision is made.
How much revenue do Newcastle generate?
Despite the ongoing uncertainty, Newcastle have opened talks with lenders over a financing deal for their stadium development, which is expected to cost at least £1billion if they decide to build a new ground.
Finance expert Stefan Borson told Football Insider Newcastle’s owners can borrow “whatever they want” to finance the project due to their significant wealth.
The Tyneside club are majority owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), with the Reuben Brothers holding a minority stake at St James’ Park.
The driving force behind the stadium development is to help Newcastle compete with some of their Premier League rivals financially.
Newcastle smashed their club-record revenue in 2023-24 after their overall turnover surged from £250m in 2022-23 to £320m.
That was boosted by an increase in matchday income, which improved from £38m to £50m across the same period.
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