Pundit salutes ‘smashing’ Newcastle United news after club chief’s big-money reveal
Noel Whelan has insisted Newcastle United’s plans to expand their St James’ Park stadium make “absolute sense” for a club on the up.
The former Leeds striker, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, suggested the Magpies’ owners may have eyes on hosting “World Cup and European Championships” fixtures in the coming years.
As per Chronicle Live (13 October), Newcastle’s new CEO Darren Eales is set to hold talks with the club’s owners and Newcastle City Council on the potential of expanding St James’ Park.
Eales also revealed the possibility of bringing a new commercial partner to the stadium, 11 years on from Mike Ashley’s ill-fated attempt to rename the ground the Sports Direct Arena.
St James’ Park currently holds over 52000 fans, making it the 12th-largest stadium by capacity in the United Kingdom.
Whelan claimed the Magpies are right to look at improving their facilities after spending around £200million on squad improvements in the last 12 months.
He told Football Insider’s Ewan Kingsbury: “It’s a smashing stadium, and somewhere you love to go.
“It’s very imposing when you approach it, and probably one of the only grounds which is in the city centre as well.
“Now that they’ve got the team sorted and they’re building on the pitch, why not?
“They know they have the demand, so why not improve the stadium if you know you can sell x amount of tickets?
“Not just for Newcastle, but for World Cups, European Championships – they’ll want it to stand out.
“If they can build up the capacity, it makes absolute sense.”
In other news, Football Insider updates as Newcastle line up club-record Bruno Guimaraes offer.