Stefan Borson ‘surprised’ as PIF make Newcastle stadium decision
Newcastle United fans are facing another delay as they wait to hear the club’s plans for their stadium.
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.
Newcastle’s owners were hoping to announce their decision in early 2025, but club chiefs are aware of the importance of the project.
It has now emerged Newcastle won’t be leaving St James’ Park anytime soon, with The i Paper reporting on 13 November the club have given Uefa cast-iron 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.
Newcastle’s owners have ‘extremely deep pockets’ to fund stadium
Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) – Newcastle’s majority owners – have been slower than expected in making decisions at St James’ Park.
It is believed the favoured option is to build a new facility with a capacity of just under 70,000 at nearby Leazes Park.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson said: “I think there’s no real scenario where you could build a whole new stadium by 2028 given that they’re out planning for something. So, to go from start to finish, I don’t think that’s going to happen. I don’t think that in itself is a surprise.
“Sometimes the surprise with Saudi Arabian ownership is the speed of which decisions can be made, and it is slower I think than people would probably hope.
“In some worlds, you would say, ‘Look, the stadium development is all outside PSL. We’ve got extremely deep pockets from Saudi Arabia and also the Reubens in terms of the minority shareholder’.
“Almost the day one project in some theories would be, ‘Right, what we’re going to do is day one, we’re going to put a planning application in and we’re going to build a new stadium, and we’re just going to do it as soon as possible because it kicks off a whole load of new revenue. It’s all outside PSR. It’s an easy way for us to effectively subsidise the club. By building huge infrastructure generates a massive stadium, bigger revenues, and makes it much easier to spend big. We need that in place as soon as possible, definitely not in five years’ time’, which is what it’s probably going to be from here. But they haven’t done that.”
Man United announced plans to build a 100,000-seater stadium earlier this year as part of the government’s regeneration of the Old Trafford area.
However, unlike Newcastle, Ruben Amorim’s side have withdrew from the Euro 2028 bid due to their stadium plans.
Newcastle open talks to fund stadium development
Despite the 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.
Borson previously told Football Insider Newcastle’s owners can borrow “whatever they want” to finance the project due to their significant wealth.
Alongside PIF’s majority shareholding, the Reuben Brothers own a minority stake at St James’ Park.
In terms of the financial situation at St James’ Park, 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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