2 days ago
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Newcastle have produced a glossy promotional video of a new 65,000-capacity stadium at Leazes Park in the strongest indication yet that they are planning to leave St James’ Park, their home since 1892.
Club executives presented the chairman, Yasir al-Rumayyan, with plans for a new stadium and a redevelopment of St James’ in a meeting at Matfen Hall in Northumberland last month, but have yet to confirm their intentions.
Newcastle are understood to be strongly in favour of the new-build option if Rumayyan and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund are willing to foot the £1.2bn bill, with their decision to commission a video of the project indicative of their thinking.
The video, which has also been shown to senior staff at Newcastle and shared with a fan board on a confidential basis, begins with an aerial shot of the green space surrounding the Grade II-listed Leazes Park before homing in on the new stadium. The proposed ground is further into the green-belt land in the park than a previous design, in which the stadium would have overlapped with the footprint at St James’ Park.
Newcastle would therefore be able to continue playing at St James’ during construction, which would significantly ease the financial burden. Newcastle are due to stage several group games at the 2028 European Championship at St James’, which would be unaffected.
Newcastle are working with the London-based architecture firm KSS, whose recent sport projects include the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Qatar, No 1 Court at Wimbledon and Leicester City’s new training ground. The club have appointed a planning consultant but have yet to make an application to Newcastle city council.
Obtaining planning permission may not be straightforward because the project involves building on green-belt land in the city centre that is subject to a conservation order, and an application could lead to legal challenges. Leazes Park is described locally as the “green lung” and a commitment to build a replacement green space on the site of St James’ is likely to be essential to getting the project signed off.
Newcastle’s ambition is to build the second-largest club ground in the country after Old Trafford. Plans for the new stadium, which would take an estimated seven years to complete, show a multi-sport and entertainment venue able to stage concerts and other large events.
Newcastle’s chief executive, Darren Eales, is understood to have told staff that 65,000 is the proposed capacity, a 13,000 increase on St James’, because every seat needs to be filled at every game. The project is being led by the chief operating officer, Brad Miller, who was involved in expansion projects at East Midlands, Stansted and Manchester airports.
Miller has told the club’s nine-person fan advisory body that a new stadium, which will also have more corporate hospitality and more leisure facilities, could double Newcastle’s match-day revenue.
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Newcastle made £37.9m on match days during the 2022-23 season – far less than Manchester City’s £72m, Arsenal’s £103m, Tottenham’s £118m and Manchester United’s £136m – and need to increase their revenue given challenges in complying with the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability regulations. As an infrastructure project, stadium costs would be exempt from PSR calculations and could be funded by the PIF.
Newcastle have also identified two sites on which to build a new training ground, with the American architect Populous appointed to lead on that project.
Newcastle declined to comment.
