Newcastle United is exploring a second city centre site for a new stadium, according to major media reports, while feasibility work continues around Leazes Park, the club's preferred choice. CEO David Hopkinson stated that if the ambition is to drive higher revenues, the club needs to look at increasing capacity. Supply-and-demand modelling has shown that a new-build stadium would need a capacity of at least 65,000 but no more than 70,000, while an expansion of St James' Park could not go beyond 60,000-62,000 capacity due to architectural limitations. Hopkinson does not have a timescale for a decision on increasing capacity at St James' Park or building a new stadium. According to major media reports, David Hopkinson described the process as labor-intensive and expensive, involving legal, government, heritage, environment, and residential considerations.
The Public Investment Fund remains fully committed to Newcastle United, with the club under their 'strategic' portfolio, according to multiple reports. A senior PIF delegation is scheduled to meet with Newcastle's executive team at Matfen Hall later this month, with stadium plans at the top of the agenda, major media reports indicate. CEO David Hopkinson and chief operating officer Brad Miller are working to present all viable stadium options to the ownership this month. PIF's senior figures have not attended a Newcastle fixture since the Champions League encounter against Paris Saint-Germain in January, but there has been daily dialogue between PIF and the Newcastle board, according to major media. PIF have no intention of selling their stake in Newcastle United, multiple reports confirm.
My job is to develop true optionality. That is why this process takes so long. It's very easy to say, 'Oh, just build it there'. But what needs to happen for that to be possible? It's labour intensive and very expensive. There are legal, government, heritage, environment and residential considerations. You can't build somewhere just because you want to.
Newcastle United has had the green light from PIF to make impressive new changes around St James' Park this summer, according to multiple reports. CEO David Hopkinson has assured fans that St James' Park is set for a facelift, with no increase in capacity. One major improvement at St James' Park is said to be TV screens on the concourses, and other facilities for players and families of Newcastle stars are also set for a major revamp. Hopkinson stated that Newcastle's mid-term period is set to be at St James' Park. According to major media reports, David Hopkinson described the club as being at St James' Park in pretty much its current format for years to come, prompting considerations for improvements in the intervening period. £1 million has been set aside for enhancements at St James' Park this summer, major media reports.
One issue at Leazes Park is the presence of bats, and the club has consulted a specialist firm for surveys on how to relocate them, according to major media. Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan believes Newcastle's PIF owners should build a new stadium, multiple reports indicate.
One of the things we are reviewing right now is that we’re going to be here, in something like the current format, for years. I think that there are some things we’ve maybe not done because we’ve been waiting for the bigger decision. I think we’re going to think about the phasing of this next phase of our lives, and recognise that there are things we need to do now with regard to the stadium issue. Maybe we can incorporate that in a future renovation? Maybe we pick it up and move it with us to a new park? But recognising that we are going to be at St James’ Park in pretty much its current format for years to come is important. We’re thinking through what improvements should we make in that intervening period? We could make tweaks and changes to improve
PIF chiefs will not rush into any decisions concerning manager Eddie Howe, planning an end-of-season performance assessment, according to major media. Hopkinson has kept quiet publicly since the disappointing Tyne-Wear derby defeat, but manager Eddie Howe continues to receive backing within the club, multiple reports indicate.
An announcement on a new £200 million training ground at Woolsington is set to follow the PIF delegation's visit, major media reports. Hopkinson believes Newcastle United has not maximised sponsorship opportunities or commercial opportunities.
By 2030, I see this club being in the debate about being the top club in the world. That kind of progress doesn't take as long as you might think. What it takes is clarity of conviction. Can Newcastle win the Premier League? Yeah, of course. Why not?
Newcastle United's accounts reveal the club transferred ownership of St James' Park to a sister company controlled by the same shareholders, booking a substantial accounting gain, according to major media. The 72-year leasehold on St James' Park was sold to PZ Holdings Ltd for £172.1 million. Newcastle risks being fined by UEFA for selling the leasehold to St James' Park to a company with the same owners as the club itself, other sources report. In the Premier League, it is allowed to use money from profits of sales to sister companies, but according to UEFA it is forbidden. Chelsea and Aston Villa have been investigated for similar cases, reaching settlements with UEFA.
PIF's impending withdrawal from their LIV Golf venture will not impact Newcastle United, according to major media. Rumours that Newcastle are up for sale began circulating after a blog post by Richard Keys, but these are unfounded given PIF's commitment.
The one thing we’re not talking about here, and should be talking about, is that the Saudis have played nicely with the football establishment. They have played by the rules in terms of not pushing the envelope or created any issues about their ownership model and how they should be able to do precisely what they wanted. In the same way that they did when they tried to influence the government to influence the purchase in the first place, which we all know happened with Boris Johnson. So the one thing they can do to enhance Newcastle United Football Club and give them the opportunity to be at the top table, which doesn’t take anything away from PSR, is build a new stadium. Get on with it, build a new stadium.
The truth is that if the ambition is to drive higher revenues, then we need to look at the support we get - which is amazing from the local community, and the fact that we could sell more than that. More capacity is a big option for us, and whether that’s here at St James’ Park or somewhere else, we don’t know. We’re working on it every day but do not have a timescale for that just yet. This is a long-term project for Newcastle and myself. I came here with high conviction, and this project needs to be viewed as a couple of stages. The first being between now and 2030 which is getting organised and raising ambitions from what we maybe previously had, and to then develop the people, players and infrastructure to ensure that revenue we talked about pays off on the pitch.
So, you know, every system has its own idiosyncrasies, constraints, and accelerators, things that, as Francesco said, in our system are sort of designed to keep the status quo. In some ways, it's exacerbated, like I said, because of that correlation between wages, which is performance, which is points. And how I think about it is, you know, what can we do to help ourselves? You know, the elite clubs, the ones that we admire, the ones like Liverpool, Man U, Man City, and others, they are Arsenal, you know, really elite performers, not by accident but because they have worked to become an extraordinarily well-run business with great leadership who have maximised the commercial opportunity before them. So, I'm relatively new in post, I haven't been here six months yet, but the thesis that I'm operating under is, OK, well, let's look to see to what extent Newcastle United has maximised the opportunity before it. And I'm not convinced that we have done that. I see major opportunities everywhere I look. Our sponsorship business could be better, could be stronger, our digital ecosystem needs to be much larger. It’s well-reported that we’re considering what we do with our stadium. Should we be having more fans come in every single match? And what’s the long-term return on that? And what does that do for our immediate ability to compete in a PSR moving to SCR world? So, I think a lot about to what extent we too, if we want to become an elite club, we need to behave like an elite club and maximise our local market opportunity.