New St James’ Park stadium concept photos have already emerged as Newcastle United chief issues update.
Newcastle United are considering building a new stadium, the club’s chief operating officer Brad Miller confirmed this week.
After conducting an extensive feasibility study involving leading architects, Magpies’ chief are discussing the next steps with a further announcement set to be made in early 2025.
And there are two options on the table. Either expand St James’ Park – the current capacity is 52,000 – or a build a new state of the art stadium.
Speaking at the ‘We Are United’ fan event at STACK on Wednesday night, Miller – who was joined on stage by CEO Darren Eales, sporting director Paul Mitchell, chief commercial officer Peter Silverstone and chief financial officer Simon Capper – said: “We want to make sure it is a very robust process. So regardless of the outcome, I want to stand up in front of everybody throughout the process and say, ‘This is why it is a logical decision, with long-term competitiveness in mind.’
“Because as you have heard a lot, it is all about revenue and PSR. We have to work hard to make sure we give as much money as possible to Paul (Mitchell) and the football side in order to remain competitive on the field.
“In terms of next steps, we are coming towards the end of the next stage, the briefing stage. There are a lot of risks and opportunities at St James’. We have to take time to dig into those and make sure we’ve got the devil in the detail – in terms of the programme, how long it will take and what it will do for us in terms of revenue.”
As Miller alluded to, there are “a lot of risks” associated with expanding St James’ Park with the listed buildings behind the East Stand being one key issue. A new stadium, meanwhile, would potentially have “a lot more seats” and have “the potential to earn more than twice as much in terms of revenue.”
Miller says the club are comparing “apples and pears, not apples and apples” when it comes to expanding St James’ or moving to a site elsewhere.
“We have also taken the opportunity to look at what will a new stadium look like,” Miller said. “It’s not comparing apples with apples, they are not like for like. It’s comparing apples with pears.
“The brilliant thing about St James’ is it is in an iconic location, the atmosphere and the competitive edge it gives the team on the pitch, and it has 52,000 seats already.
“But a new stadium doesn’t have that and we’d have to pay for all those seats again. A new stadium has the potential to earn a lot more, both on matchdays and non-matchdays, a bit like STACK. It is giving us an indication that we can actually contribute even more to the football club and football side if we had a new stadium.”
Earlier this year, stadium concept designer and 3D animator Damián Bosio proposed three stadium expansion suggestions via his YouTube channel, Bondibot.
Option A involved expanding the Gallowgate End and Gallowgate West Corner to the same level as the Milburn and Leazes Stands.
Option B looked at raising the St James’ Park pitch and moving it north west to allow more space to expand the East Stand and Gallowgate Stand so they are similar height to the Milburn and Leazes Stand. However, the design isn’t viewed as realistic currently due to the properties on Leazes Terrace and the ‘right to light’ easement. That said, advances in technology could allow light to pass through an expanded East Stand.
Meanwhile, option C showed a new stadium being built next to the current site on Leazes Park. That would, however, almost certainly face a series of complaints from those who want to protect the city’s green spaces.
