Newcastle chairman considers stadium plans

Newcastle United chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan has been presented with two potential stadium plans, as the Premier League club weighs up the possibility of redeveloping St James’ Park or building a new venue from scratch.

Newcastle is currently in a “decision stage” for its stadium development plans, with the club having engaged CAA ICON to conduct a feasibility study of St James’ Park.

In November, the club’s chief operating officer, Brad Miller, revealed that a move away from St James’ Park was being “seriously” considered. It has been reported that Newcastle could face a bill of between £800m (€965m/$1bn) and £1bn should the club choose to remain at a redeveloped St James’ Park.

The Telegraph has now reported that a new stadium would have a capacity of just under 70,000 and would be built on land close to the current St James’ Park. A new stadium would reportedly cost around £1.5bn.

A final decision on the stadium is not said to be imminent, but the Telegraph has previously reported that the club’s board would prefer to build a new stadium from scratch. The newspaper has also reported that a new green space would be built on the current St James’ Park site if a new-build project is preferred.

St James’ Park has a current capacity of around 52,000. Any redevelopment of the stadium would focus on expanding the East Stand and Gallowgate End, increasing capacity to more than 60,000.

Al-Rumayyan is said to have been presented with the plans by Miller during a meeting yesterday (Monday). Al-Rumayyan is a governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has viewed expansion and improvement of St James’ Park as a key priority since purchasing Newcastle in October 2021.

Newcastle is yet to reveal any specific details regarding its plans, but Miller suggested in November that the club would be open to a move away from St James’ Park. Miller pointed to the “risks and opportunities” involved in redeveloping St James’ Park, which is among the bigger venues in the Premier League but is restricted by its proximity to residential areas.

St James’ Park will be a host venue at UEFA Euro 2028 but this could potentially be at risk depending on the club’s choice of direction for its stadium project.