St James’ Park rebuild to cost the earth

Image: St. James' Park, Arne Müseler/www.arne-mueseler.com, CC BY-SA 3.0 de

The Premier League team Newcastle United F.C. are facing costs of up to £1billion if the club opts in favor of redeveloping their home ground – the St James’ Park in Newcastle upon Tyne, England (UK).

The Newcastle United says it will make a decision on the future of St James’ Park early next year.

The long-term future of the 132-year-old base is in doubt with the club officials pondering whether to expand the existing stadium or explore options for alternative sites in the City.

‘Mail Online’ stated that the Newcastle United F.C. Chief Executive Darren Eales revealed in November 2023 that the club were starting to look seriously at expanding the 52,305-seat stadium in the heart of the City (Newcastle upon Tyne).

The Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England (UK). The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football.

The St James’ Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England (UK). It is the home of Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,350 seats, it is the eighth-largest football stadium in England.

‘Mail Online’ further stated that the Premier League side said it had drafted in a “world-leading agency” to aid their preparations.

The club later distributed an eyebrow-raising survey to the fans as to whether they wanted to stay and expand the iconic ground or if they were comfortable with moving to a new footprint.

Architects have now drawn up detailed plans for expansion work at Newcastle’s home, the St James’ Park.

The plan would see the East Stand and the Gallowgate End expanded taking the capacity to over 60,000 while the Milburn Stand and the Leazes End could be modernized.

A study, commissioned a year ago, will conclude that several options are open to the club should they decide to stay at St James’.

As much as this is the preference and the expectation, sources insist that a Board decision has not yet been reached on how best to proceed.

There is also the complication of the current lease on the stadium that has around 70 years to run and is held by the Newcastle City Council. If the club and their Saudi Owners (Public Investment Fund [PIF]) are going to invest up to £1billion in a redevelopment instead of moving to a new site, the terms of the St James’ lease – and its ownership structure – will have to be updated.

The Newcastle City Council is the local authority for the City of Newcastle upon Tyne. Newcastle has had a Council from medieval times which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974, the Council has been a Metropolitan Borough Council.

Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)-based the Public Investment Fund (PIF) is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. It is among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world with total estimated assets of US$925 billion. It was created in 1971 for the purpose of investing funds on behalf of the Government of Saudi Arabia.

But while there is hope among the supporters that Newcastle will very soon follow the Championship team Leeds United F.C. with the unveiling of detailed plans to expand their current home, that is not the case at present. The next step is the meeting with the Fan Advisory Board (FAB).

Newcastle’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) Brad Miller had given an update on the stadium project in August.

Miller had stressed the club are yet to reach a decision but acknowledged a “really big check” would likely be required when plans were finalized.

Maintained Miller, “When we get on with it, it is going to be a really big check that’s going to be written. They want to make sure that we are doing it correctly and that it’s doing the right things, whether that is supporting the football, doing the right thing by the fans. Have we got the ability to uplift the capacity? Is it going to actually make a return so we can continue to invest in the club?”

The club have been keen to expand their 52,300 seater stadium ever since the takeover by the Saudi Public Investment Fund back in 2021.

In February it was reported that ‘The Magpies’ had bought the land directly behind St James’ Park with a view to further expansion around the stadium.

The land had previously been sold by the prior Owner Mike Ashley to the private developers – the Helios Real Estate (a group of companies involved in property development and investment in the United Kingdom and Europe) and Marrico – for £9million four years ago and recently been in the hands of Reditum Capital (property investment company in London).

The Marrico Asset Management LLP is a property-based developer and investor with considerable expertise in the property markets in the United Kingdom but with substantial local specialist knowledge in the North of England.

The St James’ Park was last expanded back in the year 2000 when it had previously held an attendance of around 36,000.

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