And if Newcastle United decide to remain at St James’ Park, one of the expansion solutions under consideration - according to the Daily Telegraph - is to convert the Gallowgate End into their very own Black and White Wal, of course taking inspiration from Borussia Dortmund’s Yellow Wall.
That would make the Gallowgate End one of the highest and largest single stands in Europe but still keeping space for traffic to pass underneath. It is claimed the work would raise the capacity of St James’ Park to around 65,000, making it the second largest club stadium in the country behind Manchester United’s Old Trafford.
Newcastle will make announce a decision on the next steps in early 2025. Building a new state-of-the-art stadium on a site nearby is also under consideration.
“We want to make sure it is a very robust process,” chief operating officer Brad Miller said last month. “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.”
“We have also taken the opportunity to look at what will a new stadium look like,” Miller added. “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.
Option C shows 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.
The concept design involves removing the Gallowgate Stand roof and starting the expansion across the road to allow traffic to continue passing through.
1. Removing the roof
The concept design involves removing the Gallowgate Stand roof and starting the expansion across the road to allow traffic to continue passing through. | Bondibot
The East Stand, listed buildings and Leazes Conservation area would remain undisturbed by this expansion.
2. One stand expansion
The East Stand, listed buildings and Leazes Conservation area would remain undisturbed by this expansion. | Bondibot
The Gallowgate expansion concept would raise the stand to the same level as the Milburn and Leazes stands.
3. A significant expansion
The Gallowgate expansion concept would raise the stand to the same level as the Milburn and Leazes stands. | Bondibot
The club purchasing the land at Strawberry Place makes this option seem the most realistic of the three.
4. Is this the most likely option for Newcastle?
The club purchasing the land at Strawberry Place makes this option seem the most realistic of the three. | Bondibot