Stadium development was only one part of PIF’s investment plan at Newcastle United.
After the PIF takeover was completed in 2021, all focus at St James’ Park went towards making Newcastle United ‘best in class’ in every area.
Behind the scenes, club chiefs continue to discuss what to do with St James’ Park with two options now facing the club – to build a new stadium or to expand on the current location.
Reports last week suggested PIF’s stadium plans are bigger than expected with St James’ Park set to expand to a capacity of 65,000 if that is the option the club chooses.
PIF have also discussed building a new training ground for Newcastle but news on that front has gone eerily quiet.
Newcastle chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan celebrates with Eddie Howe the manager / head coach of Newcastle United during the Premier League match betwee...
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PIF want to build state-of-the-art training ground
Newcastle’s training ground hasn’t been fit for purpose for years and building a new facility appeared to be at the forefront of PIF’s plans after their takeover.
Two locations for a new training ground were discussed back in 2022 with Gosforth Park named as one possibility – an area where the Reuben brothers own land.
However, while there have been plenty of updates on stadium talks, there has been much less talk about the training ground plans.
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The Athletic’s Chris Waugh has offered an update, and he insists that an “elite” facility is in the pipeline.
“A decision on the stadium is taking a long time because they are conducting such thorough research to ensure they make the correct long-term call for the club and that it will happen,” Waugh wrote.
“As for the training ground, the rebuttal is that at some stage an elite facility will be built (although a timescale remains elusive).”
Are PIF still committed to Newcastle United?
Since the takeover, 2024 has easily been Newcastle’s most stagnant year. At the same time, PIF have been growing the Saudi Pro League and will now be working full speed ahead towards the 2034 World Cup after Saudi Arabia’s bid was successful.
That has resulted in some concerns from the Newcastle fanbase that maybe PIF and the club’s ownership aren’t as committed as they were in years gone by.
However, as published by Waugh in the above report: “Club sources point to the recent £35million ($44m) investment via a share issue as evidence of PIF’s commitment.”
In November, a £35m injection was made by the club’s owners which has now taken PIF investment to a total of £338m.
Training ground and stadium plans are still in the works, but supporters will have to wait patiently while they are finalised.
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