Newcastle United have been one of the clubs hit by PSR
Newcastle United have been one of the clubs hit by PSR
Newcastle United chiefs are insisting that no decisions have been made on the club's St James' Park project. The update comes amid fresh claims that they have plumped for a 65,000 capacity new stadium to be built on Leazes Park.
United are maintaining their stance that they will fully update fans when they are in a position to communicate. It comes after the Daily Mail suggested a decision had already been reached and that club leaders had scrapped plans to extend their current home.
Chronicle Live understands that chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan flew to Tyneside earlier this month and was shown plans for two options, including a revamped St James' Park with a capacity of around 60,000 and a new stadium that could hold around 70,000. A city source close to the project said: "No decisions have been made."
Leazes Park is still believed to be one of the areas that the club were considering relocating to but that process has not reached any type of decision stage. Toon chiefs say they want to run the options past the Fan Advisory Board and then the wider public before any major and final verdicts have been made. Al-Rumayyan is understood to be on board with that process.
Eales told reporters at a round table event last week: "Firstly we appreciate your patience on this matter. It's a huge decision for the club, something we've spoken about being a once in a generation decision. It's something we want to get right.
"Having lived it at Tottenham, Atlanta, there's a lot of work that goes on in the background to be able to make the correct decision. It's a bit like the swan: there's furious scurrying going on in the background.
"So I think we're at a situation where we did the initial feasibility, we followed that up, we've discussed it with our ownership and we want to make sure we have got everything right, all our ducks in a row.
"We said that we'd talk with the fans and the Fan Advisory Board but this is an opportunity and ownership is very much looking to make this investment, we just want to make sure it's the right investment, strategically for the club, the city, the region and that takes us doing a lot of work, due diligence and making sure at the right time that we go to those external stakeholders as well and get everyone aligned.
"We're looking to get something done in the near future but I can't really say anymore than that. Work is going on and I think you've seen it from just the general discussions we've had it is something we're taking very seriously because it's a hugely important decision."
Newcastle chiefs ruled out any switch to Gosforth Park last year with the second option for a new stadium not expected to be too far from the current historic venue. Miller stated "We don't want to: stretch the elastic band too far." Miller then said in November, in a fan event at the STACK: "The first choice is if we stayed at St James' we have the 52,000 seats already. It comes with significantly more money if we transform it and it will look amazing. That's option one.
"Option two is if we were to move away, and not too far away as we aren't going to stretch the elastic band to the point of breaking. The second option we are looking at it seriously as it does have the potential to earn more than twice as much in terms of revenue, compared to a transformation of St James' Park. And more seats, a lot more seats potentially."
The Mail claim that the decision to build on Leazes Park would create a stadium that would add an extra 13,000 seats to the current St James' capacity, with Eales and Co said to be reluctant to go too big and be left with a venue that may not always be filled. They also state that the proposed site would have no overlap with St James’, meaning the team can continue to play there at full capacity while a new home is built.
The report claims the club are preparing to take their intentions to the Government for sign-off on a project that will create hundreds of jobs and pour money into the local economy.
Manchester United this week announced their plans to build a new stadium next to Old Trafford. Co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe revealed that it would hold 100,000 supporters and cost around £2bn.