Newcastle's chief financial officer has explained why the club effectively sold St James' Park to themselves for £172m, with the Premier League now set to make a ruling
12:39, 31 Mar 2026Updated 12:45, 31 Mar 2026
St James' Park
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Newcastle United have sold St James' Park to themselves(Image: Getty Images)
Newcastle United have sold the leasehold at St James' Park to another company owned by the club for £172m.
The move has enabled them to record profit for the first time since coming under the majority ownership of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) in 2021. The club escaped substantial losses after selling the 52,000 capacity stadiumand other assets to a company that forms part of their wider operations.
Without the sale, Newcastle would have posted a record £98.4m loss. But the transaction is subject to approval from the Premier League, which must ensure that it represents fair market value for the ground under Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR). However, unlike Chelsea's decision to sell their Cobham Training Ground to themselves in 2024 to navigate around the PSR regulations, Newcastle claim the decision to transfer the leasehold to another company they control (PZ Newco Propco 1 Limited) is to generate funds to back either an expansion of St James', or a fresh stadium project.
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - MARCH 22: A general view as fans of Newcastle United form a TIFO prior to the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Sunderland at St James' Park on March 22, 2026 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
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Newcastle's St James' Park home is no longer in the club's name(Image: Stu Forster, Getty Images)
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The club has published accounts for last season which demonstrate revenues climbed by £35m thanks to expanding commercial activities, including the Stack fan park. But with their wage bill increasing considerably and the value of their playing squad dropping by nearly £100m, the club gained from a £128m profit on what is termed "disposal of tangible assets".
The accounts disclose that a transaction was completed on June 27 last year to sell and lease back "leasehold improvements" at St James' Park to a company called PZ Holdings Ltd, whose directors are Newcastle United directors Yasir Al Rumayyan, Abdulmajid Alhagbani and Jamie Reuben.
Newcastle announced an operating profit of £43.6m for the year ending June 2025, with revenues escalating to £355.3m from £320.3m the previous year. Staff costs rose by £24.8m due to an additional 89 employees across the club and bonuses linked to Champions League qualification. Other expenses for the club increased by £25.4m, primarily attributed to costs associated with the Stack development.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MARCH 04: Newcastle United Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan before the Premier League match between Manchester City and Newcastle United at Etihad Stadium on March 04, 2023 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Will Palmer/Getty Images)
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Newcastle Chairman and governor of the Public Investment Fund, Yasir Al-Rumayyan(Image: Richard Sellers/Allstar, Getty Images)
The revenue recognised in the accounts from the stadium deal prevents the club from a substantial loss, which would have reportedly ended in a breach of Premier League financial regulations. Other clubs, including Nottingham Forest and Everton, have been penalised with points deductions for violating these rules.
However, when questioned if Newcastle's sale of the leasehold was an attempt to avoid PSR issues, Newcastle's chief financial officer Simon Capper told journalists: "The motivation was very much to reorganise our property assets and get them into the correct legal boxes to allow us to go forward with our potential development, either at St James' Park or for a new stadium, and to facilitate that with financing and other similar items.
"There may be more similar transactions to come in the future, depending on what we end up doing. But the profit calculation that had to be done is then a consequence of the detail of the accounting rules that the Premier League require us to follow in doing any transaction with a company that is associated with us. So it does create a very significant accounting profit because of that."
Eddie Howe, manager of Newcastle United, applauds the fans after the final whistle during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Sunderland at St. James's Park in Newcastle, United Kingdom, on March 22, 2026. (Photo by Mark Cosgrove/News Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Eddie Howe's side were on the verge of breaching PSR rules(Image: NurPhoto, NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A vote last year means that Premier League clubs will no longer be permitted to offload assets like hotels and women's teams to themselves to bypass financial regulations. However, the fresh rule, which follows contentious manoeuvres by Chelsea to sell a hotel and its women's team to separate divisions of its organisation, doesn't take effect until next season. Additional teams have also sold some of their own assets to themselves.
The accounts state: "On 27 June 2025 the group disposed of leasehold improvements at St James Park to PZ Holdings Ltd, a fellow subsidiary of the immediate parent company PZ Newco Ltd, via a sale and leaseback transaction. The NBV (net book value) of these assets at the date of disposal was £43.2m and the profit on disposal of £129.0m has been recognised in the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income to 30 June 2025.
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"The consideration of the transaction is subject to the Premier League's assessment. The sale agreement contains a clause permitting an adjustment to the consideration receivable in the event that the Premier League's determination of the fair market value differs from the £172.1m premium which has been recognised based on an independent valuation."
The accounts also touched on the topic of a new stadium and training ground, with CEO David Hopkinson hinting yesterday that updates on both projects were 'not for today' but the annual report stated: "The Group is further exploring the options in relation to potential enhancement or expansion of St James' Park or the development of a new stadium.
"Work continues to determine the preferred way forward in relation to the cubs' training infrastructure."