Newcastle won’t make a final decision on their stadium plans until next year.
The club must decide whether to redevelop St James’ Park or build a new stadium nearby. While the board and supporters all believe the current 52,000 capacity isn’t big enough for Newcastle to achieve their long-term goals, opinion is split on the next step.
Toon officials have already held talks with the Fan Advisory Board , who have been kept fully informed of the results of a feasibility study and future options. But with the cost of relocation or redevelopment expected to be over £1billion, Newcastle are exploring every avenue.
“This is an exciting but extremely complex project,” said chief operating officer Brad Miller. “We aren’t quite at a decision-making stage yet but are targeting the early part of 2025 to complete essential tasks.
Last year, Darren Eales – Newcastle’s chief executive who recently announced his will step down from his position after being diagnosed with a chronic form of blood cancer – opened up on the situation.
Eales told a fan forum that all options are on the table added: “There will be hypothetical questions, they will ask, for example: ‘Imagine if there was a brand new stadium built on this site, what would you think? That doesn’t mean we are doing that, it is about building that construct and getting that information from fans on what we do going forward.
“The whole concept is to look at the art of the possible. What we want to know is what is truly possible? We know we have this fantastic location here on top of the hill, cathedral on the hill but we know we have boundary issues and it’s not as simple as if we had a lot of space. So what can we do?
