Newcastle United Looking To Expand St James’ Park
With an extra 13,000 seats made available it would be a massive boost to the many fans who find themselves now locked out of St James’ Park. With recent successes since the takeover seeing a significant rise in the demand for tickets it would be a significant boost for both club and supporters, as Newcastle United look to compete on and off the pitch. It would also see the stadium become the second biggest in the Premier League, behind Manchester United’s much maligned Old Trafford being the first.
The Magpies have started a feasibility study to look into the possibility of expanding St James' Park with several specialists architects being consulted and manager Eddie Howe would certainly welcome the prospect of the backing of an even bigger stadium. A number of experts in the field have been invited in with effectively a blank sheet of paper to see how many more seats Newcastle could get in the stadium at a time when thousands of supporters have been locked out of St James' on match days because of the intense demand for tickets.
Any development would be complex, but the owners remain committed to exhausting every possible avenue rather than building a new arena elsewhere. An expansion of the East Stand is complicated due to listed buildings directly behind it. Meanwhile, it is also suggested that there is little chance of being able to demolish the Leazes Terrace. Finding a potential solution to this is one of the many challenges Newcastle face, but it is worth noting there have been a number of encouraging breakthroughs in modern engineering methods in recent years. Newcastle have also bought back the land at Strawberry Place behind the Gallowgate End and, although a new fan zone will open here next spring, it will only have an initial lifespan of three years as the club explore potential long term uses for the site.
Chief executive Darren Eales says the plans to increase the capacity of St James’ Park are underway with a remit to dream big. Newcastle are massively oversubscribed for season ticket demand and sell out their 52,500 capacity for home games. The Gallowgate End or the East Stand, hemmed in by listed buildings, could be extended. Eales said: “Part of the feasibility is how big is the scale. What is the demand? What do we think is a realistic number. We are looking at the stadium and saying, 'What is possible?'. Everyone now is an architect, everyone has a view on what you can and can't do at St James' Park. We have engaged experts to look at everything and tell us what we could do. Don't think of cost, then we look at it and say 'these are our possibilities'.”
