Newcastle United pushing to complete PSR boosting St James' Park upgrade in time for England visit

Newcastle United are planning to open the St James' STACK fan zone at Strawberry Place at the start of June.

The St James' STACK was announced after Newcastle purchased the leasehold land at Strawberry Place next to St James' Park from developers last year for around £2million. The fan zone will remain on the site for three years.

Building work started on the site in January with the groundwork for the fan zone now starting to take place. The Strawberry Place area is currently occupied by The Abbey Group construction vehicles and equipment as the work continues.

The coming months will see shipping containers installed on the site as the new fan zone takes shape. It will feature a central plaza and main stage area and will be open on matchdays and throughout the week, providing the club with a fresh revenue stream and commercial opportunities amid PSR pressure.

The club hope to have the fan zone open for England's friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina at St James' Park on June 3 ahead of the Euro 2024 tournament in Germany. England open the Euro 2024 group stage against Serbia on June 16.

Newcastle chief executive officer Darren Eales previously told The Gazette: "We're full steam ahead on [the fan zone].

"Our plan is to get it open for that spring, summer time and we're looking to try and get it open for the end of the season, certainly by the start of next season to have that fully open.

"To be clear it's not just on matchday, St James' Stack will be open seven days a week and we're excited because it gives us more of that footprint. It goes back to our fan base and we've got this amazing fan base which is twice the size of St James' Park.

"The ability for us to have a footprint with St James' Stack to do events there and make fans feel connected without a season ticket is part of how we're thinking about our ability to grow the club and make our supporters feel more connected. It's not just on a match day, it's about what else we can do around the club 365 days a year."