Newcastle United 60,000 St James' Park expansion concept images have already emerged as club give update

A feasibility study has reportedly determined that expanding St James’ Park’s capacity to over 60,000 is a viable option for the club but a decision is yet to be made.

The club have revealed that their stadium feasibility study has entered a ‘crucial’ second stage - although results of that are not expected until next year.

A meeting with the club’s Fan Advisory Board has taken place this week with Newcastle chief operations officer Brad Miller providing an update on the situation.

Speaking at a meeting with the club’s Fan Advisory Board (FAB), Miller said: “This is an exciting but extremely complex project, and I'd like to thank supporters for their patience as we conduct this key phase of the feasibility process. We aren't quite at a decision-making stage yet, but we are targeting the early part of 2025 to complete the next essential tasks.

“We are challenging our appointed design team, and ourselves, to make sure our eventual chosen route delivers a fantastic fan experience - one that represents the fans, city, region and club, and aligns with the long-term ambitions of our ownership group. But it must provide an investable return, and not least deliver strong revenue growth to increase our PSR headroom, which, as everyone knows, means we can invest more infootball.

“Our objective is to select a scheme that is deliverable, affordable, and sustainable, so we are investing this time to make sure we are only going to spend money on the project where it will make the biggest difference - to fan experience, revenue, competitiveness, investment in football and operational efficiency. All this requires a robust process that leaves no stone unturned.”

“We know what a transformed St. James' Park would give us and we now have a significant amount of data and feedback on our stadium footprint and surrounding area, so we are several steps forward. But it is also clear that this option has several risks associated with it, so we need to fully analyse those risks against the opportunities to reach truly informed and intelligent outcomes.

“Part of the process is also to understand alternative options so that we see the bigger picture and, again, find the right balance between risk and opportunity. This is a once-in-a-generation investment, so we don't want to look back in years to come, as a club or as a city, and regret an opportunity missed.”

The club’s preference has always been to expand the current stadium, which has been Newcastle’s home since its formation in 1892 but a complete stadium rebuild has not been ruled out just yet.

Any construction work to expand St James’ Park will be subject to the club extending its current leasehold, which expires in 2097.

Expanding St James’ Park is thwarted by the stadium’s city centre location close to listed buildings and the Leazes Conservation Area.

The estimated costs are between £800million and £1billion, while a new stadium is estimated to cost £2 billion to £3billion.

While official details have not been made public, that hasn’t stopped concept designers from sharing their takes on what a proposed expansion or stadium rebuild could look like.

In April, stadium concept designer and 3D animator Damián Bosio proposed three stadium expansion suggestions via his YouTube channel, Bondibot.

One option involves expanding the Gallowgate Stand and Gallowgate West Corner to the same level as the current Milburn and Leazes Stands. It involves building over the Strawberry Place street and onto the land above the St James’ Metro Station.

To the untrained eye, this would be seen as the most feasible option with the club purchasing the Strawberry Place land last year. Though the St James’ STACK is currently situated on the site.

The second option involves raising the St James’ Park playing surface and moving the pitch north west to allow more space to expand the East Stand and Gallowgate Stand. While it will mean losing capacity from the Milburn Stand and Leazes Stand, the design goes on to expand the East Stand and Gallowgate Stands so that all four stands are of a similar height.

This design won’t be viewed as realistic in its current guise due to the properties on Leazes Terrace and the ‘right to light’ easement that gives the landowners a right to receive sunlight on their buildings.

However, advances in technology could allow light to pass through an expanded East Stand and is something that was raised as part of the feasibility study.

A complete stadium rebuild has also been considered nearby Leazes Park. And this is where the most intriguing concept designs come from with a partial deconstruction of St James’ Park and a rebuild next to the current site on Leazes Park. This allows for a new state-of-the-art stadium to be constructed without any major capacity or further expansion restrictions.

However, any construction on the Leazes Conservation Area would likely face significant backlash even if an agreement was to be reached.

Here are images of the concept designs, giving an impression of how an expanded or new St James’ Park could look in the years to come...