Newcastle United supporters have been waiting patiently for an update on the future of St James’ Park.
Last year, the club issued a statement claiming a formal update over the future of the stadium would be made in ‘early 2025’. Heading into 2026, no tangible progress has been made.
Newcastle’s new chief executive officer David Hopkinson has spoken publicly about the future of St James’ Park, but it ultimately left supporters disappointed.
Speaking at the We Are United supporter event at the St James’ STACK, Hopkinson claimed the club are ‘not ready’ to make a stadium decision.
When asked when a decision can be expected regarding the stadium, Hopkinson said: “I don’t know and we're not going to.
“I'm telling you clearly, to win the title consistently, to be at the top consistently, we've got to build revenues. That means we need world-class facilities where we can generate those revenues.
“St. James Park, where it is as it is today in December of 2025, is incredible. I think there's still big opportunities.
"Whether it's renovated, reimagined, a new stadium, we have not make that decision yet. We're working on it virtually every day.
“I don't know when that will be. It's not today and I don't think it's next week either. But it doesn't mean that we're not working on this furiously.
“But the complexity around finance, project planning, when assembly can do that. This is an unbelievably complex project. It's a project that will be the most ambitious this club has ever taken on.
“That work in order to be ultimately the success we need to be, right now that work needs to be below the water level. And things like announcing ‘this design’, we're not ready for that yet.
“To be ahead of ourselves in a formalisation plan is actually counterproductive to the ultimate realisation of the ambition. I don't think that's going to be a very popular answer. I'm aware of that.
No official stadium designs have been made public at the time of writing but stadium concept designer and 3D animator Damián Bosio shared his ideas on what a proposed expansion of St James’ Park or new stadium could look like via his YouTube channel, Bondibot.
The designs were made public last year, but provide an idea of what an expanded St James’ Park with a capacity north of 60,000 or new 70,000 ‘Leazes Stadium’ could look like. But it’s clear that any new stadium plans or designs won’t be announced any time soon.
Here are the concept images and how an expansion could work in theory...
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1. Removing the roof
The concept design involves removing the Gallowgate Stand roof and starting the expansion across the road to allow traffic to continue passing through. | Bondibot
2. One stand expansion
The East Stand, listed buildings and Leazes Conservation area would remain undisturbed by this expansion. | Bondibot
3. A significant expansion
The Gallowgate expansion concept would raise the stand to the same level as the Milburn and Leazes stands. | Bondibot
4. Is this the most likely option for Newcastle?
The club purchasing the land at Strawberry Place makes this option seem the most realistic of the three. | Bondibot