Newcastle United tease new St James’ Park development with construction underway

Newcastle United have teased the construction of the St James’ STACK with hopes that it could open at the beginning of June. The development, which will sit on Strawberry Place just outside of St James’ Park, will be open all year round and act as a fan zone for supporters on matchdays. 

Building work on the site started in January after the club bought the land from developers for £2m last year. The development will be similar to the STACK on Pilgrim Street which was open for four years before closing in May 2022 to make way for the Pilgrim Quarter development.

Whilst St James’ STACK may not be open before Newcastle United’s season ends in May, the club are hoping to have it open by the time England host Bosnia and Herzegovina at St James’ Park on June 3 and have teased an update on the construction's progress on social media. That match will help prepare Gareth Southgate’s side for this summer’s European Championships in Germany with St James’ STACK offering supporters not heading to Germany a chance to watch those games.

Speaking about the development, Newcastle United’s 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.”