Premier League official document confirms 2024-25 rule change & Newcastle United to Man Utd switch

The handbook also confirms key personnel and details of each Premier League club. Notable changes to Newcastle United in the Premier League handbook include, Dan Ashworth being replaced by Paul Mitchell as sporting director, with Ashworth now listed as Manchester United’s sporting director and also the appointment of Brad Miller as chief operating officer.

Newcastle chief executive Darren Eales told The Gazette: “The management team are in place now. We’ve just had Paul Mitchell in as sporting director, Brad Miller as our chief operating officer so I feel like now we’ve actually got that c-suite team together to manage the club going forward.”

Amanda Staveley is still listed as a director at Newcastle despite her departure being confirmed earlier this month.

The handbook also confirms changes to Newcastle’s kit with Adidas coming in as kit manufacturers. There is also an interesting change regarding the details of St James’ Park, with the official listed capacity increasing from 52,257 to 52,258 - not quite the expansion we were hoping for!

The handbook also states Newcastle’s pitch dimensions as 105 meters in length and 68 metres in width. 14 other Premier League sides have the same pitch dimensions with only Chelsea (103x67.5m), Crystal Palace (101x68m), Everton (100.48x68m), Ipswich Town (105x66m), Liverpool (101x68m) and Fulham, who have the smallest pitch in the top flight at 100x65m.

The handbook also confirms rules and guidelines for Premier League clubs to follow, confirming the introduction of semi-automated offside technology to replace the manual and often criticised method of determining offsides via VAR. The handbook states that clubs must ensure that ‘goal line technology, semi-automated offside technology and VAR installed at its Stadium is properly maintained in accordance with all applicable requirements insofar as such maintenance is the responsibility of the club.” There has also been no change to the rules surrounding associated party transactions for the 2024-25 season despite Manchester City launching legal action against the Premier League over the rules. The outcome of the case is yet to be made public.