Newcastle United fans split on major St James’ Park decision months after 28,000-strong petition
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Newcastle United news: The future of St James’ Park has divided fans.
The future of St James’ Park has dominated the headlines on Tyneside in recent years and months. A greatly increased demand for tickets now has the club debating whether to expand St James’ Park or build a completely new state-of-the-art stadium.
The decision for whatever stadium will be the long-term home of Newcastle United has been described as ‘once in a lifetime’ by the club’s chief operating officer Brad Miller. Speaking in 2024, he said: “It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So everything we are doing, do we invest and transform St James' as we see it today where we are? Or do we take that bold move and think about moving?
“We want to make sure it is a very robust process. So regardless of the outcome, I want to stand up in front of everybody through the process and say 'This is why it is a logical decision'.
“We have also taken the opportunity to look at what a new stadium would look like. It's not comparing apples with apples, they are not like for like. It's comparing apples with pears.
“The brilliant thing about St James' is it is an iconic location, the atmosphere and the competitive edge it gives the team on the pitch. It has 52,000 seats already.
“But a new stadium doesn't have that and we'd have to pay for all those seats again. A new stadium has the potential to earn a lot more, both on match days and non-match days. It is giving us an indication that we can actually contribute even more to the football club and football side if we had a new stadium.”
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A possible location on Leazes Park, just a few hundred yards from where St James’ Park currently stands, has been speculated. However, earlier this year, a petition was signed by over 28,000 people opposing those reported plans.
Newcastle United fans split on St James’ Park future
The future of St James’ Park has been a divisive topic and the Newcastle United fanbase remains split on their vision for what the future should look like. In a poll conducted by the Shields Gazette, 59.1% of respondents revealed that they would like to see Newcastle United ‘move to a new, larger stadium north of the current St James’ Park site’.
40.9%, meanwhile, prefer Newcastle United to develop and expand St James’ Park in its current form. There are, of course, issues with expanding St James’ Park with Leazes Terrace housing behind the East Stand being a listed building and, therefore, protected against structural alterations.
Newcastle United supporters were also asked for their views on season ticket prices with 62.1% of respondents believing that the current prices were too high. On Wednesday morning, Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST) published a response from the club’s new CEO, David Hopkinson to an open letter published by NUST last month detailing a range of concerns surrounding the ticketing process at the club.
In that response, Hopkinson detailed his commitment to ‘ensuring that supporter voices remain at the heart of everything we do as we move forward together’.