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Newcastle drop biggest hint yet they will LEAVE St James’ Stadium in ‘once-in-a-generation’ opportunity
The Magpies must 'find the right balance between risk and opportunity'
NEWCASTLE UNITED will wait until “early 2025” before announcing whether they will redevelop St. James’ Park or build a brand new stadium.
As we revealed this week, plans drawn up to rebuild their current home showed that it could cost up to a billion quid.
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And a new stadium built from scratch in a different location could cost DOUBLE that price.
Members of the club’s Fan Advisory Board have now been talked through initial findings of the feasibility study into the different options.
However, due to more investigations into what the best affordability and sustainability is, the Toon Army will have to wait to see what the next move is.
Newcastle’s chief operating officer, Brad 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.
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“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 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.
“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.
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“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 in football.
“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.
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“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.
“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.”
Miller added: “We are very grateful to the members of FAB for taking on board some of the detail behind our reasoning, and we look forward to their continued input as we move this historic project forward in the near future.”
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