Simon Jordan feels United have to get on with building a new stadium, four and a half years after the PIF-backed takeover
Newcastle United are mulling over plans to expand how many fans can attend matches(Image: PA)
Newcastle United have been urged to get on with building a new stadium as they look at ways to increase matchday attendance – and revenues.
The club have made no secret of the fact they want to get more people into matches, which will help increase their revenue streams while also satisfying some of the demand for tickets.
The options are to redevelop the existing St James’ Park site or build a new stadium, ideally at a city-centre location, which would elevate the capacity way above the current 52,000 threshold.
Planning restrictions limit the scope for increasing the number of seats at St James’, but a huge array of factors need to be considered before any final decision is made.
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Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan believes United’s PIF owners have done much right since they took the club over from Mike Ashley in 2021, but now is the time to start delivering on the stadium.
“The one thing we’re not talking about here, and should be talking about, is that the Saudis have played nicely with the football establishment,” Jordan told talkSPORT.
“They have played by the rules in terms of not pushing the envelope or created any issues about their ownership model and how they should be able to do precisely what they wanted.
Simon Jordan(Image: talkSPORT)
“In the same way that they did when they tried to influence the government to influence the purchase in the first place, which we all know happened with Boris Johnson.
“So the one thing they can do to enhance Newcastle United Football Club and give them the opportunity to be at the top table, which doesn’t take anything away from PSR, is build a new stadium.
“Get on with it, build a new stadium.”
Newcastle CEO David Hopkinson spoke this week about the ambitions over increasing the capacity, be that at St James’ Park or by building a new stadium.
“The truth is that if the ambition is to drive higher revenues, then we need to look at the support we get – which is amazing from the local community, and the fact that we could sell more than that,” he said.
“More capacity is a big option for us, and whether that’s here at St James’ Park or somewhere else, we don’t know. We’re working on it every day but do not have a timescale for that just yet.
“This is a long-term project for Newcastle and myself. I came here with high conviction, and this project needs to be viewed as a couple of stages.
“The first being between now and 2030 which is getting organised and raising ambitions from what we maybe previously had, and to then develop the people, players and infrastructure to ensure that revenue we talked about pays off on the pitch.”
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