Newcastle chief reveals plans for second biggest stadium in Premier League and refuses to rule out brand new ground
NEWCASTLE will consider building a new stadium to satisfy the skyrocketing demand for tickets.
Toon have tasked an agency to dream up ideas of how to increase St James’ Park capacity from 52,000.
And while moving away from their city centre location is not an option, creating a brand new ‘Cathedral on the Hill’ is.
With hordes of fans now unable to get a ticket since the Saudi takeover, Newcastle chiefs want a 65,000-seater ground and have hired an agency to come up with ideas.
CEO Darren Eales said: “They will ask, for example: ‘Imagine if there was a brand new stadium built on this site, what would you think?
“That doesn’t mean we are doing that, it is about building that construct and getting that information from fans on what we do going forward.
“The whole concept is to look at the art of the possible. What we want to know is what is truly possible?
“We know we have this fantastic location here, the cathedral on the hill, but we know we have boundary issues and it’s not as simple as if we had a lot of space. So what can we do?”
The obvious areas for expansion are the Gallowgate and East stand, but the former has underground tunnels nearby while the latter is closed in by listed buildings.
Speaking at a fan forum, Eales added: “We need to understand demand. I am really excited about it, there has been a lot of talk for the last 30 years. So this is our way to have a look.
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“There is more consultation but the first thing is to see what is possible.
“I learned quickly that everybody has a view on what could be done and everyone is an amateur architect. Whoever you talk to will tell you what you can do with the Gallowgate End or various parts of St James’ Park.
“What we want to do is get a world-renowned leading agency that deals with this and to have a blank sheet of paper and see what is feasible and what can be done.”