Newcastle United CEO David Hopkinson makes 'world-class' promise as £200m investment approved by PIF
David Hopkinson may have poured a few gallons of cold water on Newcastle United fans' stadium dreams for the time being, but the club aren't just standing still.
The new CEO spoke to around 1000 fans on Monday night at St James' Stack, where he quelled expectations around a new stadium being imminent, but did talk up the idea of increasing the club's revenue in the meantime.
We, along with many other fans, have moaned relentlessly about the lack of a stadium sponsor or sponsors for the training ground and training kit, but Hopkinson assured fans that those things are still being worked on, and with Peter Silverstone given the boot, we expect to see some movement soon.
Meanwhile, Hopkinson delivered a blunt assessment of the facilities at Darsley Park, which, while they have come a long way since the Mike Ashley days, are still well behind where the PIF want us to be.
The PIF have approved a £200 million investment for a new training complex
The PIF recently approved a £200 million spend to build a new training complex, and there have been suggestions that a plot has been found to begin building, but there are still a few hurdles to clear first. Hopkinson is adamant that the club needs a new training ground, however, and is eyeing world-class facilities to attract world-class players, as reported by The Shields Gazette.
“When you look at the facility you have today, let’s talk straight with each other, it’s probably a seven out of 10,” Hopkinson admitted. “It gets the job done. I don’t think we have a lot of world-class talent that say, ‘I want to stay here because of the training ground’ or ‘I want to go to Newcastle because of the training ground’.
“Even with the renovation we’re doing, which will make it better, we probably only get to an eight. We don’t get to a 10. We can’t get to a 10 on the current footprint, which is the reason why we’re planning a very big investment to go and build a 10.
“If you look at the arms race that training grounds have become – in the Premier League, in football, in North American sports – the players are spending an inordinate amount of time there and the expectations have changed and evolved from simply where we train to, ‘Yeah, that’s where I drop the kids off because they’re being babysat while I’m training’ or ‘This is where the car is being looked after’ and ‘This is where I get my haircut’.
“This is what’s happened in North American sports, and now there are changing expectations here too of what players are going to want in order to choose to come here or stay. Those are the investments we’re going to have to make to get to a world-class level.”
No more wheelie bins and paddling pools for our lads
Things certainly feel way more advanced when it comes to the training complex, but given the work that's still being carried out at Benton, and the fact that the club still hasn't announced the location for the new complex, we're clearly still a few years away from that being a reality.
At least, in the meantime, the lads aren't bathing in wheelie bins and paddling pools from the middle of Lidl like they were just a few years ago.
It's hardly lightning pace, but things are moving forward at least.
