Newcastle United owners to revamp city as part of new stadium investment according to new report
Newcastle United fans are still waiting for news on what the club's owners plan to do with St James' Park, whether they try to expand the current stadium or build a new one.
We've been waiting for a long time for the club to decide which plan is the best for the club, with many reports suggesting that the club are leaning more towards building a new stadium on the land next to the current stadium.
A new purpose-built stadium on Leazes Park seems like the more sensible option as it won't be bound by the issues facing the current stadium should they wish to expand in the future.
It will also be built with other uses in mind, opening up a wealth of revenue-generating options to the club.
The Telegraph have issued an update today suggesting that the club could make their decision by the end of this year (that's still two years later than we thought we were getting a decision).
The report also claims that as part of the new stadium build, the project will also aim to regenerate that area of the city, incorporating new retail, leisure and business buildings, as well as affordable housing and apartments. The city’s transport infrastructure would also be overhauled and improved.
Newcastle United will seek government funding to help support the regeneration project, although it has made it clear that no public funds will be used to build the stadium, only the surrounding areas.
The question is ... will we see this new stadium in our lifetime? It's looking less likely. At least our great-grandkids might have somewhere new to go
Once the new stadium is built, they would have to demolish St James' Park, which would leave a large area of land in need of redevelopment, so it's good that it's all being incorporated into one project rather than having the land sitting bare for years while people argue about what to do with it.
Still, all this being said, no decision has been made yet and there's still not even though to be a final design of what the new stadium could look like, which is only going to add more time to the project.
It's also worth noting that this article in The Telegraph came from Luke Edwards, who has issued 'exclusive' stadium updates before that have been well wide of the mark, so pinches of salt ahoy.
Hopefully, it's all a lot closer than we're being led to believe, and once the decision is made, it will all move quickly. We're not holding our breath, though.
