Newcastle United now look set to remain at St James' Park after the feasibility study into the stadium expansion has been concluded.
The Telegraph is reporting that the Newcastle board look set to grant the wishes of the majority of fans by keeping the club's iconic stadium where it is and increasing the capacity to over 60,000.
As yet there are no details as to how this will be achieved, but it clearly suggests that one of the architecture firms that the club have been consulting with have found a way to increase the capacity at St James' Park despite all of the obstacles they'd face.
The development is being classed as one of the most ambitious stadium rebuilds in the country should now move forward after talks have taken place with Newcastle City Council over the length of the leasehold on the property.
As well as the capacity expansion, the entirety of the stadium seems set for an overhaul with upgrades to be made to all of the facilities inside the stadium.
The plan will be to make it a venue suitable for more than just football with other sports and concerts to be held there more regularly.
The news will come as a relief to many fans who were vehemently opposed to the idea of moving to a new stadium elsewhere in the city, with the old Metro Radio Arena site being one location touted by the club, as well as moving the stadium up to Leazes Park, adjacent to were it currently sits.
The Telegraph does say that there is still a slim chance that a stadium move could be resurrected if talks over the extension of the current lease don't go smoothly, however, that's unlikely to be an issue.
Now it remains to be seen what the actual plans for the stadium are and how the architects are going to achieve the expansion given the Grade One listed buildings along Leazes Terrace behind the East Stand and the Metro station under the Gallowgate End.
Of course, the other big question is when? When will the work start, how long will it take, and what will be the impact on the matchday experience during the works?
Surely we'll get all these answers in due time, but for now, it's looking very positive, to say the least.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
10 | 13 | 25 |
2 |
Manchester City
|
10 | 10 | 23 |
3 |
Nottingham Forest
|
10 | 7 | 19 |
4 |
Arsenal
|
10 | 6 | 18 |
5 |
Aston Villa
|
9 | 5 | 18 |
6 |
Chelsea
|
9 | 8 | 17 |
7 |
Brighton
|
10 | 3 | 16 |
8 |
Bournemouth
|
10 | 1 | 15 |
9 |
Newcastle United
|
10 | 0 | 15 |
10 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
9 | 8 | 13 |
11 |
Brentford
|
9 | 0 | 13 |
12 |
Fulham
|
9 | 0 | 12 |
13 |
Manchester United
|
9 | -3 | 11 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
10 | -6 | 11 |
15 |
Leicester
|
10 | -4 | 10 |
16 |
Everton
|
10 | -7 | 9 |
17 |
Crystal Palace
|
10 | -5 | 7 |
18 |
Ipswich
|
10 | -11 | 5 |
19 |
Southampton
|
10 | -12 | 4 |
20 |
Wolves
|
10 | -13 | 3 |