The home of Newcastle United, St. James Park is one of the most iconic sporting venues in the UK. The 52000 seater stadium is renowned for its intense atmosphere, unique city centre location and of course the away stands with views to Sunderland. It is well loved by both home and away fans.
However, in spite of this Newcastle United recently sent out a survey to fans discussing the future of the club, and this included a question regarding moving from St. James Park.
Moving stadium may sometimes prove a success for some clubs, for example Tottenham Hotspurs move from White Hart Lane to the new state of the art Tottenham Hotspur stadium is widely considered a major success, with the club recently hosting Beyonce’s Renaissance World Tour and multiple NFL games.
However, it can also be a widely unpopular decision amongst fans and ultimately dampen the atmosphere of stadiums, Take West Ham, who moved from their beloved Upton Park to the former 2012 Olympic venue the London Stadium.
The main stand’s far proximity from the pitch, as well as the expense involved in the move meant the move was not popular among fans, who would have preferred to stay in their iconic Upton Park.
Under Newcastle United’s new ownership, they can almost certainly afford to move to a funky new stadium with more quirks, but it comes at the risk of alienating the loyal members of the Toon Army.
A new stadium that is just the same as every other fancy new stadium will risk in Newcastle United losing it’s identity. St James’ Park’s biggest advantage is it’s uniqueness and fans may not respond well to a new stadium that doesn’t feel as special.
This season, Newcastle United have relied on their home record to gain points as they are the 3rd best team in the league at home, while they are 16th based on away games. The atmosphere the fans create in the stadium helps to motivate the players and intimidate the opposition. A new stadium without the soul of St James’ Park could cancel out all of this passion in favour of being in a more corporate venue.
Instead of switching locations, Newcastle United should work on an alternative to extend their current stadium. According to the telegraph, there are currently plans to extend the stadium by 13000 seats up to 65000 seats in time for Euro 2028, which Newcastle will be a host city of.
This would make St James’ Park the third biggest football stadium in the country, superseding major clubs such as Tottenham and Manchester City.
Not only would this save Newcastle United a lot of money than if they chose to destroy St. James Park and build a new stadium, it allows the owners to show they understand the fans what the fans want by keeping Newcastle United in their iconic home stadium, while also making it more commercially attractive, as a lot more events like concerts are likely to consider a larger St James Park as a venue.
