‘Magical place’ – Premier League chief reveals club could leave stadium or expand to 68k

Newcastle chief executive David Hopkinson refused to rule out a move away from St James’ Park.

However, he reiterated the famous venue’s location right in the heart of the city centre is what makes it ‘such a special place’.

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St James’ Park has been Newcastle’s home since 1892 and boasts a capacity of almost 53,000.

But its last refurbishment was complete in 2000.

The lack of updates since, coupled with Newcastle’s ambitions to become a global powerhouse in football, points to a redevelopment in the near future.

It is evident that will come in the form of an expansion on the current setting or via a shiny new venue.

Stick or twist?

Despite the possibilities, Hopkinson, who was appointed to the role last September, conceded they are still yet to decide on which path to go down.

“The truth is, we haven’t decided,” Hopkinson exclusively told talkSPORT.

“St. James’ is a magical place, it’s going to be an extraordinary place on Saturday when we play our next match.

“It’s 53,000, we think we could be bigger and that of course is revenue, a major investment.

“We haven’t made the final decision on what we’re going to do here, we are working on this every day, deciding whether it’s here or a new site, where it’s a renovation or new stadium.

“But we’ve got an opportunity we’re pursuing and working on every day.”

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St James’ Park could soon fit how many?

Given the history surrounding St James’ Park and the raucous atmosphere it can produce when the fans are in full voice, there is a school of thought that installing more seats is the way to go.

But how large would that expansion be?

According to Hopkinson, he believes ‘at least 10,000’ more seats could be created.

“All of our modelling and all of the capacity starts in the 65-68,000 range,” Hopkinson said.

“I don’t think bigger than that is good but we also want to think if we do something, it’s material and significant.

“10-15,000 in here would be right.”

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Although Hopkinson forecast a potential capacity of 68,000, building a stadium from the ground up would likely allow a higher maximum attendance.

St James’ Park 2.0?

Manchester United faced a similar dilemma when deciding whether to expand Old Trafford or move elsewhere.

The Red Devils have since opted for the latter, as they unveiled plans to build a ‘Wembley of the North’ with a mooted capacity of 100,000, which is set to cost an eye-watering £2billion.

Despite Hopkinson leaving the door ajar for a new stadium, he reiterated ‘location matters’ and wouldn’t embark on the project for the sake of it.

“I think a new stadium is something we’re considering, but not really moving that far,” Hopkinson said.

“We don’t want to be in some farmer’s field out in the middle of nowhere. What makes Newcastle so special, such a special place, is that St. James’ Park is right here in the centre of town makes sense.

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“Everywhere that I’ve worked, I’ve had the privilege of having the arena or stadium right in the middle of town – it matters.

“Where the new Bernabeu is, the renovated Bernabeu, Madison Square Garden… location matters.”

Every penny counts

Regardless of which path Newcastle go down when it comes to their stadium, it will hand them a tidy boost on the balance sheet.

And when every possible profit matters in the race to close the gap on the revenue-generating machines at the top of English football, Hopkinson is under no illusion about the benefits on offer.

When asked on needing to do something with the stadium to maximise revenue, Hopkinson replied: “We do.

“Doing nothing is always an option, I just don’t think it’s the most intelligent option.

“We’ve got the support from ownership on what is the best way forward is. We haven’t decided that yet.”