Newcastle facing ground-share if Saudi PIF commit to £1bn rebuild - Report
The idea of building a new stadium or expanding St James' Park has been weighed up by Newcastle United for the last 18 months or so and it's fair to say that it's left the fanbase somewhat divided.
There are obvious benefits to a new stadium - bigger capacity meaning more commercial revenue and in turn more money for the club to spend on players - but it is also not without its drawbacks.
Regardless of whether we look to rebuild or expand the ground there is going to be months of construction needed, meaning the club will have to find a temporary solution as to where to play our games during this period.
Newcastle linked with unlikely groundshare
While not a popular decision for either side, Newcastle and Sunderland could be made to share the Stadium of Light if there is no possible way to play the games at St James' Park upon the redevelopment or construction of the ground.
According to The Guardian, a decision is set to be made by Toon chiefs in mid-March - and right now the only viable option for temporarily moving the games would be to play at our biggest rivals' home.
The report states: ‘By mid-March the majority Saudi Arabian-owned club are expected to have finally announced a long-awaited decision as to whether or not they plan on spending around £1bn on rebuilding St James’ Park with an increased 65,000 capacity. The alternative is to invest three times that sum and construct a new, potentially matchday-revenue doubling, 75,000-capacity stadium elsewhere in the city.
‘Either option will almost certainly prompt months of planning wrangles, not to mention the likely need to share the Stadium of Light with Sunderland while a potential rebuild takes place. That would be unpopular in some quarters but there seems no realistic alternative.'
Like Roma and Lazio who both share the Stadio Olimpico or Ac Milan and Inter with the San Siro, we may have to make do with pretty much the only option on the table given the lack of suitable grounds anywhere remotely close by.
Some have mentioned the Gateshead Stadium as an option, but its 12,000 capacity and lack of Premier League facilities makes the National League ground an unrealistic venue.
Newcastle's search for new training ground site continues
Also in the report, it adds that Eddie Howe still believes that our redeveloped training ground is only a temporary home until we can find a suitable site to build the new one that has been promised ever since the PIF bought the club in 2021.
The man leading that search, Brad Miller, our chief operating officer, is also the same man who is overseeing the decision on the stadium, so he's certainly got a lot on his plate at the moment.
