David Hopkinson's top 8 priorities as Newcastle's new CEO - Henry Winter

Newcastle United finally have a new CEO in David Hopkinson, who officially started his role on Tyneside last Friday.

The 54-year-old sent an open letter to fans on Thursday morning, thanking supporters for the warm welcome he's received and looking ahead to a bright future, declaring "the best is yet to come."

Following his arrival, top football writer and broadcaster Henry Winter has reacted to Hopkinson's arrival at Newcastle, offering some insight on his credentials as a "successful, capable, experienced and intelligent" businessman who looks to be an ideal fit for Newcastle, but also assessing some of his top priorities in the role.

Winter believes the following eight things must be addressed by Hopkinson:

1. Lift the mood following Alexander Isak's exit
2. Appoint a sporting director (Ross Wilson?)
3. Support Eddie Howe
4. Become the 'public leader' of the club
5. Generate more revenue (without fleecing fans)
6. New training ground
7. Stadium decision
8. Take on key decisions without constant PIF intervention

Discussing this on X in more depth, Winter said:

'Hopkinson's immediate aims should be lifting the mood post-Isak, appointing a sporting director (presumably Ross Wilson), supporting an elite-class head coach in Eddie Howe and being a public leader of the club (easing some of that workload on Howe, allowing him to focus on the football).

'Then generating more revenue (without fleecing the fans) so Newcastle can compete with bigger clubs, looking at the training ground and stadium and getting on with taking decisions without constant recourse to PIF.'

Ross Wilson looks set to arrive as our new sporting director as he prepares to leave Nottingham Forest, while the 'public leadership' position feels key, not only to take that burden from Eddie Howe, but to also replace the communication and passion lost from Amanda Staveley's exit.

Progress on the stadium would also be welcomed, with an update promised for many months but not yet delivered as we await clarity on staying at St James' Park or moving to a bigger and 'better' new home elsewhere.

Winter then continued, discussing Hopkinson's credentials in more depth as a top businessman with high-level experience but also the focus on 'making memories' for fans:

'Newcastle United's new CEO David Hopkinson is clearly a very successful, capable, experienced, intelligent businessman who will understand that Newcastle are more than a business. They're about sport and community, pride in the shirt and in the city.

'Hopkinson’s career (Maple Leafs, Knicks, Real Madrid etc) suggests a heavyweight operator who gets on with people (not that it has any relevance but his degree at McGill Uni was in humanities and he’s done interviews with his old faculty on the varied qualities of being a “world-class business leader”, McGill’s description, including understanding people, always useful).

'He has extensive experience in Canada, US and at Real of working on venue management, naming rights, maximising sponsorship revenue, all things Newcastle need at the minute. The 54-year-old Canadian was also very strong in an interview with Forbes magazine in 2019 on the importance of “making memories” for fans. That should be the starting point for every executive. He can’t start charging prices used to in the US (Knicks etc).'