Nufc new stadium- stay or go?

I dont just want NUFC to have the best team in the world. Like our chairman I want us to be number one for everything. Best team, best stadium, best academy, best training ground. People might say I'm deluded but so what.

Before I go into detail on my thoughts on whether NUFC should stay or move from St James’ I have to stress that my preference is to stay on the current site. And keep the name St James too. History and tradition is important and no club in the country has a ground in as good a location. A new stadium outside of the city is unthinkable.

I first went to St James in 1990. It was a very different place. No roof on the Gallowgate. The Leazes end, the traditional home end was an embarrassment having been ripped down a decade earlier. I wont mention the bogs.

When I first started going the crowds were poor - understandably. we were awful. But what about the atmosphere? I remember my first match versus Plymouth, 25k there and it was amazing. I was hooked. As one of the 10k there that night we played Oxford I honestly cant remember to tell you what the atmosphere was like. Except it was wet. When King Kev came back everything changed. All of a sudden the crowds was back and the atmosphere was unreal. The ground hadnt changed. Still no roof but there was more people there and a lot more noise. Over time the ground changed, everyone knew that 35k wouldn’t do and there was none of this “ we were rubbish once so there’s no point extending” nonsense. There was ambition. First the Leazes stand went up, I used to pop to town every other weekend to see how the stand was progressing. Before long the stadium was completely covered amd the atmosphere as I remember it was brill. Most of the time.

A new ground was proposed on Castle Leazes. Me and my other season ticket holding mates were all for it. But it all fell through. SJP was extended as we know it today. Except the atmosphere wasn’t always as good and the ground was now lob-sided. And Grey. let’s be honest it doesn’t look good.

There are times when the atmosphere is great (usually when things are going against us), sometimes the atmosphere is poor. There are so many variables that affect the atmosphere, kick off times, who’s we’re playing etc.

But the ground dominates the city, like no other ground in the country. all roads lead to St James.

When the rebuild first happened it was the second biggest and one of the most modern in the country. Since then Arsenal, Spurs, Everton and West Ham have all debeloped new stadiums. Some of these have been more successful than others. Manchester United and Liverpool have massively increased capacity while Villa, Wolves, Leeds and Forest are looking to do the same. We’re getting left behind.

As I said earlier I would prefer to stay at SJP. A feasibility study has been carried out. People should not confuse feasibility with possibility. Anything is possible but putting an extra 8k seats on the Gallowgate isn’t feasible when it would take 60 years to cover the cost as opposed to a new stadium where the costs could be covered within 20-30 years. I really hoped that it would be possible to somehow play at an alternative venue while SJP was completely rebuilt but this does not appear the case. There is no temporary stadium appearing on the Town Moor and Gateshead stadium is staying as it is. We need to move.

But it has to be within the city. Newcastle United can survive without the city, Newcastle cannot survive without United. The obvious location would be Leazes park, next door to SJP and could even take in part of the footprint. Local businesses wouldn’t suffer but I imagine there would be hurdles to overcome, I think reinstating SJP as parkland might get around that. I’m not against a move to the arena site. Near to the train station and would be visible as you approach the city from the South, West and on the train. I have a feeling the club may have found somewhere no one else has thought of. They have the £ so I wouldn’t be surprised to see some land bought up elsewhere in the city.

Once the location is decided the next thing to consider is the design and makeup of the stadium. For me it should be a proper football stadium with 4 steep stands really close to the pitch, a home section with loads of standing areas and a huge family enclosure to get the younguns in. Architecturally and aesthetically it will have to amazing, not one of these “soulless bowls” that people are understandably worried about. Capacity wise I think 70k is the right number. We sold out 52k in the championship when Ashley was there so Im convinced with a proper pricing structure it wouldn’t be too difficult to fill. It’s important that “ordinary” fans are able to go. If it’s corporate and day trippers only then the concerns people have about atmosphere will come true.

I know the likelihood is that the new ground will have a sponsors name but it would be good to have a traditional name. Leazes Park would do just fine.