Newcastle’s Saudi-led ownership will DELAY the announcement of a new stadium or redevelopment of St James’ Park until after they deliver key updates in other areas of the business.
Sources have told Confidential that the planned order of announcements has been a new chief executive (confirmed last week as David Hopkinson) followed by a sporting director, new training ground and then stadium.
To tackle those in that order…
Ross Wilson of Nottingham Forest is expected to be confirmed as sporting director. The word from the Forest end is that he still has a decision to make after talks with Newcastle, but sources have indicated that Wilson is set to take on the role vacated by Paul Mitchell in June. The Scot was always due to see out the transfer window at the City Ground.
As for a new training ground, an offer did go in on one site this year but the price for the land became too high and Newcastle walked away. They are now looking at two other sites, including land near Gosforth Park and Ponteland.
The club have been working with architects Populous on designs and it is hoped that progress will be made this autumn.
New Newcastle chief executive David Hopkinson at St James’ Park last week
No final decision has yet been made, but the frontrunner has long been to build a new stadium on Leazes Park of around 65,000 seats
As for the stadium, Confidential reported in March that a video depicting a new home on Leazes Park had been shown to the owners and stakeholders, with a proposed capacity of 65,000. Sources indicated to us over the summer that there was no reason to challenge that information.
However, it has been stressed that a final decision by PIF is still to be made – it was previously due to be revealed in ‘early 2025’ – and it would appear that no update is imminent. The stadium was discussed when chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan visited Tyneside last month.
It is my feeling, after several conversations in recent months, that a move to a new stadium remains the preference, but it is not without challenges that have to be overcome before a decision is communicated.
The club do not want to make an announcement and then be forced to row back on it. It also makes sense for Hopkinson to have involvement in such a landmark development.
Discussions, meanwhile, have also taken place on how far they can push the new stadium’s capacity closer to 70,000 without negatively impacting the required tension between supply and demand. In the meantime, staying at St James’ Park and expanding to a capacity of around 60,000 remains on the table, although PIF are said to have reservations on the ‘return on investment’ of this option.
What’s happening with the new crest?
Newcastle will NOT wear a new club crest next season, Confidential can reveal.
In May the club went public with their intention to redesign the badge and entered a period of consolation with supporters, including a workshop at St James’ Park.
The expectation was that, while too soon for this season, Newcastle’s shirts would be adorned with a new crest for the 2026-27 campaign.
The leaked proposed new Newcastle crest will not be ready for next season
However, because of various deadlines involving kit suppliers adidas and the Premier League, we understand that the earliest we will see a redesigned badge on black-and-white jerseys will be the summer of 2027.
For now, the club will continue to explore the look of the new logo and liaise with supporters, as per Premier League guidelines on heritage assets such as crests.
How Newcastle are fighting back in Barcelona ticket row
Newcastle are actively watching 750 supporters for ticket touting, after they cancelled 45 tickets sold to a private school in Scotland for next week’s Champions League opener at home to Barcelona.
There was fury among fans this week when it was revealed that the High School of Dundee were offering £295-per-pupil packages that included a match ticket, travel, a visit to the club shop, evening meal and accommodation.
The club insist they knew nothing of the tickets and that the school could not have bought them from an authorised re-seller, because they do not use any.
There has been understandable outrage among supporters, given there were more than 100,000 in the online queue for additional Barcelona tickets this week, although many of those members would have been using multiple devices. The extra seats sold out in a matter of minutes.
But a club spokesperson said: ‘Newcastle United has cancelled a number of tickets for the UEFA Champions League match with FC Barcelona due to a breach of season ticket terms and conditions. The relevant season tickets have also been cancelled with immediate effect and without refund.
‘These tickets will be made available to Newcastle United supporters through the club’s existing ticket sale process. Supporters who suspect unauthorised reselling are urged to send relevant information to [email protected].’
The Champions League is coming back to Tyneside – but somehow a Dundee private school has managed to get its hands on 200 tickets for the visit of Barcelona
Newcastle are clamping down on ticket touts as they look to pack St James’ Park for the visit of some of Europe’s biggest names
Supporters who sit in the Leazes/East Stand lower corner have told Confidential that at least 100 children from Scottish schools sit in that area most weeks. Newcastle are continuing to investigate this claim.
We understand around 4,500 membership accounts are on an internal watchlist due to suspicious activity, and 78 memberships or season tickets have been cancelled already this season. More than 130,000 bot attempts were foiled for the Barcelona game alone.
The Newcastle United Supporters’ Trust has been pushing for answers on the Dundee tickets – and other ticketing issues – and they said in a statement earlier this week: ‘The allocation of a significant number of tickets to individuals who are not NUFC supporters feels deeply unfair to those who have shown unwavering loyalty and commitment to the club.
‘There is such a consensus at the minute about how bad the ticketing situation is that decisions like this only add to the frustration and sense of disconnect between supporters and those managing ticket distribution.
‘We urge the club to listen to its fans and work towards a ticketing system that prioritises supporters over third parties and other agencies.’
Newcastle say they do not use third parties or agencies to sell tickets.
Lascelles’ Turkish delight?
Keep an eye on interest from Turkey in club captain Jamaal Lascelles.
My colleague Simon Jones reports that Trabzonspor are among those exploring a deal for the defender, who has been left out of Newcastle’s Champions League squad. The transfer deadline for Turkish clubs is Friday.
Lascelles has not featured for Newcastle since coming off injured in a 4-3 win over West Ham in March 2024
Lascelles, 31, has one year to run on his contract and has found himself down the pecking order behind Dan Burn, Fabian Schar, Sven Botman and new arrival Malick Thiaw.
Captain and mainstay of the teams that won promotion back to the top flight and solidified the club’s place there, Lascelles has struggled to make it into the team in recent years. It’s now more than 500 days since the most recent of his 251 Newcastle appearances, back in March 2024 in the 4-3 win over West Ham at St James’.
Major injury boost
Some positive news on the fitness front with Joelinton spotted on the training pitches at Benton this week.
He missed the goalless draw at Leeds last time out after injuring his groin during the 3-2 defeat by Liverpool over a fortnight ago. However, the Brazilian has been battling to prove his fitness ahead of Saturday’s visit of Wolves.
Meanwhile, Yoane Wissa is set to train with his new team-mates for the first time on Friday. He arrived back from international duty with DR Congo on Thursday morning and was immediately checked over by medical staff, including being sent for a scan. The £55m summer signing was forced off in the 74th minute of Tuesday’s 3-2 defeat by Senegal, in which he scored, with a knee issue.
However, Confidential has been told he is OK and ready to start against Wolves, if selected.
Joelinton was forced off during the defeat by Liverpool with a groin injury, but is now back in training
Media suite gets the works
Finally, after a decade and more of working off repackaged cheeseboards in the St James’ Park media suite, the press room has undergone a redesign.
We can reveal that the new look will see rows of benches – much like those in a church – replace the individual seats with their squeaky desks (made from cheeseboards during Mike Ashley’s reign).
The area improved is where journalists sit as they ask questions of the managers post-match. The work was long overdue, especially with Barcelona – and the world’s media – arriving in town next week.
