What the St. James' Park expansion tells us about Newcastle

When the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) took over Newcastle United back in 2021, the football world got its first real taste of the unstoppable force that is Saudi money in today’s game. Now, two years later, we are seeing a fallen giant slowly but surely come back to life. The fourth-place league finish last season, the unbelievable performances in the Champions League this season - you will have a hard time finding a Newcastle fan who is not excited for the club’s future. The Saudi takeover has simply revitalized the club, the city, and the people. Now, it is the stadium’s turn.

The renovation of St. James Park

The expansion plans were first unveiled three weeks ago, announcing 65,000 seats as the main objective of the project. A 15,000 seat increase from the current capacity of 50,000 would make St. James’ Park the second biggest stadium in England (behind only Old Trafford), and almost certainly give Newcastle a big boost in their quest for success. Fan turnout has never really been an issue - with Newcastle regularly selling out the stadium even during the club’s darkest days - but the recent on-field performances have made demand for tickets higher than ever. The city is filled to the brim with hype and excitement, so the club is giving the people what they want.

But on another note, this expansion is more than increasing matchday revenue and capitalizing on the demand for live Newcastle action: it is a sort of coming of age moment for the club. A stadium expansion is big news, the ultimate symbol of a successful, ambitious club trying to better itself and reach its goals. An instrumental part of the identity of a so-called ‘big club’ is its stadium, as it is a very tangible representation of its current status. Currently, St. James Park is a vibrant, emotion-filled ground, and it is not even small for modern British standards. But making it the second biggest stadium in England would be an incredible step for Newcastle, making it then very hard to refuse them a spot in the ‘Big 6’.

Success and protests

The fact that the stadium expansion was announced two whole years after the Saudi takeover really showcases the sustainable approach that the owners want to take. We have seen too many clubs be acquired by billionaire owners, hastily burn through all their money, and then flicker out as quickly as they lit up. The key words here are ‘sustainable’ and ‘controlled’, and like with their transfers over the past two seasons, Newcastle are taking the stadium expansion at a manageable, comfortable pace. Of course, not all of them can count on the success of Manchester City, which, like Newcastle, had to wait a few years to expand the Etihad Stadium-seven to be exact.

Similarly, the takeover of Newcastle by the Saudi fund has sparked numerous protests from a large section of Magpies fans who believe that the club, like many other European sporting institutions, has become a tool of sportswashing in recent years. In September last year, a group of fans organised a demonstration against the decision to use St James' Park as the venue for a friendly match between Saudi Arabia and Costa Rica, accusing the owners of using the club's facilities to divert attention from serious human rights abuses. Newcastle United thus becomes another historic club teetering between the possibilities of greatness and the vagaries of investment and ownership.

The conditions and similarities exist for City's history to repeat itself, and St James' Park, dubbed by locals as "the cathedral on the hill", would continue to be Newcastle's crowning glory The stadium is the first thing you see when you arrive and the last thing you see when you leave; it is likely to become a symbol of that expansion, a reminder of the long history of a club about to return to football's elite.