Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe has revealed that the club’s long-term infrastructure plans, including the Newcastle stadium expansion and training ground development, are currently stalled. He admitted there is a “99.9 percent chance” he will not be in charge when these projects are finally completed.
While Newcastle continues to assess whether to expand St James’ Park or build a new stadium elsewhere in the city, CEO Darren Eales has acknowledged that the club is likely to remain at its current home in its existing form for many years.
Speaking about the wider vision of the club, Howe said the lack of clarity is holding progress back.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒖𝒎 — 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒃 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒃𝒐 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕,” 𝑯𝒐𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅. “𝑮𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒖𝒈𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆.”
Facilities Crucial for Long-Term Growth
Newcastle is currently working to expand its Benton training base, but the club hierarchy recognises the site’s limitations. A completely new, state-of-the-art facility may eventually be required to match elite Premier League standards.
Howe believes improved infrastructure could transform the club’s future, not just the first team.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆-𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 — 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒚,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑭𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓, 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒘𝒂𝒚.”
St James’ Park, once the second-largest stadium in England, has been overtaken in capacity by rivals such as Tottenham, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City. This gap has contributed to Newcastle falling significantly behind financially, particularly in matchday and commercial revenue.
Despite recent upgrades to the training ground, including hydrotherapy pools and expanded player areas, Howe accepts that it still lags behind the league’s elite.
Patience Urged Despite Long-Term Delays
The Newcastle boss stressed that ambition exists at the board level but warned against rushing decisions.
“𝑰𝒇 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒖𝒎 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕,” 𝑯𝒐𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑰’𝒅 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅.”
While Howe expects he will not be at the club when the projects are realised, he remains committed to ensuring the foundations are laid for future generations of players and supporters.
“𝑰 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅, “𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑵𝒆𝒘𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒆’𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆.”
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