Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has spoken out after the club bought back the land around St James' Park four years after it was controversially sold by Mike Ashley.
Newcastle City Council gave the green light to plans to build a hotel, offices and flats on Strawberry Place after it was bought by private developers. However, Newcastle United now re-own the land after long negotiations featuring some of the Magpies' top brass.
The Magpies ownership have grand plans to create a fan zone outside the ground and will look to extend the Gallowgate End to increase the capacity of St James' Park.
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Addressing the news, Eddie Howe said: "I think I’ve said many times that St James’s Park is an unbelievable place to play football, and to be part of that experience every week is a brilliant thing,” said United’s head coach.
"Anything we can do to enhance that for supporters, I’m fully behind. So, yeah, if there’s an opportunity to expand and make it bigger, I don't think they'd have an issue selling the tickets currently – and make the opportunity for people even better to come and watch us.”
Newcastle's owners have been clear they want to expand the stadium to allow more fans to attend games. Demand has gone through the roof since Mike Ashley's exit with a huge waiting list for each home game.
"We’ll definitely look at expanding it,” Ghodoussi said in 2021. “We're working with the city and council to see what we can do. There are a lot of things that need to happen first, but that’s the way forward.
"If we can get it to 60 or 65,000 thousand, amazing, and we’ll look at every possibility.”
Newcastle have a bright future on the horizon thanks to work the new owners and Howe have put in. The Toon boss is hoping he can remain at the helm to enjoy the benefits of a stadium expansion.
“Naturally, I hope my time doesn’t come before then,” Howe said. “But you can’t control that. I want to do everything in my power to make Newcastle stronger for the here and now and the future. Making the club stronger every day is a big focus of mine.
“I’m not in control of the stadium plans, but I would love to see more opportunity for people to come. If that’s a possibility then I’m all for it.”
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