Stadium Plans Turning From Wishful To Waffle?

The sky was the limit for Newcastle United when PIF took control in October 2021.

Or so it seemed.

Overnight we went from 'paupers in the Prem' to being called the 'richest club in the 'world'. We thought we had loadsamoney to spend.

It was akin to Del Boy and Rodney selling that watch at auction for £6.2M.

Loadsamoney!!

PSR and now Procrastination

The first rug that was pulled out from underneath our feet was the PL banning intercompany sponsorship - a direct assault aimed at preventing PIF from injecting millions into NUFC from their myriad portfolio of companies.

Any dreams we had of catapulting our way to titles and trophies by scooping up some of the world's best players - aka Chelsea and Man City after their takeovers by billionaires - were slung in the wrong direction.

Our hands were firmly tied behind our backs.

PIF did spend big, as big as they were able, but that brought us to the point of breaking PSR rules forcing the sale of Minteh and, especially, Anderson for relative peanuts.

The new SER rules that are replacing PSR still mean we can only spend on salaries what we make in revenue,

And, with our revenue lagging way behind the top six, that not only restricts who we can sign, it also makes it tempting for our best players to move elsewhere for bigger wages.

So, the top 6 continue to be ringfenced against real competition. YCMIU.

How do we get more revenue to compete?

A bigger ground capacity would help.

But guess what?

My guess is that by October this year, five years on from the takeover, there will still be no definite decision on how, where or when that ground capacity will be increased.

Will PIF expand SJP? Will they build a new stadium?

It's all a definite... maybe.

Yesterday in an interview with Prime CEO David Hopkinson had this to say...

"More capacity is a big option for us, and whether that’s here at St James’ Park or somewhere else, we don’t know. We’re working on it every day but do not have a timescale for that just yet.

This is a long-term project for Newcastle and myself. I came here with high conviction, and this project needs to be viewed as a couple of stages.

The first being between now and 2030 which is getting organised and raising ambitions from what we maybe previously had, and to then develop the people, players and infrastructure to ensure that revenue we talked about pays off on the pitch."

Are you any further forward after reading that?

Because I'm not.

There isn't one definitive word that gives us any clue on how and when ground capacity will be increased.

It's being kind to call it procrastination - it actually borders on being corporate waffle.

That's the last thing us fans want to hear.

Changing CEO's is no justifiable reason for PIF being no further forward with a definite plan after over four years of ownership. That excuse just doesn't wash with me.

The longer we wait to increase revenues, the danger is the further we'll fall behind those clubs not just in England, but the mega clubs abroad, who aren't constrained by the financial straitjacket Newcastle are in.

A realistic challenge for the PL title or CL trophy - PIF's stated ambitions - will drift further away like a receding tide.

But... the tide might not turn back and we might never ride the title and trophy wave.

What do you think?

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