Newcastle United, which has had an extremely successful season and will play in the Champions League, is considering expanding its stadium in the future. Those plans are limited at this point by a building that stands extremely close to the facility. Nevertheless the authorities of the Premier League revelation want to achieve great things not only on the St. James' Park pitch.

An unusual neighbor

Not many people own property next to the home of a Champions League club. However, developer Kash Mumtaz knows St. James' Park better than most Newcastle residents or fans - his building sits behind the east stand of the arena. In fact, Mumtaz, a United supporter, is very supportive of the club's desire to one day make the stadium even bigger.

Newcastle has already bought back the land at Strawberry Place, which was originally purchased by Sir John Hall and Freddy Shepherd with a view to expanding the Gallowgate End. In the short term, however, it looks like a suitable site for a fan zone. It remains to be seen whether the land at Strawberry Place, which is undergoing its own setbacks with the road and nearby St James' subway station, will be the subject of the club's work. Regardless, Newcastle United has commissioned a feasibility study to look at every possibility - even work on expanding the problematic east stand is not out of the question.

© chroniclelive.co.uk

How feasible is an expansion of St. James' Park?

The east stand was built more than 50 years ago and is surrounded by historic buildings at Leazes Terrace and St James' Terrace and St James' Street, where the aforementioned Kash Mumtaz also owns property. The expansion of this stand would be a complicated and delicate operation, as the owner of the property behind the stadium himself commented. If you look at the road just behind the east stand, it is rarely used. In fact, there is not much traffic there. At the upper end, there is no access there anyway. The main objection is the light access. The east stand is one big concrete block. If the stadium were transparent, with a glass facade, it would be a huge change. There would be a lot of light coming in through it.

It sounds ambitious, but the club's owners have already spoken with architects, although these were only preliminary inquiries. Historic England has not yet been asked to advise on the possibility of expanding the stadium. It is a public body of the British government supported by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Its mandate is to protect England's historic environment by conserving and listing historic buildings, listing ancient monuments, registering historic parks and gardens, and advising central and local government.However, if a decision were to be made in the coming years, Historic England would be consulted, given the close proximity of various listed buildings.

© Mark Walker