Inside Newcastle United’s extraordinary forgotten stadium plans as Gosforth Park issue returns

The issue of redeveloping St James's Park versus moving to a new, purpose-built super stadium is a hot topic among Newcastle fans - but it isn't the first time it has become a thorny issue.

While the club are busy weighing up the next steps after a consultation period with fans, those with long-enough memories can cast their minds back 27 years to when the club almost moved to a spectacular new home just a few hundred yards away.

St James’ Park has been the world-famous home of Newcastle since 1892. It's one of the many reasons why some fans are dead-set against moving. But back in the late 1990s, that tenure very nearly came to an end as the club closed in on a move to a purpose-built stadium on the Town Moor.

Back in 1997, the Magpies were on the crest of a wave. The thrilling ‘Entertainers’ team had finished the previous season as runners-up - their highest placing since 50 years earlier when they’d been league champions. This was the year which also marked United’s Champions’ League debut - an achievement that will forever be symbolised by the stunning 3-2 victory over Barcelona at St James’ Park.

But there was a problem. St James’ Park, which had enjoyed substantial redevelopment over the last few years, was still too small to accommodate everybody who wanted to watch the Toon.

It may sound familiar to fans today, with the waiting list still huge, amid talk that the Magpies could build a 80,000 super stadium as the Saudi-led ownership consider whether to stay at St James' Park or shift elsewhere. Chief operating officer Brad Miller has told supporters the club are "seriously" looking at moving to a new stadium that could earn TWICE as much revenue than St James' Park.

READ MORE: Plans for a proposed Newcastle United stadium

Back in 1997, with a capacity of 36,000 - almost all season ticket-holders - there were still upward of 20,000 fans on the waiting list. Expanding the stadium further, however, was riddled with logistical and legal difficulties.

Instead, and not for the first time in the club’s history - and not the last, either - Newcastle United looked elsewhere to build a new home. This one would house over 50,00 fans and reach standards set by FIFA and UEFA.

Several new locations were considered - Little Benton, Newburn Haugh, Walkergate, Woolsington Park, Gosforth Park and Byker. It's all very familiar to fans in 2024. Talk about a potential move to Gosforth Park has raised its head again, although Chronicle Live understands that United chiefs have rubbished such speculation.

Gateshead was also a serious option, with the Team Valley considered as a potential site given its transport links with the A1, but there would be little chance of fans countenancing a move outside Newcastle.

In the end, the club, the city council and the Freemen of the City all agreed on a proposed site on the historic Town Moor.

In early 1997, the city council invited a planning application.

The ambition and scale of the club’s plans was astonishing. Newcastle United’s new 70-000 all-seater, stadium would be a rival to Milan’s San Siro and Barcelona’s Nou Camp, and the £90m project would provide the region with a major economic boost and raise the city’s international profile.

On a site that was used for cattle grazing, the new state-of the-art stadium, set off with steel and glass, would be sunk five metres into Castle Leazes at Spital Tongues. It would be a three-tiered bowl, boasting unimpaired views for all fans.

The structure of the roof would also echo the city’s most famous landmark, the Tyne Bridge, by having two huge arches. The initial capacity would be 55,000 - with the ability to easily expand to 70,000 and beyond.

As for St James’ Park, less than a mile away and separated by parkland , it would be partially dismantled, its capacity would be reduced to 13,000, and it would play host to athletics, ice hockey and basketball as an indoor venue.

Back in 1997, in a Chronicle poll, 69% of United fans backed the exciting proposals. Bear in mind that in a survey conducted by the club earlier this year, 71% said they wanted to stay at St James' Park.

What the club had not envisaged was the furious reaction from local pressure groups - headed by the Friends of Leazes Park - and local residents who wanted to preserve the Town Moor as it was.

After a sustained onslaught of marches, protests and petitions against the new stadium, and the possibility of a long drawn-out and costly public enquiry, the club reluctantly withdrew its proposals in late 1997.

A Newcastle United statement said: “The company has listened very carefully to the issues raised locally. In the light of these issues, the company has redoubled its efforts to find an alternative plan.”

In the Chronicle, our editorial comment declared: “It’s a pity the dream is now over.”

It was the end of the Castle Leazes plan. Newcastle were to eventually expand St James' in 2000, through major construction of a second tier over the Milburn Stand, Leazes End and adjoining corner. It cost £42m and increased capacity to 52,143.

Will it be the last development of the famous old ground, or will we see another ambitious project to boost the number of seats to more than 60,000? Or will the owners, unlike the Hall and Shepherd era, finally get an extraordinary new stadium built that will end more than 130 years of football at the Gallowgate.