Newcastle United chiefs playfully likened incoming director Roger Thornton like a "new signing" when he arrived on the club's board last October.

The South Shields native is Head of Property at Motcomb Estates Limited but has a rich history working closely with the Reuben family. His business is an asset management company that focuses on a portfolio of global office, retail, hotel and leisure assets for the family of Newcastle United co-owner, Jamie Reuben.

Crucially, his relationship with Newcastle City Council will be key with the Magpies' next steps with the stadium project. Since his appointment, Thornton has been working with council chiefs as the club prepare to publicly unveil plans for both a new stadium elsewhere in the city or a revamped St James' Park.

Thornton has pored through the club's stadium feasibility project with Chief Operating Officer Brad Miller in recent months with insiders shown breathtaking images of the plans. As Chronicle Live reported on December 28 last year, club chiefs are understood to have been shown exciting early drafts of what a revamped St James' and a new stadium elsewhere could look like. The images are not for public consumption at this stage, but those behind the scenes are getting braced for the announcement, which is set to take place in spring.

One city source told Chronicle Live: "Roger is basically the Reuben brothers' guy in Newcastle. Roger works closely with Newcastle City Council and has done on the Reuben developments in the city such as the redevelopment on Grey Street.

"Having him on the board is like a new signing in terms of the stadium! He knows to get the club and the council what is needed for stadium redevelopment. Nothing can happen without Newcastle City Council and Roger has so much experience.

"He is a wise head and is local, so he understands the project. He needs no lessons in Newcastle United."

Crucially, Thornton adds another layer of sensitivity around what is certain to be a real talking point later this year. Newcastle chiefs ruled out any switch to Gosforth Park last year, with the second option for a new stadium not expected to be too far from the current historic venue. Miller stated: "We don't want to: stretch the elastic band too far."

Miller then said in November, in a fan event at the STACK: "The first choice is if we stayed at St James' we have the 52,000 seats already. It comes with significantly more money if we transform it and it will look amazing. That's option one.

"Option two is if we were to move away, and not too far away as we aren't going to stretch the elastic band to the point of breaking. The second option we are looking at it seriously as it does have the potential to earn more than twice as much in terms of revenue, compared to a transformation of St James' Park. And more seats, a lot more seats potentially." A potential capacity of around 60,000 to stay has been put to chiefs while a new stadium could house around 70,000 fans.

But there is much more going on behind the scenes at Newcastle going into 2025 with the current training ground also set for improvements. Much was made last week after suggestions that world-renowned architects Populous will be looking after plans to design a new training ground.

Chronicle Live has learned that the club's current training base is set for further improvements with £10million already injected into United's Benton base. Indeed, in 2023 a new hydrotherapy suite, a lecture theatre, games room and new canteen were all installed on the site at a cost of £10m. Plans for the new stadium and a training ground update are planned for later this year but the club's owners PIF are delighted with the club's progress on and off the field. A rise in revenue profits and the success story of the club's fan zone on Strawberry Place give club chiefs great confidence moving forward into an exciting new year.

The club see the STACK as a project that should give that very confidence to supporters on the next steps for the stadium. Newcastle's owners had to buy the land back on Strawberry Place after it had been sold by Mike Ashley, and then they had to get planning permission, but once it was acquired, the fan zone was up and running within 14 months after the land was bought. United chiefs also see that the STACK, while it has drove massive profits already, has been a positive for local establishments such as the The Strawberry as it has increased footfall in the area.

It is why discussions over a site for a potential new stadium are so sensitive. The impact matchdays - and more - have on the city's economy are huge, and a reason why moving out of the centre is seen by many as being impossible. Identifying a potential new site, or seeking planning and regulation assurances for developing St James' Park, alongside Newcastle City Council and other partners will be crucial, therefore.

The North East Mayor, Kim McGuiness, told Chronicle Live that she would 'absolutely be working' with Newcastle to help ensure that a regeneration project would accompany any work to expand St James' or indeed a new site. It follows on from news announced by Manchester United and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham that plans for the regeneration of land around Old Trafford has 'government backing.'

They claimed that it's plans to regenerate the area around Old Trafford had the support of the Treasury and while details are awaited on what that actually means, it is thought that the project would be backed financially, although any work to the stadium would be paid for by the Red Devils.

It's an added layer that Newcastle would need to consider around their stadium plans. Thornton could be a busy man over the forthcoming months.