Football finance expert Dan Plumley believes Newcastle United should try to emulate Liverpool if they press forward with stadium expansion plans. The Magies’ co-owner Mehrdad Ghodoussi confirmed to the Athletic last weekend that they are looking at increasing the capacity of St. James’ Park.
Newcastle ’s Premier League rivals Liverpool are now on their second redevelopment of Anfield in less than 10 years. The Reds completed their first bit of work back in September 2016 by increasing the capacity from around 45,000 to 54,000.
And Liverpool are now pressing forward with boosting it even further as they aim to take the capacity to above 60,000 by the summer of 2023. As is evident with the Merseyside club, they have expanded the size of their ground gradually over the years, always ensuring that there will be the relevant demand for tickets so that they aren’t overspending on matchday costs.
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Speaking to Football Insider, Plumley thinks that Newcastle should take up a similar strategy, as it will take time to close the matchday revenue gap between themselves and the country’s ‘big six’.
He said: “It depends how big you want to go with it. “It’s 52,000 at the moment. What do they think they can fill? There were online queues for season tickets when the takeover went through. Their attendances have dropped marginally but they have always been a well-supported club.
“You’ve got to look at the benchmarks around the league. A few teams are pushing 60,000, so that might be your first target. Their matchday revenue in the last non-Covid season was £25m. Spurs, Arsenal and Liverpool are all pushing towards £85m.
“So they are desperate to close and £60m gap. You have to look at corporate and hospitality to try and do that. It won’t happen overnight. There are planning regulations and whatnot, so you have to try and grow incrementally like Liverpool have done and go from there.”
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