The Sports Direct signs had long been taken down at St James' Park, but Mike Ashley's influence was still being felt outside the ground. At Strawberry Place, to be exact.
It was Ashley, of course, who sold the land that historically belonged to Newcastle United to developers in 2019. Yet the stalled £120m proposal never got off the ground after planning permission was controversially granted by Newcastle City Council. Even when it appeared that the North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA) would step in with £3.5m of funding to cover a 'viability gap' last month, that did not come to pass despite the supposed benefits.
An NTCA report had claimed that the development, which included 328 flats, a 213-room hotel and an office block, would support more than 1,700 construction jobs and pump £670m into the regional economy within a decade. However, North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll ultimately decided against signing off on the proposal because he did not want to put public money into it - much to the relief of Newcastle fans.
