The summer not only gives Newcastle United the opportunity to strengthen the squad, it also gives the Magpies the chance to improve the club's infrastructure. Plans have already been submitted to North Tyneside Council to upgrade the training ground and work is now under way to refurbish St James' Park.
Although the training ground proposals are seen as very much a short-term measure - the long-term goal is to construct a new state of the art facility in the future - there are no plans to build a new stadium after St James' left its mark on the hierarchy. It won't be easy, of course, but the owners instead intend to exhaust every avenue while working with the city council to one day increase the capacity of St James' to 60-65,000.
In the meantime, noticeable changes have been made to St James' since the owners arrived last October, including taking down the hundreds of Sports Direct signs last December; bringing back Shearer's bar in March; or Alan Shearer's statue being moved to its rightful place on site last month. The off-season has now given the club the chance to set about improving the actual match day experience for supporters before the start of the new campaign.
