The under-the-radar changes our new owners could make at St James' Park
With a refreshed squad, a competent manager, no more Sports Direct eyesores, plans for a new training ground, the return of Shearer's bar, investment in the women’s team and a proposed expansion of St James’ Park, our new owners are tackling a lot of NUFC’s long-standing issues head on.
They’re prioritising all of the right issues and within a few years we’ll be set to have an even more talented squad with the required depth and attitude, world-class training facilities, a women’s team capable of competing, and an academy that actually progresses young talent.
But what about the under-the-radar niggles that bug us as supporters? The silly but noticeable stuff that we’d love to see changed?
Once all of the big picture items are under way, here are some of the quick wins our new owners can get at St James’ Park – with contributions from our Twitter following!
Smarten up the concourses
As far as stadiums go, St James is up there as one of the best. as far as most of the concourses go, they’re bland and grey. One venture into the corporate sections of the ground and you’ll see the corridors adorned with photos of club legends.
Now, the concourses will never look like the corporate sections of the ground – and nor should they – but they could take a leaf out of their books. As Tor (@torbennett_) pointed out, there’s a lot of space on those breeze blocks for photos – or even some artwork. We’ve seen plenty of talented designers work for the matchday programmes!
The old Newcastle United font
For a few years, the Newcastle United sign on the East Stand was a monstrosity to look at because it was flanked by two Sports Direct signs. They’re long gone, but it’s still not right. One of my biggest minor bugbears of the Ashley era is the fact that he changed the font on the Newcastle United lettering to match the Sports Direct font.
Was it earth-shattering? No, but it was completely unnecessary.
The owners wasted no time in ridding St James of every trace of Sports Direct, but that hideous font still remains. The old lettering was classy and nostalgic – let’s get it back. @GJ_1892 backs this up on Twitter.
Sort the taps out in the bathrooms
Going to the toilet in winter at St James’ Park isn’t exactly fun. We know we won’t be getting central heating in there any time soon, but the taps are a nightmare. It’s either ice-cold water or molten lava – and neither are good on already frozen hands.
This past winter, the sinks in my stand (Leazes) were sometimes exclusively pumping out cold water. This is definitely one thing that would improve our matchday experiences tenfold!
Invest in bigger tellies
Considering the fact that our concourses are fairly spacious, we could definitely fit some bigger TVs in there to catch up on highlights at half time or keep track of the game if you have a few swigs of your pint left.
Also, I’m not sure how doable it is, but Brentford has multiple TVs across the ground – including around the away end. When the referee went to VAR to check whether Dasilva’s foul was a sending off, we could all watch it with him. It’s not an essential part of the experience, but it was a nice touch.
More options at the bar
A lot of clubs fall foul of this (looking at Stamford Bridge and its one singular beer option), but more options at the bar would be a dream. Plenty of respondents to our tweet have said they can’t stand drinking Carling and would like to see more beer options in the ground.
I’m a big fan of the chicken chunks, chips and gravy at St James, but the burgers and pies could do with an overhaul. I have it on good authority from a friend that Brentford has the best pies going, while I’m partial to a scouse pie at Everton away and a chicken and mushroom option at Villa.
Black and white everything
For a stadium that’s in the heart of a football-mad city, St James’ Park’s colour scheme is surprisingly muted. We don’t need to go the whole hog and paint it black and white from top to bottom, but it would be nice to see more of our iconic stripes in there.
A few supporters, including our very own editor @olly_hawk, have suggested black and white seating. It’s a nice move that reflects our visual identity without being completely overwhelming – and how good would St James look with black and white seating when empty and lit up at night?
Even smaller touches, like a lick of black and white paint around the concourses and the return of black and white goal nets are small nods to our stunning, unmistakable stripes.
So there you have it – the small niggles we want our new owners to address when they get past the important stuff.
What minor improvements to St James’ Park do you want to see?
