The next few years at Newcastle United are going to be huge for a variety of reasons.

With the goal on the pitch being to repeatedly qualify for the Champions League, establish ourselves as an elite side and eventually challenge for the Premier League title, there’s plenty to look forward too off the pitch as well.

St James’ Park is set to be one of the chosen venues for EURO 2028, and a new stadium is widely expected to be built after that up on Leazes Park.

But amidst all the noise surrounding the proposed stadium plans and what it means for Eddie Howe, the squad and the fans, the club looks to be making significant progress behind-the-scenes in regards to a new training ground!

New training ground location revealed?

According to The Mail’s Craig Hope, a new frontrunner has emerged as the club is whittling down possible locations for a new state-of-the-art training ground.

Writing his Newcastle Confidential column, Hope reveals that a plot of land in Seaton Burn, just eight miles north of Newcastle City Centre, has been scouted out by the club’s higher-ups  and is reportedly the likely venue to replace Darsley Park.

Valued for its transport links and how easy it is to get to for the players, the Seaton Burn seems preferable to a number of other locations across the North East, including near Newcastle Racecourse, Woolsington and Ponteland.

State of the art site, but still in need of a sponsor?

Much like the proposed new stadium, the plans for a new training ground will look make it a true best-in-class facility at the club’s disposal.

Set to enlist the services US-based architects Populous, who helped bring to life both the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Real Madrid’s own Sport City, it’s hoped that the final build will be the envy of the Premier League.

Building a new training ground is seen as one of the key fundamentals to further establishing ourselves as an elite club in terms of giving both our current players the right faculties to improve themselves, but also entice future talent to join us as well.

Despite the considerable improvements made to the current site in Benton, which Amanda Staveley, the PIF and the Reubens made one of their top priorities after buying the club from Mike Ashley, we’re still well behind the likes of Manchester City in terms of training facilities.

One thing we can eventually hope for with a new training ground is the prospect of finally securing a training ground sponsor and a training kit sponsor, like what Manchester City have with Japanese beer brand Asahi.

And although it will take years for any new training facility to be built, the sooner any sort of training sponsor(s) are announced could go a long way into helping our PSR situation in the coming windows.