Government 'keen to support' Newcastle United stadium plans, says Labour minister Lisa Nandy

Lisa Nandy, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport, has indicated that the Government would be willing to throw its weight behind a major football stadium project on Tyneside, in the same way that it has backed Manchester United’s £2 billion plans for Old Trafford.

Ms Nandy announced last month that Labour was “really keen to crack on” with the Manchester United’s new 100,000-seater stadium plans, with Red Devils co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe having said that no public money would be needed for the football ground itself but that Government cash would be required for a wider regeneration of the surrounding area.

After months of speculation over whether Newcastle United will stay at St James’ Park or seek to move to a state-of-the-art new home, recent reports have suggested that the Magpies hierarchy favour trying to build a 65,000-capacity stadium on Leazes Park – though the club has insisted that no final decision has been made.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service during a visit to the Beamish Football Centre in Stanley on Thursday, Ms Nandy suggested that the Government could also support broader regeneration efforts that would accompany a stadium development in Newcastle.

She said: “I have spoken to Kim McGuinness, the mayor, who is obviously very keen to make sure the North East gets its fair share of funding to help with regeneration to create jobs, create growth, and we are really keen to support her in that ambition.

“In relation to the Newcastle project in particular, we take the same approach as we took to the Old Trafford regeneration. We are keen to support, we want to see it go ahead.”

“Obviously it will depend on the club and the amount of investment they can attract. But what we are working to do is make Britain a very attractive place for people to invest, through a series of measures including economic stability. but also including the Football Governance Bill which is currently in Parliament, which provides stability and certainty around ownership, financial flow in the game, putting fans back at the centre of the game, which we think will help attract good owners to come and invest more here in the UK.”

The North East Combined Authority has indicated that, while it would not help pay for a football stadium, it would be interested in involvement in any wider regeneration that would involve jobs and affordable homes.

No planning application has yet been submitted to Newcastle City Council for a new stadium and any development on Leazes Park would prove controversial.

More than 3,000 people have already signed a petition calling for grade II listed Victorian park, which opened in 1873 and predates the St James’ Park football stadium, to be protected. 

Ms Nandy enjoyed three years living in Newcastle as a student and said she went to matches at St James’, though admitted she  spent “much more time in the bars” around the ground than inside it.

While she would not be drawn on her personal view on whether the football club should stay at its historic home or move elsewhere, she pledged to help bring new investment to Tyneside.

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The culture secretary added: “I had the three best years of my life in Newcastle. I was there at the time when the Labour Government and the European Union were investing hugely and you could see the redevelopment of the Quayside and the transformation of the city in front of your eyes. It became incredibly vibrant, incredibly exciting, a real destination place for people from all over the world and for young people like me from all over the country. 

“I think in the last 15 years like so many other parts of the country there have been a lot of struggles. The high street has struggled, social deprivation has increased, and we are determined to turn that around because I know from my own personal experience from having spent those three incredible years in Newcastle, it is one of my favourite cities in the world, I know how much potential it has got and how much it has got to offer.”

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