The next 'defunct' stadium, Newcastle United expansion
Newcastle United's final league game against Everton at an antiquated and cramped Goodison Park comes amid a debate on Tyneside about St James' Park expansion.
There’s a list of “defunct” English football stadiums on Wikipedia.
Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Arsenal and Manchester City are among the Premier League clubs whose old grounds are on the lengthy page.
And the list will have a new addition at the end of the season, when Goodison Park will close its turnstiles for the final time ahead of Everton’s move to Bramley-Moore Dock, where a new 52,888-capacity stadium is under construction.
Newcastle United will make their final league visit to Goodison Park this evening.
Over the years I have documented both memorable and forgettable visits to the stadium from the cramped, wooden press box in the three-tiered Main Stand, which dates back to 1969.
It replaced a stand designed by the renowned stadium architect Archibald Leitch, whose influence lives on at the ground through the Bullen’s Road and Gwlady’s Street stands.
Highs and lows
There have been a few notable highlights there from a Newcastle perspective over the past couple of decades.
I was lucky enough to watch Hatem Ben Arfa score a stunning left-footed strike from around 25 yards on his first United start in the 2010/11 season.
After the game, which Chris Hughton’s side won 1-0, I had the chance to interview Ben Arfa in a narrow corridor as players and staff squeezed past, only it had to be done in French. My A-level French only got me so far, and I was relieved when a French-speaking colleague volunteered as a translator as I struggled to phrase questions.
In any case, Ben Arfa – who would suffer a season-ending injury the following month – had let his feet do the talking on the pitch that day.
Newcastle have only won twice at Goodison Park since then, though a 2-2 draw under the lights in the 2019/20 season, before the Premier League’s Covid-19 hiatus, lives on in the memory for the 94th and 95th-minute goals from defender Florian Lejeune which claimed an important point for Steve Bruce’s team.
United were 16th in the division when they arrived at Goodison Park for a January fixture the following season.
The game, played behind closed doors, was decided in Newcastle’s favour by two goals from Callum Wilson.
Graeme Jones had joined Bruce’s coaching team ahead of the fixture amid a need for “fresh ideas”, and the win seemed at the time to be something of a turning point for the relegation-threatened team.
The first paragraph of my on-the-whistle match report read: “Is this the start of something – or the end of something? Or both?”
Unfortunately, the post-match presser, conducted via a video link due to Covid-19 restrictions, was less revealing, as Bruce didn’t take questions from the three local newspaper reporters who had travelled from the North East to report on the game.
Fresh ideas, certainly, were needed at the time, and Jones is still at the club today, having stayed on to assist Eddie Howe when Bruce left following a £305million takeover three years ago.
Howe’s first game at Goodison Park as Newcastle manager ended in an agonising 1-0 defeat.
At the time, both teams were fighting to stay in the Premier League, and the stakes were high, especially for the home side, then managed by Frank Lampard.
United dominated the first half, and home fans could only cheer tackles and corners, as there was little else for them to celebrate on the pitch. However, the visitors weren’t the same once the game restarted after a bizarre second-half stoppage forced by a Just Stop Oil protester, who had tied himself to a goalpost at the Gwladys Street End.
Alex Iwobi scored a winner for 10-man Everton nine minutes into added time. The strike was wildly celebrated by Everton analysts and staff, including first-team coach Ashley Cole, at the front of the press box. A TV monitor was broken in the melee as reporters hastily deleted their opening paragraphs and started their rewrites.
Howe took his bruised team away to Dubai after the game to patch them up ahead of a late-season push up the table.
Atmospheres like the one that night will be hard to replicate in a new stadium, which is located close to the city centre.
St James’ Park expansion
Everton’s imminent move comes amid intense speculation on Tyneside about Newcastle’s plans for 52,305-capacity St James’ Park, which is no longer big enough to satisfy demand for tickets.
The club is looking at either expanding the stadium, hemmed in on one side by Leazes Terrace, to a capacity in excess of 60,000 – or relocating and building an all-new ground which could house even more supporters.
Howe wants to stay at an expanded St James’ Park, but some fans favour a move. Opinion is seemingly split on Tyneside amid unprecedented demand for seats.
Speaking yesterday, Howe said: “My natural instinct is to stay. It’s an incredible place to play football. It’s our home. To think about moving somewhere else feels like a betrayal to somewhere that’s served us so well.
“But, as a football club, we have to increase our revenue. It’s a massive decision, and people with more brain cells will make the decision for the long-term future of the club. I could be swayed, but my natural instinct’s to stay.
“The atmosphere, the look of the stadium, is a beautiful thing. I love being there. I love games there. I love winning there.”
A “complex” situation is further complicated by the stadium’s status as a host stadium for Euro 2028, and Brad Miller, the club’s chief operating officer, has called for “patience” from fans as various options are assessed.
“This is a once-in-a-generation investment, so we don't want to look back in years to come, as a club or as a city, and regret an opportunity missed,” said Miller at a Fan Advisory Board meeting.
Right now, too many fans are missing out on games, but what should be the capacity of an expanded or new stadium? Certainly, an expanded 60,000-capacity stadium, as was envisaged before Mike Ashley bought the club in 2007, wouldn’t satisfy the demand for tickets as it stands, but the club’s so-called “forever home” can’t be too big, either. The numbers must add up.
The case for Everton to leave Goodison Park was more clear-cut, though for all the extra seats the club will gain at Bramley-Moore Dock, it will lose something intangible, as their historic home, a throwback to another era, is one of English football’s more atmospheric venues.
I’ll miss the place, though not the tight press box.