More than 10,000 Newcastle United fans travelled to Murrayfield in Edinburgh on Wednesday night for a friendly against Everton, unofficially testing the feasibility of using the Scottish rugby venue as a temporary home if St James' Park undergoes renovation.
Friendly draws 22,982 but upper tiers closed
The Magpies lost 3-1 to Everton in front of an overall crowd of 22,982 at the 67,144-capacity venue. The fixture failed to capture the imagination of the Scottish public, with the upper sections of the stadium left closed.
Newcastle have never suggested such a possibility and dismissed talk of a groundshare with rivals Sunderland in early 2025. The subject of whether Newcastle were trialling the idea was discussed in the Scottish press after the game.
Scottish Rugby denies any talks
A statement from the Scottish RFU in the Edinburgh Evening News read: “Whilst we are always open to conversations, as it currently stands there have not been any conversations with Newcastle United regarding them using Scottish Gas Murrayfield as a temporary home.”
Chronicle Live understands that Newcastle are not close to making a decision on what happens next at St James' Park, but the prospect of a new stadium, with images shared by Toon chiefs to PIF, is still very much active.
Stadium decision still pending
Moving ground even temporarily would mean mass upheaval for fans, with every home game becoming an away day and the possibility of the novelty wearing off after a few games.
Only last week, Chronicle Live asked CEO David Hopkinson for an update on the stadium and the training ground, with PIF officials also present but not commenting. When asked for that update, Hopkinson said: "No. There's a pregnant pause in that answer. Training ground we are moving quite quickly on. Had a conversation about it today and that conversation isn't quite finished yet."
He added: "I'm optimistic we're going to make a training ground announcement very soon. Look, one of the themes I've been wrestling with the last while - couple of weeks, a month - is how do we balance transparency and transaction? You guys are dogged, your constituents want to know. And we want our stakeholders to know. But in the moment as we're trying to conclude a transaction is not the moment to tell people 'Here's what we're trying to do'."
Leazes Terrace purchase opens East Stand options
Newcastle bought Leazes Terrace earlier this year, opening up the prospect of development in the East Stand area, a section of the stadium that has proved problematic due to listed buildings and light issues for decades, hence its original construction still being in place since opening in 1973.
Hopkinson explained why Newcastle have to keep a veil of silence on some plans and added: "Being fully transparent about what we wanted to do with Leazes Terrace would have been diametrically opposed to being able to actually conclude that deal. We're going to buy some land for our future training ground and getting really granular on what we pay and where it is wouldn't be helpful. We want to be transparent but that doesn't mean we can invite everyone into every part of the strategy."
