Wandy

When you mentioned Chronicle readers and Radio Newcastle listeners etc I assumed you were refering to the general public rather than NUFC supporters.

70k is definitely the sweet spot. As long as the club always shows the ambition to punch its weight, we'd always fill a stadium of that size for league games.

Disagree with that I'm afraid. Season ticket holders, yes. The other sizeable portion of the support who are now locked out may have a different view on it IMO. I don't really give a monkey's what anyone outside of the fanbase thinks about it anyway. Their opinion is irrelevant, it's all about what the support wants that counts here.

These polls are always dubious but even that one shows that more than twice as many people were in approval than those who were opposed. I think the club caved in far too easily back then. If anything now though, the "friends of the park" lot have been more receptive to the move, providing that the club do their bit in bringing the park back to it's former glory.

I think Mehrdad may regret saying that. Anyway my own interpretation of what he said was that the stadium will never leave the city centre.

Did they? First I've ever heard of that mind. Got a link? I will happily stand corrected if so. The circumstances aren't particularly different either. If anything the club was higher in profile back then that it is right now.

For those who weren't around in the 90s, I'd also point out that when John Hall put forward his proposal for the new stadium on Castle Leazes there wasn't a peep of opposition from the fanbase. So if anyone is expecting a surge of protest, if a new super-stadium is proposed, they might get a surprise.

Don't get me wrong, I am in full agreement that the majority of the fanbase at large will pick option 2. I just think that the study will show that the current SJP will never allow the club to reach it's potential and therefore keep up with the other footballing elite. I don't think people realise how big the game might be about to become. The PL is now the unofficial Super League and the top clubs within it could become "Super Clubs". If we want to be one of them, then there may need to be some compromises accepted by the fanbase.

Exactly. People keep coming out with this overly-emotional stuff about moving away from the city centre. It's simply never going to happen. The owners know that the club's primary & unique power lies in the fact that it has a stadium in the heart of the city. They are not going to wreck that.

This is basically it. I will grudgingly accept an expanded SJP that allows an expansion of at least 13k. But in reality we could do so much better with an all-new stadium that is more-or-less on the same site.

I'm talking about the fanbase in general. Not a tiny selection on a football forum.

I could have went with option 2 or 3...but went with 3, because I have a feeling that the feasibility study will show that there are simply too many barriers to making the current SJP into a world class stadium with a significant increase in capacity. I have to say, it's exasperating reading the same old stuff about "losing the matchday experience", even with a move to Leazes Park. It's like people aren't engaging their brain before writing the words. We'd lose NOTHING. You'd use the same transport & route to get to the stadium area, drink in the same pre-match & post-match bars, and have the same walk up to the stadium, albeit with a further 200 yard walk up Barrack Road. I'd bet money that those who want to stay at all costs, already have season tickets.

For the scenery & general ambience I agree, But the actual beaches at Whitley & South Shields are as good. South Shields in particular has a superb beach.

Exactly. Don't get me wrong, Seaburn is nice. But Tynemouth, Whitley Bay & South Shields are equally as nice and would be the first port of call for anyone from Tyneside before going there.

The funniest thing about that thread is they seem to think the people in B&W tops are people from Newcastle visiting Sunderland. The thought that it actually might be locals hasn't dawned on them, it seems.

I'm a realist bud. Unlike you, who wears black and white goggles when it comes to literally anything to do with NUFC or the city in general.

Why is moving to Leazes Park a "relocation"? It's literally shifting a stadium a couple of hundred yards north. Nothing, absolutely nothing, about the matchday experience would change.

Disagree I'm afraid, I think it is true. The 2nd point is very relevant too. It could quite easily come to a point where the owners come to the fanbase and say "we want to build a super-stadium, with amazing views, hospitality, facilities & accoustics but simply cannot do it on this site.. However just up the road..............." At that point, the support will have a choice to make. And if they turn it down, it's not inconceivable that this could be the point at which the Saudis plot their exit.

I was thinking more of the new infrastructure that they have fitted to it. It would be easy to fit a completely different facade to SJP but have it structurally similar to the Bernabeu.

The all-new Bernabeu is anything but shit. That would be my template for a new stadium.

The report in The Times said that the club are looking to extend capacity to 62k. People have taken this to mean building a new East Stand which achieves this capacity on its own, but I think the club are including the Gallowgate expansion in this too. There's no way that the East Stand land area will allow a stand which provides around a 200% increase in it's own capacity. I'm sure the authorities would allow St James Terrace to be sacrificed and the East Stand footprint to move closer to Leazes Terrace if the light issue can be resolved. The real problem for me is that 62k simply isnt enough seats, and at that point the club truly will be locked in at that site.

St James' Terrace is Grade II.

A crime. It's a small and inconsequential building in a part of town that nobody visits. Even the guy who owns it is willing to see it go. Just knock the fucker down. Honestly, the way some people talk about these buildings you'd think that that it was Grey Street that was under threat.

It wouldnt be destroyed. The vast majority of the new stadium would be on the land just behind the park. The park could then be extended, by converting the existing SJP land into parkland.

The fans want the stadium to stay in the city centre. That is the unnegotiable part. The vast majority of the fanbase would accept relocation to Leazes Park. And if this feasiblity study rules out East Stand redevelopment then I think it's nailed on that the move will be outlined to the supporters. There may well be a point in the near future when the fanbase are going to have to decide how far they want this club to go and what sacrifices they want to make to get there.