By Kieran Maguire

2nd Aug, 2023 | 3:31pm

Kieran Maguire: Newcastle United boost as £9m+ plan gets green light

Revenue generated from the Strawberry Place fanzone will help Newcastle United work under Uefa’s new wage cap.

That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that Newcastle’s new fan zone will increase the ceiling for the club’s wage bill.

The Magpies announced on 26 July that the club have commenced the planning application for their new fan zone area at Strawberry Place.

The club re-purchased the plot of land after former owner Mike Ashley sold it for £9million during his time in charge of the club.

It is understood that Newcastle repurchased the land for more than £9million, with the expansion of St James’ Park in mind.

The project has been designed in partnership with STACK and the club’s front-of-shirt sponsor Sela, and it is hoped that construction will be completed by the end of 2023.

Maguire believes any additional revenue generated from the project will go a long way in helping Newcastle adhere to Uefa’s new financial sustainability rules.

“Given that St James’ Park is so central to the city of Newcastle, it makes a lot of sense to have facilities that can be used by fans on a more regular basis than just match days,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.

“Therefore, the decision to convert Strawberry Place into a fan zone can hopefully generate further revenues.

“Under the new Uefa rules which are going to introduce a soft wage cap, every extra pound generated by Newcastle counts.

“Each pound generated is going to be worth an extra 70p that can be spent on wages.

“So if they can generate £2million a year from this fan zone then that is £1.4million they can spend extra on wages.“

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