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Newcastle United are preparing to announce a state-of-the-art £200million training facility on land most recently owned by former chairman Sir John Hall.
Daily Mail Sport can reveal the club are ready to purchase a site in Woolsington, close to Newcastle Airport and five miles from St James’ Park.
Once paperwork is completed, grand plans for a new training complex will be unveiled.
Construction will take around two years and it is hoped work can begin in 2026, although the exact timeline is still to be finalised. Sites at Seaton Burn and Newcastle Racecourse were also explored.
This landmark development marks the first significant infrastructural investment of the club’s Saudi-led ownership, more than four years after their takeover from Mike Ashley.
The facilities, say sources, will be world class and give Newcastle a training base to rival the very best in the Premier League. It is also a huge signal of ambition from the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund and their co-owners, the Reuben brothers.
Architects Populous have been on board with the project for over a year and Tyneside-based FaulknerBrowns could also assist.
US-based Populous, with offices in the UK and Australia, were the architects behind the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the impressive Real Madrid Sports City complex at Valdebebas, the training base that houses the senior and youth teams of the Spanish giants.
Newcastle chief executive David Hopkinson, formerly global head of partnerships at Real, is well aware of the workings of that facility.
Sources have indicated that the plans could include indoor and outdoor pitches, a mini stadium, accommodation options, a media suite, cinema room for presentations and spa-like facilities. It will give the club the platform to develop and retain talent.
For now, Eddie Howe and his squad will continue to operate out of their Benton base in North Tyneside, where expansion work is due to complete in the coming months.
But this news is sure to provide Howe and his players with a huge boost, especially given the advantage it offers in attracting top stars to the club.
The Woolsington Hall plot has been owned by Sir John Hall and his family since 1994 and was mooted as a location for a new training ground in the 90s.
It is next door to the private airport from which Newcastle fly to away matches and is close to Darras Hall, the exclusive estate where many of the club’s players and staff currently live.
