Newcastle United acquires £190m training ground site

The football club has agreed to purchase the 260-acre Woolsington Hall estate from former owner and chairman Sir John Hall as the location for a complex for its men’s first team and Academy.

Hall purchased the site in 1994, with the intention of developing the estate as an academy facility.

The site, south of Newcastle International Airport and within the Newcastle city boundary, includes the derelict grade two-listed Woolsington Hall and surrounding parkland.

Subject to planning permission, the club plans to restore the historic country house alongside the development of new elite performance facilities.

Newcastle United is expected to submit a detailed planning application to Newcastle City Council in early 2027, with the first team targeted to move into the new complex for the 2029/30 season.

The masterplan will retain flexibility to incorporate dedicated facilities for the club’s women’s and girls’ teams as part of a phased approach to the development.

Architect firm Populous, which has worked on stadiums such as Tottenham Hotspur and Wembley, as well as the Yankee Stadium in New York, has been involved with the project for more than a year.

The scheme is being funded by the club’s owners, PIF and RB Sports & Media, and Newcastle United said it would work with the local authority and communities as the plans progress.

Pre-application engagement with Newcastle City Council, local residents and the wider community is due to begin shortly.

The future of the club’s existing training and other relevant sites will be announced separately as the project progresses.

Brad Miller, Newcastle United’s chief operating officer, said: “This is a homecoming for Newcastle United given Sir John Hall’s initial vision for the site in the 1990s.

“Woolsington Hall will be a magnificent location for our new training complex, so we are delighted to have finalised our agreement to acquire the land.

“We are finalising hugely exciting plans for the estate, which include renovating and enhancing listed structures and parkland and retaining them as key elements in our designs.

“Our aim is to carefully and thoughtfully develop world-class facilities for our players and staff, while bringing out the beauty of the location and preserving it for generations to come.

“It is a highly complex project. We have a rigorous planning process ahead of us, but we will demonstrate how we intend to build something iconic that the club, fans, community and region can be proud of.

“We look forward to engaging with planners, our supporters and interested parties about our exciting plans. Our aim is to sustainably and responsibly move the project forward, delivering a facility that the city and region can be immensely proud of.”

David Hopkinson, Newcastle United’s chief executive, said: “Subject to planning permission, our proposed performance complex will create the world’s best performance environment for our teams.

“We’ll develop purpose-built facilities that are geared towards developing sustainable success in the future, where players, coaches and staff can perform at their very best every day.

“We will be submitting a detailed planning application that not only demonstrates our vision, but also how we will preserve and enhance an historic estate, its biodiversity and wildlife habitats, and how we’ll be a great neighbour.

“I want to thank everyone who has played a role in getting us to this point today, and extend my gratitude to Sir John and the Hall family.”