Newcastle United – The News Desk

29Dec

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Sports

The football stadiums that never were

Peter Storrie can remember visiting the London studio of Herzog & de Meuron, the renowned Swiss architects, and being shown a striking vision of Portsmouth’s future.“It was something else,” he tells The Athletic. “They put it up on the screen for us and it certainly had the wow factor.”This was 2007 and the ambitious plans were for a new 36,000-capacity stadium on the city’s docks. Storrie, then chief executive, had accepted that Portsmouth would need to leave Fratton Park, the club’s home since 1899, and a proposed relocation could hardly have been more impressive.Located in between the Spinnaker Tower and the historic naval base, a £600million waterfront project that would include apartments and restaurants promised a transformational impact.“This will be the most spectacular stadiu...

Why are football stadiums so expensive to build?

30Nov

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Why are football stadiums so expensive to build?

Manchester United and Chelsea share a problem they cannot hope to run away from. Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge might be able to narrate storied chapters of the Premier League’s history, but neither can project a compelling future.At least not in their current states. The famous homes of Manchester United and Chelsea have become weights that threaten to hold back their owners. They are not fit for an elite long-term purpose.The day the first bulldozers come rumbling over the horizon might not be imminent, but it has become inevitable. There is an acceptance of that reality, even from those with the onerous task of funding it all.The Premier League’s landscape will soon be modernising elsewhere, too.Plans are afoot for Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace and Manchester City to...

An addictive personality can facilitate sporting greatness – but what are the consequences?

27Nov

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An addictive personality can facilitate sporting greatness – but what are the consequences?

The British gymnast Nile Wilson steps on stage and introduces himself.In a broad Leeds accent, the 27-year-old describes himself as an Olympic medallist, the owner of several successful businesses, and the face of a YouTube channel with more than 1.5million subscribers.Then he pauses — and, as if he’s slipped off the pommel horse, he begins again.“I’m self-destructive,” he says. “Competing at the highest level of sport, I spent four to five nights a week at the casino alone. Once I drink alcohol, I struggle to stop for days or even weeks at a time.“I believe both introductions are true for the same reason. What can be our strength quickly turns into our weaknesses.”This is the dichotomy of sporting excellence.By starting young, athletes are malleable.Like gymnastics, football asks its par...

Every Premier League club’s stadium plans – from new stands to ground moves

23Nov

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Every Premier League club’s stadium plans – from new stands to ground moves

As the Premier League gets bigger and bigger, so – it seems – do the stadiums that play host to it.The vast majority of clubs in the top flight have either drawn up plans to expand their grounds to service the overwhelming demand or are poised to open gleaming new stands – or, in some cases, open new stadiums altogether.Here, our experts guide you through what each club has done to their home ground and what could come next, plus how we rated each stadium in our rankings published last month.Arsenal: Emirates StadiumCurrent capacity: 60,704What The Athletic said: “The Emirates has its critics, but it now delivers the atmosphere, facilities, accessibility and product any sports fan would expect from the Premier League.”The Athletic ranking: 4thWhen was the last redevelopment work done? Ars...

Arsenal’s ‘embarrassing’ VAR episode, Hayes’ USWNT switch and ugly chants – The Briefing

6Nov

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Arsenal’s ‘embarrassing’ VAR episode, Hayes’ USWNT switch and ugly chants – The Briefing

Welcome to The Briefing, where every Monday during this season The Athletic discusses three of the biggest questions to arise from the weekend’s football.This was the weekend when Arsenal stuttered, Manchester United staved off a crisis for another week, Sheffield United got their first win of the season and Luis Diaz displayed astonishing levels of resolve to score Liverpool’s equaliser at Luton Town.Here we will consider Mikel Arteta and Arsenal’s response to Newcastle’s winner, just how big a deal it is that Emma Hayes is taking the USWNT job and why ‘Always the victim…’ is not harmless terrace banter…What is the real embarrassment: the refereeing or Arsenal endorsing Arteta’s complaints?Maybe managers shouldn’t give interviews straight after games.Frustration is high, emotions heighte...

Bad language, worse jokes and riot police: What really happens in the tunnel

3Nov

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Bad language, worse jokes and riot police: What really happens in the tunnel

“I’ll see you in the tunnel.”There was a time when that was more than a throwaway line on the pitch, even if some players found a way to make sure that they never showed up.“One of my standard challenges was to (jump and) head the ball and put my studs down someone’s back — which you’d get sent off for now,” Liam Ridgewell, the former Aston Villa, Birmingham City, West Bromwich Albion and Portland Timbers defender, tells The Athletic. “I did it to the late, great Papa Bouba Diop at Fulham.”Ridgewell, now a coach with MLS side Portland, pauses as he thinks back to what happened next.“You know that GIF when Jim Carrey wipes his mouth and changes his demeanour? Well, Bouba Diop turned around, rubbed his back and went: ‘What. Did. You. Just. Do?’ And I thought: ‘S—.’“He said: ‘I’ll see you in...

Premier League stadium rankings: All 20 from worst to best – so you could shout at us

19Oct

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Premier League stadium rankings: All 20 from worst to best – so you could shout at us

Welcome to The Athletic’s Premier League stadium rankings, an exercise in entertainment, creating arguments nobody can win and questionable mathematics.Before we start, we should beg for forgiveness. This is an almost impossible task and however we choose categories, weight categories and then mark the teams is going to annoy you. It’s a subjective topic and there isn’t a right answer.All we ask is that you know we have put far too many hours into all this, tried to make it as fair as possible, and are not deliberately trying to upset anyone.So take a seat — or stand, if you prefer — maybe get one of those squeezy stress balls and enjoy. Hey, you might even agree with some of it.Coming to this order has been a long, methodical process involving a working group that broke the scoring into ...

Saudi influence in Newcastle: A story of property, prosperity and power

8Oct

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Saudi influence in Newcastle: A story of property, prosperity and power

Newcastle is changing.It is happening on the pitch — from rock bottom to the Champions League, matches at the San Siro and Parc des Princes, meting out 4-1 thrashings to European heavyweights.It is happening at St James’ Park — exploratory conversations to expand the stadium, Strawberry Place back in club hands with planning permission granted for a fan zone, optimism paved into the walk up the Gallowgate.And change is happening in the city too. Not just in hearts and minds, but in steel, cement and stonework. Buildings are sprouting along Pilgrim Street, £1.5billion ($1.8bn) of investments has been promised by the city council. While, across the Tyne, the regeneration of the Gateshead quays continues apace.On Saturday, it will be two years since a takeover led by Saudi Arabia’s Public In...