I headed to Stack on Monday evening to bring you the latest updates from the Newcastle United fans event, with club CEO David Hopkinson and sporting director Ross Wilson in attendance.
Let’s address what was said.
David Hopkinson first spoke about building trust with supporters. The goal for the club is success and he stressed that being open with the fans is the best way to achieve this.
The Newcastle United CEO then emphasized that the club is set up to compete for the top prizes in football, with the right ownership and structures.
Ross Wilson echoed these thoughts, saying he could only have left his previous role at Nottingham Forest for this opportunity.
David Hopkinson emphasized the need for best-in-class business operations. He said some elements of the current setup are world class, but it needs to be top to bottom. Newcastle United need a clear plan to chart the path to success and we need to develop a winning culture.
David Hopkinson emphasized that he communicates with the owners daily and has multiple points of contact per day. He further explained that their support has been invaluable.
Ross Wilson also spoke about the club’s culture and promoting a winning culture at the club. Ross Wilson said he is not a scouting guru; his role is to connect the parts of the club together to strive for that success.
Newcastle United’s sporting director categorized his relationship with Howe as positive, but the aim of that relationship is to be functionally effective.
David Hopkinson (pictured above) stated that his job is to help Howe be successful in his job and acknowledged that he is a special manager. Eddie’s talent is managing the team and David Hopkinson wants Howe to be able to fully concentrate on that. He then discussed the problems fans faced in Marseille. He has personally spoken to UEFA to try to resolve the issues. He is overwhelmed by the loyalty and passion of the fans.
Ross Wilson was asked about recruitment. He says this is absolutely central to his work. There are robust scouting activities at the club. Trading players is essential to the club’s long-term success. Ross Wilson emphasized our ability to keep our top players at the club, but offered no guarantees. He also said that we are trying to sign the best players from other teams. David Hopkinson intervened, noting that players leave either because you can’t pay him or because they want to leave. This is largely out of their control, but we can improve that by improving the club’s reputation.
Signing sessions in January are a possibility. There is a plan in place, not just for January, but if things can be done there, they will be done.
Answering a question about the lack of training sponsors, David Hopkinson acknowledged that this need is being met and will be over the next twelve months. There are many important opportunities to grow the club’s revenues.
David Hopkinson then spoke about growing the club’s brand, stating that the aim is that most Newcastle fans will never have been to the city in the future. To be a truly global brand like Madrid, we need fans all over the world. We can achieve that with regional content aimed at growing those foreign fan bases.
Ross Wilson (pictured above) then discussed the importance of our academy and the success of Lewis Miley. Miley is a true success story, playing the second most minutes for a player his age in the Premier League. They want more quality players, the system thought, referring to Sam Alabi’s recent involvement in first-team training.
The ticket issue was discussed, although there isn’t much to say here. More updates will follow after Wednesday’s workshop.
David Hopkinson was eventually asked about Newcastle United’s stadium.
He outlined that St James’ Park is incredible, but no decisions have been made about its future at this time. The club is continuously working on plans, but a decision is not yet in sight. David Hopkinson reiterated that it is an incredibly complex situation that will be transformative for the club. They are not prepared to make any announcements at this time and he felt it would be counterproductive to say anything at this time when so much has yet to be decided. David Hopkinson acknowledged that this is not a popular answer, but says it is the right one. When the time comes, the fans will have a say in whatever decision is made.
David Hopkinson concluded by saying he knows what world class looks like but is still trying to determine how that works for NUFC, although he is confident they can do that well.
It was interesting to hear Newcastle United’s CEO and Director of Football speak on Monday evening. even if nothing hugely meaningful was said. It is clear that they both have big ambitions for the club. The difficult thing for Newcastle United fans now is to wait and see what happens next. However, if Wilson and Hopkinson can deliver on what they call the club’s ambitions, the future will look bright.
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