The hot topic of St James’s Park naming rights and why supporters will have to accept tradition changes

As the club grows, Newcastle United will not be exempt from commercial deals that potentially see St James’s Park being renamed.

The shadow of failed plans to do just that in the past still loom large and worry supporters, but Darren Eales’ recent comments should allay these fears.

Eales said: “As we think about our opportunities to work with partners, we have to obviously do that through the lens of the supporters by engaging and communicating with them.”

“Clearly, there’s a history (with the Sports Direct Arena), and it didn’t work for a number of reasons, but I think communication was a key one.

“For us, it’s about talking with our supporters and being open by saying ‘look, we all want to get to this place – and to get to this place we need to bring in commercial revenues’.

“There’s always going to be a little bit of a trade-off in certain areas. I’m just being hypothetical here, we would talk and have a dialogue around stadium, and it might be that it’s not a naming right, but it’s an association naming rights.

"That might be something that everybody is comfortable with, but there has to be dialogue – and there has to be an explanation.”

St James’s Park, its look, location and traditions is synonymous with Newcastle United and one that supporters have grown very fond of.

Although these traditions will be hard to separate from, it is something supporters will have to get used to and something that, ultimately, will help the club step into its new era.