NEWCASTLE United are working alongside "world leading" experts as they consider their options when it comes to a potential expansion of St James' Park, with the Magpies seeking to discover what is possible and prioritising the feelings of fans.

Eales spoke directly to fans at a special supporter engagement event at St James' Park on Wednesday evening.

He was joined on stage by sporting director Dan Ashworth and chief commercial officer Peter Silverstone, with head coach Eddie Howe, women's boss Becky Langley and loan manager Shola Ameobi also speaking at the event, which was attended by 200 supporters in person, with a further 800 joining online.

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One of the final questions of the evening put to Eales was about the future of St James' Park, which came on the back of discussions about current ticketing, waiting lists and membership.

Eales revealed Newcastle are in the process of nailing down "what can be done" with the stadium as they consider their options for the future, both in terms of a potential expansion and when it comes to improved facilities.

Eales said: "We're doing a stadium feasibility study. We have one of the world leading agencies looking at it.

"The whole concept of that feasibility is thinking about the art of the possible. We know we have this fantastic location here on the top of the hill, the cathedral on the hill but we know we have some boundary issues. It's not as simple as if we had a lot of space. So what can be done? That's one of the things we have to look at.

"But also, and we have a survey going out in the next couple of weeks, we really want that feedback. There will be a series of questions about everything facilities wise in terms of what you'd like to see at the stadium, because we need to understand demand and priorities and what people want. That helps when you are shaping the theoretical feasibility study.

"They're hypotheticals, it will ask questions like 'imagine if there was a brand new stadium built on this site, what would you think?' It's all about trying to get the information from the fans to help inform with the architectural possibility what we can do and what is the best way forward."

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Eales added: "I'm really excited about it, excited because there's been a lot of talk for 30 years or more about how we create more supply to our supporters. And this is our way of getting the best in the world to tell us what the answer is.

"At that stage there's more consultation, the first thing is to see what's possible. If you have preconceptions, you limit yourself. What we're really trying to stress is think about everything and then we'll work backwards from what is possible. That's the hope.

"I don't know what will come out of it. But the exciting thing is we're doing it, we'll get the best in class response then there'll be the consultation process as we talk about what we could do and the implications."

Newcastle will soon be welcoming applications to its new Fan Advisory Board - which will be a direct link between the club and supporters - before a scheduled first meeting in February 2024,

Newcastle say further details will follow online this Friday, November 24.