There is another anniversary to come at Newcastle United. It is approaching a century since the Magpies last won the title in 1927.
For context, Newcastle tasted more top-flight success than Manchester United, Arsenal, Man City, Spurs and Chelsea combined at the time, but few outside the region will know that. Everton fans even felt emboldened enough to repeatedly taunt 'You've never won f--- all!' during a goalless draw at the weekend while it was just last week that former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan hissed: "This idea of Newcastle as a big club and the expectations and the myth....you lot think you're bigger than you are."
Could those days return, though? Amanda Staveley openly declared Newcastle's ambition was to win the title within five to 10 years in her first round of interviews on this day in 2021. There was little prospect of points deductions for PSR breaches at the time - although Newcastle always intended to comply - while the Premier League's fair market value sponsorship rules had not yet been introduced.
Aspects of these associated party transaction regulations have been found to be unlawful, following a challenge by Manchester City, and it was rather telling that Newcastle provided evidence in support of the champions against the Premier League. Manchester City even argued there was 'fear mongering about the takeover' after the rules were introduced - temporarily at first - just days after the Newcastle buy-out. The tribunal duly found there was 'no evidence of any formal initiative between the autumn of 2021 to amend the PSRs in the manner in which they were amended in December, 2021'.
The Premier League have claimed they will 'continue to operate the existing APT system, taking into account the findings made by the tribunal', but this still feels like a noteworthy development at a time when Darren Eales, Paul Mitchell and Eddie Howe have all repeatedly stressed that the PIF remain as ambitious as ever. Not only to be number one but to be the best in class in youth development, women's football, scouting and recruitment, data and insight and coaching and innovation.
The landscape has changed - Newcastle and Aston Villa broke into the top four in 2023 and 2024 respectively - but the challenge for such upwardly mobile clubs is to compete year after year in a PSR world. For context, the £712.8m champions Manchester City generated was nearly three times what Newcastle brought in when the Magpies qualified for the Champions League.
As obvious as it sounds, bigger revenues enable such clubs to spend more within the rules and pay higher salaries, and Newcastle CEO Darren Eales previously admitted that a club's wage bill is the 'number one factor' when it comes to 'creating a winning team'. The numbers do not lie in that regard; traditionally, the more a club spends on salaries, the more points they pick up per game.
Newcastle bucked the trend when the Howe's team finished above Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea and returned to Europe's top table two seasons ago, despite eight clubs having a bigger outlay on wages, but the black-and-whites have to dramatically boost revenues to bridge the gap. That is why Newcastle's next step with St James' Park 'must provide an investable return and not least deliver strong revenue growth to increase our PSR headroom' in the eyes of chief operating officer Brad Miller.
Spurs, for instance, brought in £117.6m in match income in 2022-23 whereas Newcastle banked £37.9m in the same period. It is worth pointing out that the most affordable adult season ticket at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has since risen to an eye-watering £856, but Spurs do offer some of the best stadium facilities in the country, including Europe's longest bar, and a typical fan will spend around £16 per game as opposed to just under £2 at the club's former home at White Hart Lane.
Spurs have also turned the stadium into a multi-use venue: Beyonce's five-night run last summer was the highest-grossing concert ever staged by a female artist at the time; the arena is the official home of the NFL in the UK and plays host to the world's first F1 branded electric karting experience; and the club are even building a 180-room hotel to support their conference and events business. No wonder chairman Daniel Levy said the club's record-breaking turnover had been 'driven by increased stadium revenues from both football and non-football events and additional revenue streams'.
Although Howe suggested it would be a 'betrayal' to leave St James', the Newcastle boss acknowledged 'there’s finances to think of and that will affect the long-term success of the club' as the hierarchy weigh up their next move. Finding a way to increase revenues, whether it is through the stadium or sponsorships, will be crucial.
"It's a really exciting time to be associated with Newcastle," Howe added. "I think there's a lot going to happen in the future. The dreaded words of PSR and that would just put a lid on what can be done now, but the future looks very bright beyond that period."
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