What I heard when the Newcastle United CEO and Sporting Director spoke to fans on Monday | OneFootball

I went along to Stack on Monday night to bring you the latest updates from the Newcastle United fans event, with club CEO David Hopkinson and Sporting Director Ross Wilson in attendance.

Lett’s get into what was said.

David Hopkinson first talked about building trust with the supporters. The target for the club is success and he stressed being open with the fans is the best route to this.

The Newcastle United CEO then emphasised that the club are set up to compete for the top prizes in football with the ownership and structures in place.

Ross Wilson echoed these thoughts, saying he could have only left his previous role at Nottingham Forest for this opportunity.

David Hopkinson stated the need for a best in class business operation. He said that some elements of the current set up are world class but it needs to be top to bottom. Newcastle United need a clear plan to set a path to success and we need to develop a culture of winning.

David Hopkinson stressed he’s in daily communication with the owners with multiple points of contact per day. He went on to explain that their support has been invaluable.

Ross Wilson also talked about culture of the club and fostering a winning culture at the club. Ross Wilson outlined he’s not a scouting guru; his role is to link the areas of the club together to strive for that success.

The Newcastle United Sporting Director categorised his relationship with Howe as positive but the aim of that relationship is to be functionally effective.

David Hopkinson (image above) stated his job is to help Howe be successful at his job and acknowledged he’s a special manager. Eddie’s talent is managing the team and David Hopkinson wants to allow Howe to fully focus on that. He then discussed the issues that fans faced in Marseille. He’s spoken personally with UEFA to try and rectify the issues. He has been overwhelmed by the loyalty and passion of the fans.

Ross Wilson was asked about recruitment. He says it’s absolutely central to his job. There are robust scouting operations in place at the club. Player trading is essential for the long-term success of the club. Ross Wilson stressed we are capable of keeping our top players at the club but offered no guarantees. He also mentioned we’re trying to sign other team’s best players. David Hopkinson stepped in to comment that players leave, either because you can’t afford him or they want to leave. These are out of their hands for the most part but we can improve that by raising the reputation of the club.

January signings are a possibility. There is a plan in place, not just for January, but if things can be done there then they will be.

David Hopkinson answered a question about lack of training sponsors and he acknowledged this need’s addressing and will be in the next 12 months. There are lots of key opportunities to grow the revenue of the club.

David Hopkinson then talked about growing the brand of the club and stated the aim is that in the future most Newcastle fans will never have been to the city. To be a truly global brand like Madrid we need fans across the globe. We can attain that with regionalised content focused on growing those overseas fan bases.

Ross Wilson (pictured above) then discussed the importance of our academy and discussed the success of Lewis Miley. Miley is a true success story playing the second most minutes for a player of his age in the Premier League. They want more quality players coming thought the system, referencing Sam Alabi’s recent involvement in first team training.

Ticketing issue were discussed, although not much to say here. There will be more updates after Wednesday’s workshop.

David Hopkinson was finally asked about the Newcastle United stadium.

He outlined that St James’ Park is incredible but no decisions have been made regarding the future at this time. The club are continually working on plans but no decision is close. David Hopkinson reiterated it’s an unbelievably complex situation and will be transformative for the club. They’re not ready to make any announcements right now and he felt it would be counterproductive to say anything at this time, while so much has still to be decided. David Hopkinson acknowledged it’s not a popular answer but says it’s the right one. When the time comes the fans will have a voice in whatever decision is made.

David Hopkinson closed by saying he knows what world class looks like, but is still trying to determine how that works for NUFC, though is confident they can get that right.

It was interesting to hear the Newcastle United CEO and director of football speak on Monday night. even if nothing massively meaningful was said. It’s clear that they both have big ambitions for the club. The difficult thing for Newcastle United fans now, is the waiting to see what happens with the future. However, if Wilson and Hopkinson can deliver on what they set out as the club’s ambitions then the future will be bright.