NEWCASTLE UNITED FANS were left reeling last night by the shock announcement that St James’ Park, the club’s home for 119 years, is to be renamed as the Sports Direct Arena.

The decision to rebrand comes as the Tyneside club look to attract a long-term corporate partner which could net them up to an additional £10m per year.

Newcastle’s initial attempt to sell naming rights flopped in 2009, prompting owner Mike Ashley to temporarily rechristen the ground after his own company while the board kick-start their search.

But despite the financial rewards, the club was immediately on the back foot last night, insisting that the move is not a money grab but an important step to ensure the club’s sustainability and development.

“Our aim for Newcastle United is to continue to deliver success for the fans and everyone associated with the Club,” managing director Derek Llambias said. “We must make this Club financially self-sufficient in order to deliver that success.”

To grow sustainably and allow us to invest in our future, we will need to rely increasingly heavily on commercial income. These are very difficult economic times and the board have a responsibility to maximise all revenue streams for the benefit of the Club.

The announcement comes with Newcastle sitting pretty in the Premier League’s top three over this weekend’s international break. The timing smacks of opportunism, fanzine editor Mark Jensen told the Guardian.

It’s very hard to take. Everyone understands the economics of football in that you need to maximise the revenue but I think most fans would rather the ground not be renamed at all.

Most fans will see this as pretty opportunist with the team doing well on the pitch and when the fans are just enjoying two weeks when they’ll be in the top three no matter what happens.

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