As Newcastle United planted one foot in the last 16 of the Champions League with a swaggering display in Azerbaijan, they looked like a club who could get used to this kind of thing.
Barring a disastrous collapse in the second leg against Qarabag next week, Eddie Howe’s side will create another little bit of history by going further in the competition than any other Newcastle team has managed.
But the Magpies’ north star is to make this kind of thing routine.
The next step on the journey, to quote one insider, is to be at the business end of Europe’s elite competition every year.
Until now it has felt precarious, reliant on Howe’s ability to overachieve annually.
Behind the scenes there is talk of an ambitious business plan, signed off by majority owners Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) at the turn of the year, that can provide them with the armoury to support Howe, viewed as an elite manager who retains the faith of the board.
Underpinning that confidence is a new set of financial rules, known as squad cost ratio (SCR) that are coming into force next season and which Newcastle campaigned hard for before a Premier League vote back in November.
Senior figures at St James’ Park, it is safe to say, are big fans.
While its predecessor profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) became synonymous with holding Newcastle back, there is a belief that the new regulations give the club the chance to upgrade the stadium, build an elite training ground and super-size operations without impacting on transfer funds.
It may not unlock an immediate splurge – sources suggest the impact will be more medium to long-term – but it could be significant.
“We worked hard for SCR, we advocated for it,” an insider told The i Paper.
Why SCR is good news for Newcastle
While PSR was tied to profits, limiting clubs to a rolling three-year loss of £115m which Newcastle nearly breached in 2024, SCR is related entirely to football-related revenue.
“The pluses outweigh the minuses for Newcastle because they’ve got a fanbase which is big enough to fill an enhanced or new stadium and plenty of capacity to increase revenue as their international profile grows,” football finance expert Kieran Maguire explains.
What it means for the summer
Newcastle are going to have to box clever on transfers due to the new rules.
In the short term, they can only spend 70 per cent of their revenue – whether on wages, transfer fees, or agents fees.
Given they are seeking squad upgrades or competition in at least four positions this summer (goalkeeper, left-back, central midfield and maybe a new forward), player trading feels inevitable to finance their recruitment plans.
They have worked hard to comply with Uefa’s 70 per cent limit, and believe they won’t follow Aston Villa and Chelsea down the route of breaching financial rules, which landed both with fines and restrictions on spending.
Long-term impact
If revenue grows as chief executive David Hopkinson predicts – and the team continue to do well – that pressure should ease.
The new regime believe Newcastle haven’t been pulling some of the levers they should when it comes to revenue.
A renewed focus on the US and the Middle East might pull in more big name partnerships.
Insiders point out that SCR also means Newcastle can add new staff in a variety of non-football roles without exceeding the limit.
The appointment of a chief strategy officer, seen as key to pushing growth, is close.
And on the bigger ticket stuff like the stadium and training ground, there is more freedom around how they finance such projects.
Previously, any interest payments from loans taken out to pay for the stadium would have counted towards their running PSR total.
“We don’t want a [financial fair play] regime that will constrain our ambition,” is the message from inside Newcastle.
It is why they believe they won an important battle in pushing SCR through.
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