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﻿NEWCASTLE United's new shirt sponsor Wonga has announced it will reinstate the stadium name St James' Park.

At a press conference this lunchtime, the new sponsors announced they will bring back the traditional stadium name. Wonga has bought the naming rights to the stadium as part of their sponsorship deal but has chosen to call it St James' Park.﻿

Errol Damelin, founder of Wonga, said: "The company were never interested in having the naming rights for themselves. It's not what the fans would have wanted, and in the end football is mostly about the fans.

"This is the only way the fans could have got the name back and I'm proud to have been able to do it."

Newcastle United is the third club Wonga will sponsor: they also sponsor Hearts in Scotland and Blackpool in the Championship, and they have just extended the deal with Blackpool to May 2015.

Among their plans are half-time entertainment during matches, and community outreach projects including jobs skills courses and entrepreneurship classes.

The company say they will not be directly targeting Newcastle United fans, for example with leafleting at the stadium on match days.

One possible reason for Newcastle being a desirable club was that Wonga have recently launched in South Africa and the Magpies have a strong fanbase in that country.

St James' Park signs will be put back in place on Barrack Road in the coming days.

Newcastle United agree four-year sponsorship deal with Wonga

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