But ... let's not forget Hall wanted to build a 80,000-seater stadium at Washington in 1997 to be SHARED by Newcastle United and Sunderland!
So much for the "history" of St James' Park that he talks about, but Hall wanted the club to move AWAY from it.
Sir John Hall: “What we all have to recognise is that it’s now Mike Ashley’s club and he can do what he wants with it.
“The club is doing quite well and we have to appreciate that we are up there where we never thought we would be.
“But it comes back to the fact that there are people of my age group who have followed the club for the past 60 or 70 years.
“We’ve grown up with the name St James’ Park so it doesn’t matter what sign is on the outside.
“It’s probably quite romantic but I would hate to see the sponsors change every few years. Changing time and time again won’t go with the history of Newcastle United.
“I think Mike Ashley accepts that Sports Direct Arena will never be accepted by most of the fans.
“There are three football clubs in the North East and Newcastle are the oldest. It’s a tribal mentality at the club and they won’t easily accept the name change.”