When we think of Newcastle, one of the first things to spring to mind is St James’s Park, the city’s fully seated football stadium that is home to the world-renowned Newcastle United Football Club.
Football has been played at St James’ Park since 1880, making it the oldest football stadium in the North East. Newcastle United has been playing there since the team formed in 1892, after the unification of Newcastle East End Football Club and Newcastle West End Football Club.
Newcastle began making improvements to their stadium in 1898, after Newcastle United were promoted to the First Division. Before the improvements, their pitch was in a poor condition, so it was levelled and laid once more. In addition to enhancing the pitch, a stand was built and this brought the capacity of the stadium up to an impressive 30,000. Five years later, Newcastle United were still going strong, so they decided that it was time to expand their stadium once more. This time, a new large stand was erected, along with terraces that successfully doubled the capacity of the stadium. After the stadium gained a swimming pool for its players in 1905, it began to be regarded as the best of the country.
The fourth largest football stadium in England, St James’s Park now has a capacity of 8,830. It is also one of just six football stadiums in England that FIFA deems to be of world cup standard, so it was chosen to host three matches during Euro 1996. It is also thought that St James’s Park will host some of the football matches during the 2012 London Olympics.
The stadium isn’t just used for football; it has also held some major outdoor events, including concerts by the likes of the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Queen, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.