St James’ Park: Newcastle United FC
By yellow book ltd (St James's ParkUploaded by Ultra7) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
In the city of Newcastle, football is considered to be akin to a religion, so it’s somewhat suitable that St. James’s Park towers over the city like a cathedral, casting a shadow over all that sits below it. It has the largest capacity in the North-East and has been a location for football matches since 1880. Newcastle themselves have been in residence there since 1892 when the club was formed.
Over the course of their history the club have won four league championships, six FA Cups, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969 and the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2006. Unfortunately for the club and its supporters, the majority of their success came before the first world war, including one of their FA Cups and three of their top-flight titles. The last major domestic trophy they picked up was the FA Cup in 1955.
Stats
| St James' Park Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Opened | 1892 |
| Capacity | 52350 |
| Average Attendance | 52153 |
| Record Attendance | 68386 (Newcastle v Chelsea (1930)) |
| Pitch Size | 105 x 68 (7140) |
| Nickname | St James', Gallowgate, SJP |
| Owner | Newcastle United |
| Clubs Hosted | Newcastle Rangers, Newcastle West End, Newcastle East End, Newcastle United |
| Newcastle United Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1892 |
| Nickname | The Magpies, Geordies |
| Club Mascot | Monty Magpie |
| Rivals | Sunderland |
| Kit | Black & White stripes (Home) / Green (Away) |
| Training Ground | Darsley Park |
| Shirt Sponsor | Sela |
| Team Owner | PIF, RB Sports and Media, PCP Capital |
| Record Goalscorer | Alan Shearer (206) |
| Record Appearances | Jimmy Lawrence (496) |
St James' Park Photos
Martin McG [CC BY-SA 2.0]
By Ultra7 (Own work) [Public domain]
Arne Müseler / www.arne-mueseler.com, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons
Graham Hogg / View from the Sir John Hall Stand, St James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne
St James' Park Seating Plan and Where to Sit
There is an odd look to St. James’ Park when viewed from both the air and some positions on the ground. This is because the ground is asymmetrical and there is a difference in height between different parts of it. Both the Milburn and Leazes Stands are double tiered and have a level of executive boxes between them, whilst the East and Gallowgate Stands are both single-tiered.
- The Gallowgate End – Officially known as the Newcastle Brown Ale Stand because of sponsorship, the Gallowgate is at the Southern End of the ground.
- The Leazes End – Also known as The Sir John Hall Stand, this is at the Northern end of the ground and is where the away fans are sat. That means that there is often a good atmosphere here.
- The Milburn Stand – The main stand in the ground and named after the 1950s Newcastle star Jackie Milburn.
- The East Stand – This is the smallest of all four stands at St. James’ Park and is named The East Stand for obvious reasons, though there was discussion to rename it The Sir Bobby Robson Stand after his death. This hasn’t happened yet but he has a suite named after him as well as a statue outside the ground.
Newcastle United Ticket Prices
Newcastle don’t make it as easy as some other clubs to discover their ticket prices, but you can look at a snapshot in time to get some idea of the prices you’ll have to pay. When the Magpies hosted Arsenal in the Premier League in the 2023-2024 Premier League season, for example, adult tickets were available for between £44 and £74. Concessions could get in for between £26 and £58.
How To Get Newcastle United Tickets
You can buy tickets through the club’s official website, but you’ll have to sign up to become an official supporter in order to do that – although it does grant you early access. You can call the club’s box office too as well as drop in to the physical box office at St. James’ Park. On the day of the game you might see people offering to sell you tickets near the ground but we’d suggest you avoid them. For starters there’s no guarantee that the tickets will be real but even if they are it will probably go against the club’s terms and conditions to use someone else’s ticket.
Where to Buy
Getting To St James' Park
Newcastle isn’t exactly central London, so it isn’t that simple to get there, but it isn’t all that complicated either. The fact that the stadium is in dominating position in the centre of the city also means that it’s easy to find once you reach the city itself.
Train – Newcastle Central Station is where you’ll be heading if you’re looking for a mainline station. You’ll then have a 15 minute or so walk from the station to the ground. There is also a Metro line in Newcastle and if you get that you’ll want to head to the St. James’ station or Haymarket, depending on where you’re travelling from.
Bus – There are two main bus stations in Newcastle; Haymarket and Eldon Square. These stops are both near to the ground and are serviced by buses from the city centre. Be aware, though, that Stagecoach buses don’t stop there.
Car – If you’re coming from the North-West then you’ll want to take the M6 and then there A69 to Newcastle. If you’re coming from the South then you’ll probably be looking at the M1 and the A1.
By Air – Newcastle Airport is located about seven miles from the ground. There is a Metro station at the airport that will take you to within walking distance of the stadium.
Taxi – A taxi from the airport, for example, would cost you about £25 and will take around 15 minutes to get there. Long enough for the driver to awkwardly give you their thoughts on the state of the country, but not so long that you eventually are forced to disagree with them.
Parking Near St James' Park
The city centre location of St. James’ Park means that parking is tricky, especially near to the stadium. There are public car parks near to the ground, though, and there will be one or two places you might be able to get parked up in. The Gate and Eldon Park are both multi storeys that are very close to the ground.
Useful Resources
- Parking - Just Park
St James' Park Hotels
Newcastle has a thriving night scene and is a popular city for students, so there are a lot of hotel options around the place. We’ve picked some that are quite close to the ground for you here, though.
Sleeperz Hotel Newcastle - £59+
Sandman Signature Newcastle Hotel - £89+
County Hotel & County Aparthotel - £131+
Pubs and Bars Near St James' Park
Newcastle is a brilliant city with a tremendous atmosphere and loads of places to have a drink. They don’t all offer a welcome to football supporters, though, so we’ve picked out a few choice locations for you.
The Percy Arms
The Old George Inn
The Hancock
Facilities
Though prices for alcohol are considered to be a bit pricey at St. James’ Park, you’ll find the bar staff friendly and the amount of kiosks you can go to plentiful. You’ll also be able to get some tasty food and you can place a bet in a number of different places on the concourses.
Prices
- Programme: £3.50
- Pie: £3.9
- Cup of tea: £2.3
- Beer: £4.9
Hospitality
There are a significant number of hospitality options available at St. James’ Park. From suites that are designed to invite as many people as possible into the ground through to private boxes that offer you a degree of privacy and personalisation. We’re not going to cover all of the packages here, but we’ll give you a taster on the different options you can choose from.
The Sir Bobby Robson Suite is dedicated to one of the club’s finest sons and you’ll find the walls decorated with pictures of him. You’ll get a complimentary bar, on site parking, extensive a la carte eating options and access to seating in the director’s box. You’ll also be entered into a match day competition and get an exclusive corporate gift.
If you’d like a more relaxed atmosphere then perhaps The Heroes Club will be for you. You’ll still get the director’s box seating and on-site car parking but you’ll also get a gourmet three-course meal, a cheeseboard, plus pre and post-match entertainment, normally featuring a former or current Newcastle player.
Spaces like The Barracks and the Park Grill have more of a party atmosphere, with live entertainment throughout, visits from club legends, gourmet sandwiches or grill style food, and premium seating.
Private Hire
Like tours and hospitality options, St. James’ Park is set up to be one of the premier venues in the North-East. The club offers standard, deluxe and daily delegate packages for your convenience, meaning whatever type of event you want to host you’ll almost certainly be able to do it at the home of Newcastle United.
You can book conference suites for big meetings or events, then there are also executive boxes that can accommodate between 10 and 40 people so they’re ideal for smaller breakout meetings or smaller events in their own right. St. James’ Park also features the Bamburgh Suite, which is the largest dining space in Newcastle.
Whether you’re looking to launch a new product, hold an exhibition, host a conference or even invite people to a fashion show, you’ll be able to do it at Newcastle’s home ground. You can even hold a prom night there, should that take your fancy.
Stadium Tours & Museum
There are a number of different tours you can do at St. James’ Park. The regular tour takes in the highest point of view at the stadium, the home dressing room, the dugouts and more. It costs £18 for an adult, £14.40 for concessions and £9.90 for juniors if booked in advance, but tickets are £2 more expensive for walk ups on the day. The tours take place hourly every day between 10:30 and 14.30pm, but are not available on match days.
Rooftop tours have the additional benefit of scaling the walkway above the stadium and taking in panoramic views of the city, and they cost £22.50/£25 for adults and £19.80/£22.00 for concessions depending on the time of purchase.
The club also runs Legends Tours from time to time, with a different former Newcastle player leading the tour around certain parts of the stadium. It will also include a Q & A session with the player in the club’s media suite. These tours take place randomly depending on the availability of the legend, so keep your eye out for them. The price also changes depending on the legend.
There is nay a museum though like.
About Newcastle United
For a time Newcastle United were considered to be most people’s second team in the Premier League and there was genuine sadness amongst plenty of non-Newcastle fans when they got relegated. That is in part due to Kevin Keegan’s time at the club, when he had them playing tremendous attacking football and came within a whisker of taking the title away from Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United.
In recent times, though, plenty of people have lost their love of the team because of the way it was run by long time owner, Mike Ashley. They’ve been through some tough times, with managers like Sam Allardyce, Chris Hughton and John Carver struggling to turn around their fortunes. Gone are the days of Keegan’s attacking football and Sir Bobby Robson’s classily run club. Newcastle fans have been some of the most put upon in the league yet they stood by their club, willing the tide to turn.
And turn it did in 2021, when Mike Ashley finally relinquished his grip on the club, selling to the Public Investment Fund governed by Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who has already invested heavily into the club. The takeover didn’t go down well with everyone though, with accusations of ‘sportwashing’ from human rights groups and the like.
St James' Park History
St. James’ Park is the oldest and largest stadium in North-East England and has been the home of Newcastle since the club’s inception. Football was played there as far back as 1880, however, with Newcastle Rangers, Newcastle West End FC and Newcastle East End FC all taking time to kick a ball around the turf there.
The ground hasn’t just been used for league and cup football, though. In the 2012 Summer Olympics it was used as a stadium for the football matches, whilst in 2015 it was one of the locations for the Rugby World Cup.
Future Developments
There are no current official plans to expand St. James’ Park, however, a feasibility study has been completed which highlights two options for increasing the stadium’s capacity to around 60,000. This would be done by expanding using the land behind the Gallowgate, which the club owns, or raising the pitch and moving it to the North West in order to expand the Gallowgate and East stand.
It’s very early days so we wouldn’t expect to see any work taking place imminently, but after Mike Ashley’s woeful infrastructure spending record (just £8 million between 2009 and 2021, the lowest in the entire Premier League and four times lower than the second to last lowest spender), the club desperately needs investment in this area.