With the same geographical name in England are associated immediately two well-known and different in their purpose buildings. St. James's Park in London is a city-wide leisure park, while the eponymous name in Newcastle means a world-famous sports facility designed to enjoy football.
The Newcastle Stadium, built in 1892, is designed to watch football matches at the same time by 52,387 spectators and is considered the fourth largest in capacity in the country. The largest football stadium in England is the legendary Wembley in London, which, after reconstruction, can accommodate up to 90 thousand football fans.
First matches
The first match at the stadium took place immediately after its opening in 1892 and was friendly. The Newcastle Rangers (that is what the team was called at that time) received guests from the neighboring city - Sunderland. The stadium, which initially housed about 19 thousand spectators, became the property of the football team only at the end of 1892, when, as a result of the merger of two traditional rivals, Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, the Newcastle United football club was formed.
The first reconstruction of the stadium was already in 1899. After its holding, the famous standing stands appeared, thanks to which the capacity was increased to 28 thousand fans.
The excitement at the matches
The first unpleasant incident at St. James's Park happened in 1901 during the “Forty” derby with a principal rival - Sunderland. More than 35 thousand fans crowded the stands of the stadium, and thousands of fans who did not have enough tickets for the match broke the barriers and ran out onto the football field, turning it into a real battlefield with the guests' fans. The tribune was on the verge of destruction, but, fortunately, the case was limited to only nine victims who received injuries of varying severity.
Due to the fact that the stadium could no longer accommodate everyone who wanted to watch the games of their favorite team, a new Western stand was built in 1906, and the existing ones were significantly expanded. Upon completion of the construction, St. James Park got the opportunity to visit up to 60 thousand fans.
Stadium symbol
The western tribune until its demolition in 1987 was considered a real symbol of both the stadium and Newcastle United itself. In the upper part of the rostrum there were 4,680 seats, and its bottom was occupied by the legendary standing sector. The roof was covered with a roof, in the center of which was the emblem of the club.
The rostrum was dark, grayed and dilapidated, looked ominous and looked like a pirate ship, and the inscription Newcastle United was written in huge letters on it. Black and gray tones of the stands were able to scare any opponent and shocked the team of guests at the pre-game warm-up.
Gradual reconstruction
Over the next 60 years, St. James Park (the stadium) did not undergo any global restructuring, with the exception of the installation of electric lighting in 1953 and the renewal of concrete pavement in standing sectors.
The constant appearance of the stadium is largely due to unsuccessful attempts to obtain financing from the city authorities for the required more and more reconstruction.
And without waiting for sponsorship from the City Hall, in 1972, the club began to gradually build its own Eastern Tribune. The main problem of this tribune was its too close proximity to residential buildings. The stand turned out to be really beautiful - its upper level allowed to place 3,400 seats. The roof was fixed on the other side of the upper tier in such a way that it does not interfere with what is happening on the field, does not hang over it.
15 years after the construction of the Eastern rostrum, Newcastle authorities decided to close the Western rostrum and build a new one, which they decided to call Jackie Milburn. The new tribune looked a lot like its predecessor and was as much as 20 meters longer. From the old, it was decided to leave only the front standing sectors. 6 607 seats were located on the upper tier, and the curved roof protected only the beginning of the upper tier, leaving the fans standing below in the English rain.
Savior of Newcastle
The true savior of “Forty” was Sir John Hall, who was not indifferent to football, who saved “Newcastle United” from relegation to the 3rd ranking league in England and built one of the most famous stadiums in the country.
During his reign, the council of the football club, Hall spent about 14 million pounds of its own funds for the reconstruction and modernization of St. James Park, acquired a number of famous football players (Forest Ferdinand, Alan Shearer) and invited the legend of the coaching workshop Kevin Keegan to the captain’s bridge .
In 1993, a tribune was commissioned, named after the successful manager, the Tribune of Sir John Hall. The audience on it is located on a single tier, the passage to which is through a couple of the largest entrances on the British Isles. The most expensive tickets for sale at this tier at St James Park Stadium.
On the opposite side of the stadium is the Exhibition Stand, erected in 1994. Its structure completely coincides with the Tribune of Sir John Hall, a magnificent panorama of the evening city opens from the back entrance. Four additional sectors were added to the corners of the old and new stands, tickets for which are also not cheap.
All standing places have been removed, and the roof over the Milburn Stand has been enlarged and now completely covers the entire podium.
Modern history
After all the rebuilding and reconstruction, St. James Park was rightly honored to enter the eight stadiums that hosted the 1996 European Championships.
The most sensitive drawback of the arena is its relatively small capacity. Long before the start of the football season, almost all seats are sold to regular fans of the club by subscription, leaving only a small percentage of tickets on sale.
For the past ten years, there has been talk of building a new stadium that can seat up to 70 thousand fans and is able to satisfy the desire of everyone to attend Forty football matches.
The last reconstruction of the stadium, carried out in 1999-2000, increased the capacity of the arena to 51 thousand people and cost the club 40 million pounds.