St James Park
St James' Park is an all-seater stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom. It is the home of Newcastle United Football Club, and the oldest football stadium in the North East of England.
The stadium has a football spectator capacity of 52,387, making it the third largest Premier League stadium, and seventh largest football stadium in the United Kingdom.
Located in the centre of Newcastle, its white cantilever roof is visible across the city, and is the largest cantilever in Europe.
Occupied by the Toon Army fan-base in the Milburn Stand, the East Stand, the Leazes End and the Gallowgate End, the ground has been the home ground of Premier League club Newcastle United since 1892, and been used for football since 1880.
Throughout its history, the desire for expansion has caused conflict with local residents and the local council. This has led to proposals to move at least twice in the late 1960s, and a controversial 1995 proposed move to nearby Leazes Park. Reluctance to move has led to the distinctive lop-sided appearance of the present day stadium, due to asymmetrical stands.
Besides club football, St James' Park has also been used for international football, and will be used as a football venue for the 2012 Olympics.
In addition to professional football, the stadium has hosted charity football events, rock concerts, and been used as a film set and for reality television shows.
The site of St James' Park was originally a patch of sloping grazing land, bordered by Georgian Leazes Terrace, and near the historic Town Moor, owned by the Freemen of the City, both factors that later affected development of the ground, with the local council being the landlord of the site. Leazes Terrace was built c1830 by notable Newcastle residents, architect Thomas Oliver and builder Richard Grainger. Once the residence of high society in Newcastle, it is now a Grade 1 listed building, and, recently refurbished, is currently being used as self-catering postgraduate student accommodation by Newcastle University. The site was also near the gallows of the city, last used in 1844, lending name to the Gallowgate End.
The stadium was first used by Newcastle United in 1892 after the unification of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, although football had been played there since 1880. Local residents opposition to football being played at St James' dated back to the first games in the Football League following the building of the first small stand at the Gallowgate End. A redeveloped Gallowgate and further stands followed in 1899, bringing the first official capacity to 30,000 (standing).
While the stadium is now synonymous with the Black and Whites, Newcastle United actually played in red and white at St James' Park until 1904. In 1905, a doubling of capacity to 60,000, with a main stand on the Barrack Road (now Milburn Stand), and major other stands, produced a state of the art facility, even boasting a swimming pool.