"St. James Park" - home arena of the football club "Newcastle United"

With the same geographical name in England are associated immediately with two most famous and different in their purpose buildings. "St. James Park" in London - a park for the rest of the townspeople, while the eponymous name in Newcastle means a world-famous sports facility designed for enjoying football.

The stadium in Newcastle, erected in 1892, is designed to view football matches at the same time 52 387 spectators and is considered the fourth in terms of capacity in the country. The largest football stadium in England - the legendary Wembley in London, which after the 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 comradely. "Newcastle Rangers" (that's what the team was called at that time) hosted visitors from the nearby city of Sunderland. The stadium, which originally hosted about 19 thousand spectators, was transferred to the ownership of the football team only in late 1892, when the merger of two traditional rivals Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End formed the football club Newcastle United.

The first reconstruction of the stadium was already in 1899. After its carrying out the famous stand-up stands, thanks to which the capacity was increased to 28 thousand fans.

Hype on matches

The first unpleasant incident at "St. James Park" happened in 1901 during the derby "Forty" with a principal rival - "Sunderland". More than 35 thousand fans overflowed the stands of the stadium, and thousands of fans who did not have tickets for the match, broke the fences and ran to the football field, turning it into a real battlefield with the fans of the guests. The tribune was on the verge of destruction, but, fortunately, the case was limited to only nine victims who received damage of varying severity.

Due to the fact that the stadium could no longer accommodate all those wishing to observe the games of their beloved team, in 1906 a new Western tribune was built, and the existing ones were significantly expanded. After the construction of the "St. James Park" was able to visit up to 60 thousand fans.

Stadium symbol

The West Stand until its demolition in 1987 was considered a true symbol of both the stadium and the Newcastle United itself. In the upper part of the tribune accommodated 4 680 seats, and its bottom was occupied by the legendary standing sector. The rooftop covered the roof, in the center of which was the emblem of the club.

The tribune was dark, gray and dilapidated, looked ominous and resembled a pirate ship, with Newcastle United inscribed in huge letters on it. The black and gray colors of the stands were able to scare any opponent and shocked the team of guests even on the pre-game warm-up.

Gradual Reconstruction

Over the next 60 years, no global restructuring of St. James Park (the stadium) has not undergone, except for the installation of electric lighting in 1953 and the renovation of concrete in the standing sectors.

The permanence of the external appearance of the stadium is largely due to unsuccessful attempts to obtain from the city authorities funding for the required more and more reconstruction.

So without waiting for sponsorship from the mayoralty, in 1972 the club began gradually to build the East Stand alone. The main problem of this podium was too close to her neighborhood with residential buildings. The tribune turned out to be really beautiful - its upper level allowed to accommodate 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 seeing what is happening on the field, not hanging over it.

15 years after the construction of the East Stand, Newcastle authorities decided to close the West Stand and build a new one, which they decided to call Jackie Milburn. The new tribune in many respects resembled its predecessor and was as long as 20 meters longer. From the old it was decided to leave only the front standing sectors. The upper tier accommodated 6,607 seats, and the roof of the curved form protected only the beginning of the upper tier, leaving the fans standing beneath the English rain to get wet.

The Savior of Newcastle

The present savior of "Sorok" was not indifferent to football, Sir John Hall, who saved Newcastle United from relegation to the 3rd ranked league of 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 his own funds for the reconstruction and modernization of St. James Park, acquired a number of well-known football players (Les Ferdinand, Alan Shearer) and invited the legend of the coaching department of Kevin Keegan to the bridge .

In 1993, the tribune, named after the successful manager, was commissioned - the Tribune of Sir John Hall. The audience on it is located on a single tier, the passage to which is carried out through a couple of the largest entrances to the British Isles. On this tier the most expensive tickets are sold at the stadium "St. James Park".

On the opposite side of the stadium is the Exhibition Stand, erected in 1994. Its structure completely coincides with the Sir John Hall Tribune, from the back entrance there is a magnificent panorama of the evening city. In the corners of the old and new stands were added four additional sectors, tickets for which are also not at all cheap.

All standing places have been removed, and the roof over the Milburn Stand has been enlarged and now completely covers the whole tribune.

Modern History

After all the restructuring and reconstruction of the "St. James Park" was rightly honored to enter the top eight stadiums, which hosted the European Championships in 1996.

The most sensitive drawback of the arena is its relatively small capacity. Long before the beginning of the football season, almost all seats are sold for subscription to regular fans of the club, leaving only a small percentage of tickets on sale.

For already ten years there have been talks about the erection of a new stadium, seating up to 70,000 fans and capable of satisfying the desire of everyone who wants to attend the soccer matches of "Sorok".

The last reconstruction of the stadium, held in 1999-2000, increased the capacity of the arena to 51 thousand people and cost the club 40 million pounds.