http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/56/Newcastle_United_Logo.svg/150px-Newcastle_United_Logo.svg.png
Newcastle United FC

4x League:
1905, 1907, 1909, 1927

6x Cup:
1910, 1924, 1932, 1951, 1952,
1955

1x Supercup:
1909




St. James Park is the home of Newcastle United FC. The stadium was redeveloped in the year 2000 after plans for a new 55,000 seater stadium was rejected. It is a stadium that impresses me a lot and I like it.

http://www.zst-czdz.um.pl/anglia/newcastle_st_james_park.jpg

http://www.4thegame.com/media/00/02/44/St_James_Park.jpg

http://www.2-tickets.com/venues/StJamesPark.GIF

http://www.fussballtempel.net/uefa/ENG/St_James_Park3.jpg

http://www.pictureblinds.co.uk/footballgrounds/images/Newcastlefg.jpeg

I'll think that you'll agree with me all the way about this being a very good stadium.

Hmm, I've always thought it looked quite odd with the two really high stands looking down on the two small sections. If they were enlarged it would be incredible, but you'd need to get the entire population of Newcastle to fill it, the capacity would be huge.

Also, why are the seat colours grey instead of black and white?

Looks unfinished because only half of the stadium was redeveloped. The redeveloped part loos impressive but not the old part. The stadium looks unbalanced...Somehow strange

They couldnt redevelop the whole stadium because there are listed buildings on the other side.

It's absolutely huge on one side, if only it was like that all the way round, it be Nou Camp size possibly!

It is, I remember when I went with Wolves, it was the last away game of the season, we couldnt see the ball so we just did the conga and threw beach balls at the Geordies ... ;)

Its a nice stadium though, if they didnt put the away fans so high :cheers1:

View towards the Tyne

http://www.sbe.hw.ac.uk/staff/arthur/year1/study_tour/pictures/NU/images/Newcastle%20United%20St%20James%20Park%20(36)_jpg.jpg

Milburn Stand

http://www.sbe.hw.ac.uk/staff/arthur/year1/study_tour/pictures/NU/images/Newcastle%20United%20St%20James%20Park%20(35)_jpg.jpg

Entering the ground

http://www.sbe.hw.ac.uk/staff/arthur/year1/study_tour/pictures/NU/images/Newcastle%20United%20St%20James%20Park%20(58)_jpg.jpg

"Smaller" Section

http://www.sbe.hw.ac.uk/staff/arthur/year1/study_tour/pictures/NU/images/Newcastle%20United%20St%20James%20Park%20(53)_jpg.jpg

http://www.sbe.hw.ac.uk/staff/arthur/year1/study_tour/pictures/NU/images/Newcastle%20United%20St%20James%20Park%20(24)_jpg.jpg

View From The Back Of The Leazes End

http://www.sbe.hw.ac.uk/staff/arthur/year1/study_tour/pictures/NU/images/Newcastle%20United%20St%20James%20Park%20(34)_jpg.jpg

The Gallowgate End is hardly small

http://www.stadionwelt.de/stadionwelt_stadien/templates/stadionlisten/england/st_james_park/200.jpg

http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/park/yfh45/newcast11.jpg

Outside

http://www.bobjude.co.uk/photo/newc/newc1/iee.jpg

http://www.bobjude.co.uk/photo/newc/newc1/idd.jpg

It's also home to boxing as well as football

http://www.bbc.co.uk/1xtra/tx/weekinpictures/media/getty_bowyer_405.jpg

The Gallowgate End is hardly small

http://www.stadionwelt.de/stadionwelt_stadien/templates/stadionlisten/england/st_james_park/200.jpg

This I think is Newcastle's best option of expanding. Not by building this actual stand any bigger, as that will mean improving foundations due to the Newcastle metro running underneath it.

If you look at the very top section, I feel they should extend this around the South West Corner, meeting up with the 2 bigger stands. Ok, it will only increase the capacity by about 2,000-2,500 but surely it's a worthwhile move because it will not be too costly, and 2-2,500 extra tickets, merchandise programmes etc will increase revenue.
Thoughts?

hahaha that small size looks small compared to the giants at the other end but those small ones would be big and almost all other clubs! :D
Newcastle together with Liverpool are my most fav english clubs!
And if the game sucks you have plenty to see when you sitting high at thos big stands! :D :)
<offtopic> I wonder if Owen goes to NUFC.</offtopic>

if completed ( will never happen due to classified buildings ) , probably the ideal football stadium , massive and very near of the ground .

View towards the Tyne

http://www.sbe.hw.ac.uk/staff/arthur/year1/study_tour/pictures/NU/images/Newcastle%20United%20St%20James%20Park%20(36)_jpg.jpg



:eek2:
jesus christ sparks that is an amazing photograph, did you take it yourself?

http://www.bobjude.co.uk/photo/newc/newc1/iee.jpg

This is the way forward for stadiums I think. The more observant :) will notice this stand actually has (5?) levels of car parks built into it.

With stadiums throughout the UK expanding all the time, and surrounding areas being developed as well, car parking is becoming harder to find. So the big challenge is if architects can continue to build stands like the above picture, with car parks built into them but at the same time aesthetically pleasing, then the issue of trying to find a spot before a game will become a thing of the past....hopefully.

I very much like the english stadiums! I love how close the chairs are from the field!

the roof is very intresting!!

Looks incredibly stupid and unbalanced in its current state.....if England got the 2018 world cup maybe it would force them to complete the redevelopment, as St James Park would almost certainly be one of the grounds used.

If they can force through development of the Olympic site over peoples protests, surely they could do the same for the world cup...

Its a shame to leave it as it is because it could quite easily be an 80,000 seater.

Looks incredibly stupid and unbalanced in its current state

For me that adds character though. I just think a bowl would look, you know a bit boring. There is no way they could expand it round the other 2 sides, their only options are:

-Move
-Expand Gallowgate End, at the same time spending lots of money improving the foundations-similar to if Man Utd considered building extra tiers on the main stand-would it really be cost effective
-My idea (see my first post in this thread) :)

it would be class if they expanded the gallowgate end so it was the same size as the big stands and then raised the roof height of the remaining undeveloped stand so that is met with main roofline, then filled in the space above the seating with executive boxes etc. this would be possible without extending any further back and destroying the listed buildings.

will probably never happen though as is would cost a fortune and newcastle may not be in the premier league much longer :wave:

..what a completed Gallowgate end might look like;

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/throwaway/gallowgate.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/0d/Newcastle_United_FC.png/150px-Newcastle_United_FC.png
Newcastle United FC

4x Champion:
1905, 1907, 1909, 1927

6x Cup Winner:
1910, 1924, 1932, 1951, 1952,
1955

1x UEFA Cup:
1969



This is one of my favourite stadiums in the Premiership. To think that on match day, one fifth of the population of Newcastle is in St James' Park is quite extrordinary. Unfortunately, this also means why they could probably never carry on the stadium expansion plans to cover right the way round the pitch, so it does look a bit odd

I also like its 'colour' or lack of it, and transparent roof

http://www.nufc.com/images/2000-sjp14.jpg

http://www.manutdzone.com/oldtrafford/photos/stjamespark.jpg

http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/park/yfh45/newcast11.jpg

http://www.sbe.hw.ac.uk/staff/arthur/year1/study_tour/pictures/NU/images/Newcastle%20United%20St%20James%20Park%20(50)_jpg.jpg

http://www.sbe.hw.ac.uk/staff/arthur/year1/study_tour/pictures/NU/images/Newcastle%20United%20St%20James%20Park%20(43)_jpg.jpg

http://www.sbe.hw.ac.uk/staff/arthur/year1/study_tour/pictures/NU/images/Newcastle%20United%20St%20James%20Park%20(55)_jpg.jpg

http://www.sbe.hw.ac.uk/staff/arthur/year1/study_tour/pictures/NU/images/Newcastle%20United%20St%20James%20Park%20(40)_jpg.jpg

http://www.sbe.hw.ac.uk/staff/arthur/year1/study_tour/pictures/NU/images/Newcastle%20United%20St%20James%20Park%20(54)_jpg.jpg

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

As seen in the movie 'Goal!'.

"The Toon is where the Georgies live....... "

Even from the toprow in the upper tier you can see the field very, very clear. Amazing stadium.

To say it "does look a bit odd" is an understatement.....looks competely stupid more like...looks unbalanced and half finished.

I'm sure it looks fine once your in it, but from the outside....oh dear...they should AT LEAST do 3 sides the same, i know the 4th side is unlikely because of listed victorian houses behind it....

If England get the 2018 World Cup, im sure it will be extended with the 3rd corner, as there is no way Newcastle would be left out of the venues......

The rows of houses behind the other eside side are listing buildings aswell so its doubtful they'd be able to extend in that direction unless its merely directors boxs . The other end is I'd guess a possibility giving them a capacity around 60,000 which is I'd guess near the upper limate of what they could fill anyway.

To say it "does look a bit odd" is an understatement.....looks competely stupid more like...looks unbalanced and half finished.

I'm sure it looks fine once your in it, but from the outside....oh dear...they should AT LEAST do 3 sides the same, i know the 4th side is unlikely because of listed victorian houses behind it....

If England get the 2018 World Cup, im sure it will be extended with the 3rd corner, as there is no way Newcastle would be left out of the venues......

Why expand? It's already well above the minimum capacity of a World Cup stadium. And in this way there's a really beautiful view of the city.

According on Chris Kamara its 1/4 of a mile from the top corner of the big stand (you know the one) to the centre circle.
Thats 402 meters.

Also, it has one of the best pitches/playing surfaces in the premeirship, epsecially through winter when the grass needs as much sunlights as possible. This probably has a lot to do with the transparent roof. Other clubs should take not, although i doubt for most clubs they would need the whole roof see-through just the front part.

402M? 402 feet perhaps.

Why expand? It's already well above the minimum capacity of a World Cup stadium. And in this way there's a really beautiful view of the city.

Come on, it's looks like a bastard between Shaquille O'Neal and a midget. Having one side of the ground so significantly larger than the other looks horrible the way its done on this stadium.

I've seen some photoshop's of how the stadium could look if one or the last two sides were finsihed the same way as the biggest half is now, and it would be one of the most impressive stadiums in the World.

I love it. Shame it doesn't go right the way round, but it still looks very impressive. I'm NUFC on FM2006 at the moment and we've expanded to 60,000. So err...there's hope yet.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

As seen in the movie 'Goal!'.

"The Toon is where the Georgies live....... "

Actually it's where the "Geordies" live :)

It is a great stadium, especially from the outside at groung level. And if the three skyscrapers get built on the site next to it then it will look even better.

There is talk of further expansion apparently

Come on, it's looks like a bastard between Shaquille O'Neal and a midget. Having one side of the ground so significantly larger than the other looks horrible the way its done on this stadium.

I've seen some photoshop's of how the stadium could look if one or the last two sides were finsihed the same way as the biggest half is now, and it would be one of the most impressive stadiums in the World.

It's just the thing that makes this stadium so beautiful. Just look at the roof. You can see the city skyline from the upper tier, extremely beautiful at night, check the picture I posted in the Europe v USA topic.

Could someone please explain what "the Toon" is a slang for? I still don't get it. does it refer to the town? or St James Park?
I know Geordies is the slang word for people from NewCastle.

BTW just went to see that movie Goal! awesome. I love the stadium from above at night.

It's just the thing that makes this stadium so beautiful. Just look at the roof. You can see the city skyline from the upper tier, extremely beautiful at night, check the picture I posted in the Europe v USA topic.

No offense to the city of Newcastle, but it's not the greatest skyline in the World ;)

Anyway, I don't count the fact that you're able to view skyline or surrounding scenery when deciding if I find a stadium good looking or not.
St. James' Park to me, is a mongrel of odd mixtures of styles and to be honest, it looks like something a semi-dodgy building company from Slough has smashed together over night.

Taken apart, the two halves look great, especially the larger one - although it isn't exactly beautiful, more imposing and impressive. Just sad they don't really go together.

I'm sure they'll eventually do the other end as well. I reckon it'll look very impressive, when that happens.

And it's a very steep stand that. I counted 72 rows to the top. Yes, I am extremely bored.

No offense to the city of Newcastle, but it's not the greatest skyline in the World ;)

Anyway, I don't count the fact that you're able to view skyline or surrounding scenery when deciding if I find a stadium good looking or not.
St. James' Park to me, is a mongrel of odd mixtures of styles and to be honest, it looks like something a semi-dodgy building company from Slough has smashed together over night.

Taken apart, the two halves look great, especially the larger one - although it isn't exactly beautiful, more imposing and impressive. Just sad they don't really go together.

It Probably beats anything Denmark has to offer. Parken is quite a nice stadium but i could give you many English stadiums to match and better that including St James Park. Someone's jealous maybe as their own country doesn't have any interesting stadiums to offer?

It Probably beats anything Denmark has to offer. Parken is quite a nice stadium but i could give you many English stadiums to match and better that including St James Park. Someone's jealous maybe as their own country doesn't have any interesting stadiums to offer?

Well, I wouldn't mind St. James' Park in Copenhagen, although I doubt it'd get used.

In my opinion, Parken is better looking, and probably a better stadium all-round than St. James' (keep in mind, the only reason why Parken isn't an UEFA five-star stadium is because it hasn't got a big enough capacity), although Parken is also far from a beauty.

There are a good number of stadiums in England that are significantly better than anything we have here, sure.

Sad to see that you'd even bring Danish stadiums up though, as it has got nothing to do with the discussion in this thread.

It Probably beats anything Denmark has to offer. Parken is quite a nice stadium but i could give you many English stadiums to match and better that including St James Park. Someone's jealous maybe as their own country doesn't have any interesting stadiums to offer?

Ahhhh I get it. When you don't like something, it's because you're jealous.

Ahhhh I get it. When you don't like something, it's because you're jealous.

Ahhhhh i get it. You've twisted my words to come up with an idiotic statement. Well done. (If you read my post again it was a presumption as i said maybe) If you want to look at it like that though be my guest, even though you've completely taken it out of context. I would say you are being facetious but that would be too much of a compliment.

Although St. James's may not be everyone's favourite stadium, it certainly causes discussion.

Yes it does look 'unbalanced' or even ugly from the outside, but there are probably people out there who think the Nou Camp is not the prettiest stadium too :ohno:

IMO future expansion (if possible) would turn SJP into a stunning Stadium. Until then, the people of Newcastle has a place of great character, give me that over the Riverside or St. Mary's stadiums any day!

but there are probably people out there who think the Nou Camp is not the prettiest stadium too :ohno:


I for 1

St James Pk is interesting in a slightly schizophrenic way because it has a kind of identity crisis going on. One half thinks of itself as a BIG club, with great pretensions, the other side has more modest ambitions.
It seems there are a few clubs which have stadiums that are scaled too big for themselves (juve, Munich 1860 etc) and some which are larger than their existing scale (Arsenal, Man U, spurs, Valencia? probably lots of others)
But, St James park really plays out this conflict. To have any continuity would either mean something too large or too small, so its left itself with a stadium which carries both ideas. I like it!

I love St James park! Does anyone have any stats to do with the stand gradients of EPL grounds? Just looking at pictures it seems to me that St James' looks steeper than any other ground in the Priemership. Although compared to the gradients of the San Siro or the Bernabéu it's nothing.

The occupants of that stadium which I think is pig ugly haven't won anything for over fifty years. Mad crowd that lot, great party city too, but they are a bit naive when it comes to sport.

The occupants of that stadium which I think is pig ugly haven't won anything for over fifty years. Mad crowd that lot, great party city too, but they are a bit naive when it comes to sport.

I would say 52000 each week at a club that has won nothing for 50 years does not make them naive supporters, it does in fact make them superb supporters!!

St James Park is a drab, lop sided eyesore.
How anyone can think this place is aesthetically pleasing is beyond me... I am NOT a fan.
Not been to a game there though, shall attend one in due course and perhaps my opinion shall change, but I doubt it.

I would say 52000 each week at a club that has won nothing for 50 years does not make them naive supporters, it does in fact make them superb supporters!!

I'm not questioning the supporters, I think they are the best in the country as supporters to trophies go, but that stadium is just an eyesore to me. Knock those listed buildings down someone and finish the stadium off. Even relocate those listed buildings to one side maybe an answer, but as it stands that stadium looks a joke from the original posted angle.

I'm not questioning the supporters, I think they are the best in the country as supporters to trophies go, but that stadium is just an eyesore to me. Knock those listed buildings down someone and finish the stadium off. Even relocate those listed buildings to one side maybe an answer, but as it stands that stadium looks a joke from the original posted angle.

I'm not a big fan of the stadium, but there's not much Newcastle can do to change it!

I've been to the stadium & its one of hte best in England. I know one of the stands cant reallt expand because of listeed housing behind the stand but I saw some pics years ago with the smaller stand developed to the same size as the other 2 stands- Does anyone know if/when this would be done??

I doubt they could fill it without lowering prices if it was extended all the way round. And with lower prices it probably isnt financially viable to do it now.

That may change in the future and, hopefully, it will then be possible to do it. Perhaps its possible to remove some of the buildings behind it but probably a very expensive task.
But it has to be considered that these listed buildings could be in the way of what must be the most famous institution in Newcastle, and whether thats really good for the place.

I doubt they could fill it without lowering prices if it was extended all the way round. And with lower prices it probably isnt financially viable to do it now.

That may change in the future and, hopefully, it will then be possible to do it. Perhaps its possible to remove some of the buildings behind it but probably a very expensive task.
But it has to be considered that these listed buildings could be in the way of what must be the most famous institution in Newcastle, and whether thats really good for the place.

I'd guess it would take something like a World Cup bid to push that though, some council grant money to make sure they got some big games is probabley the only way you'd see it fully extended(probabley to around 75,000) aswell for the reasons you mention.

I don't know if theres the demand for it but they could do something smilar to that new Zaragoza stadium and have a wall of directors boxs(there doesnt seem to be many right now) on one side to even things up a bit.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y112/greenman32/interiorgente028om.jpg

That looks like a reasonable solution

^^^^^^^^^

Personally I'd build the stadium all the way round and lower prices!

Football is supposed to be the battlers game. Not the millionaires game. The people of Newcastle should able to follow their club for a reasonable price.

If people are critisizing St JAmes park then wot can be said about Parkhead? The only difference is really that on TV the camera angle in parkhead is facing towards the large stand and at newcastle its facing the smaller stand. if they changed the camera angle at SJP to face the large two tiered stand everyone(nearly) would love it.

^^^^^^^^^

Personally I'd build the stadium all the way round and lower prices!

Football is supposed to be the battlers game. Not the millionaires game. The people of Newcastle should able to follow their club for a reasonable price.

If the balance sheet doesnt add up then its ultimately the average fan who's going to suffer just as much though.

^^^^^^^^^

Personally I'd build the stadium all the way round and lower prices!

Football is supposed to be the battlers game. Not the millionaires game. The people of Newcastle should able to follow their club for a reasonable price.


Unfortunately Newcastle live in the real world where you dont launch huge projects while at the same time lower your income. They are a mid table team, who would self-destroy with such financial insanity and relegation would soon follow massively reducing income still further. Football is not a closed shop but a tough world.

No single club can force through such drastic changes and it would require europe-wide political legislation to even try to curb the power that the big clubs hold.

The main thing it would require is large scale public subsidising of sport which for better or worse doesnt often happen in the UK.

But it has to be considered that these listed buildings could be in the way of what must be the most famous institution in Newcastle, and whether thats really good for the place.

Newcastle is - and unlike a lot of other British Cities - always has been extremely proud of its heritage. The fact that it has taken care of so much of it, is why it is the nicest looking (perhaps with the exception of Bristol) of England's Core Cities.

^^^^^^^^^

Personally I'd build the stadium all the way round and lower prices!

Football is supposed to be the battlers game. Not the millionaires game. The people of Newcastle should able to follow their club for a reasonable price.


like may people have said on here,you can't build it all the way round,as there are listed buildings right up behind one stand,plus the main road,and tunnel for the metro at one end,that would make it impossible to continue building all the way round

Well, it's certainly idiosyncratic! I always look at aerial pictures of SJP with a degree of discomfort. It's not just quite unbalanced, but almost ridiculously unbalanced.

That said, the Milburn/Lezies stands do look stunning and as a (Manchester) United fan, I do envy their horizontal roof. It's one of the few things I'm not enamoured with at OT. Like many others, I'd like to see the Gallowgate end extended to match - and I really like the idea and the picture of the Zaragoza plan for the remaining 'problem' stand. I'm sure Newcastle could sustain crowds of 60-65,000 and more corporates.

I think I'm right in saying 'Toon' is the word 'town' in the local dialect as in (in my best Sid the Sexist):
"Ah'm gannin' oot on the toon the neet, like"

Newcastle fans are great and deserve a better team and a finished stadium.

If people are critisizing St JAmes park then wot can be said about Parkhead? The only difference is really that on TV the camera angle in parkhead is facing towards the large stand and at newcastle its facing the smaller stand. if they changed the camera angle at SJP to face the large two tiered stand everyone(nearly) would love it.

The same criticisms could also be levelled at Old Trafford. 3 massive stands and one tiny eyesore. Doesn't get noticed on TV though because of where the cameras are located.

If people are critisizing St JAmes park then wot can be said about Parkhead? The only difference is really that on TV the camera angle in parkhead is facing towards the large stand and at newcastle its facing the smaller stand. if they changed the camera angle at SJP to face the large two tiered stand everyone(nearly) would love it.


Simply don’t agree, the big part of St James covers only half of St James’ Parkhead has almost three quarters of their stadium in the large section a bit like mancherster united actually, it is onloy the main stand that is not large!

Also Celtic have room to increase if there is the need taking parkhead up to 75000!

At least SJP and Celic Park have the corners filled in god knows why they havent at Ibrox.

At least SJP and Celic Park have the corners filled in god knows why they havent at Ibrox.

They have filled in 2 of the corners at Ibrox as best as possible. The screens are there because of the large beams that hold up the roof on 3 of the stands. These are 'goalpost' structures, not 'cantilevers', and so these huge beams at the end of each stand would totally block the view of anybody high up in a corner.

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/7576/untitled2pc.jpg

http://www.stadionwelt.de/stadionwelt_stadien/templates/stadionguides/schottland/ibrox_stadium/images/Ibrox_a_06.jpg

http://www.jamesbond-fr.com/concours/membres/uploads/ibrox2.jpg


Dortmund had the same problem, so they took away the 'goalpost' roof supports at the ends of each stand and 'cantilevered' all of their stands. However, this cost about £25 million so Rangers are not willing to pay £25 million for a total gain of about 6000 seats.

The other two corners at Ibrox cannot be filled due to the huge stairwells at the ends of the main stand. As the main stand at Ibrox is listed and almost a 100 years old, the only way to add a third tier, but not change the facade, was to add huge stairwells at the end of the stand to allow access to this third tier.

http://www.stadionwelt.de/stadionwelt_stadien/templates/stadionguides/schottland/ibrox_stadium/images/Ibrox_c_21.jpg

http://www.stadionwelt.de/stadionwelt_stadien/templates/stadionguides/schottland/ibrox_stadium/images/Ibrox_c_02.jpg

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/104/dodgy0qg.jpg

http://elo.laine.free.fr/glasgow/ibroxStadium.JPG

http://rangersmedia.teardrop.ca/album/album3/ibrox.jpg

Great post thanks mate. Would just love to see the stadium restored to its rightful positon as one of the world's largest stadiums. Back when my dad went to the games 100'000 wasn't unusual. Would love to hear that. Still I'll take comfort in the world's finest facade.

Great post thanks mate. Would just love to see the stadium restored to its rightful positon as one of the world's largest stadiums. Back when my dad went to the games 100'000 wasn't unusual. Would love to hear that. Still I'll take comfort in the world's finest facade.

I agree, it's too small at the moment. Imagine the days of 100000 just being a normal crowd!! :eek2:

I think I'm right in saying 'Toon' is the word 'town' in the local dialect as in (in my best Sid the Sexist):
"Ah'm gannin' oot on the toon the neet, like"

Aye, pet.

Look at the colour of those Ibrox seats!
Anyway 1 point about not wanting to spend the cash on cntilever roofs for an increased capacity of 6000: The Club Deck cost somewhere in the region of £20m to build. The capacity being 7,000 odds.

Should there be a major investment at some point in the future then I think they would re-do the roofs if they could gaurantee bums on seats on a regular basis.

the seats sould be white and black not grey or blue which it is

Look at the colour of those Ibrox seats!
Anyway 1 point about not wanting to spend the cash on cntilever roofs for an increased capacity of 6000: The Club Deck cost somewhere in the region of £20m to build. The capacity being 7,000 odds.

Should there be a major investment at some point in the future then I think they would re-do the roofs if they could gaurantee bums on seats on a regular basis.

Surely it would be more cost-effective just to rebuild a contiguous structure on the West-North-East sides to increase capacity by at least 10,000? Yes, this would mean reducing capacity temporarily, but that happens anywhere that new stands are built rather than just added to (Twickenham was down by 10,000 seats for the Autumn internationals and by 5,000 for the Six Nations, meaning a net loss of 40,000 bums, but it will only take 7 games with the new capacity to "earn" that back)...

To think that on match day, one fifth of the population of Newcastle is in St James' Park is quite extrordinary.

It's not that extraordinary... In the Netherlands you have Heerenveen, a city with 42,590 people and the SC heerenveen stadium is often full with 21,600, and is already upgrading to 26.000.

Now that's extraordinary... :)

http://www.sc-heerenveen.nl/upload/61292_806_1092309145222-sportstad_volgelvlucht.jpg

It's not that extraordinary... In the Netherlands you have Heerenveen, a city with 42,590 people and the SC heerenveen stadium is often full with 21,600, and is already upgrading to 26.000.

Now that's extraordinary... :)

http://www.sc-heerenveen.nl/upload/61292_806_1092309145222-sportstad_volgelvlucht.jpg

Especially when you consider the town Heerenveen (not the municipality) has less than 30.000 inhabitants. Having the support of the entire province of Friesland minus 1 town (Leeuwarden) really pays off for them.

I'd guess it would take something like a World Cup bid to push that though, some council grant money to make sure they got some big games is probabley the only way you'd see it fully extended(probabley to around 75,000) aswell for the reasons you mention.

I don't know if theres the demand for it but they could do something smilar to that new Zaragoza stadium and have a wall of directors boxs(there doesnt seem to be many right now) on one side to even things up a bit.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y112/greenman32/interiorgente028om.jpg

They would never be able to rebuild the stand with a wall of directors boxes like this as it wouldn’t allow enough light to get to the street behind.

This is one of my favourite stadiums in the Premiership. To think that on match day, one fifth of the population of Newcastle is in St James' Park is quite extrordinary.


Why when working this out didn’t you include Gateshead? It has a population of 191151 (Newcastle is 259536) and is only a mile from St James Park, in fact parts of Gateshead are closer to St James park than parts of Newcastle!

And the rest, North Tyneside and Northumberland is another 500'000 people, a percentage of South Tyneside, many people in County Durham ( over 600'000 people and a certain Mr Blair included ). I know there are people in Cumbria and the Scottish Borders go to games too. Then theres always going to be a few people from further afield.

Look at the colour of those Ibrox seats!
Anyway 1 point about not wanting to spend the cash on cntilever roofs for an increased capacity of 6000: The Club Deck cost somewhere in the region of £20m to build. The capacity being 7,000 odds.

Should there be a major investment at some point in the future then I think they would re-do the roofs if they could gaurantee bums on seats on a regular basis.

Yes, but the main stand is almost 100 years old and that is why it cost +20 million to add a 3rd tier without changing the facade and marble/oak interiors etc. On top of that, the enclosure (bottom tier) was totally rebuilt from 9000 standing to 6000 seats. The middle tier was totally refurbished and rebuilt, huge stairwells were built and the inside of the stand was upgraded to unbelievably high levels. It was a HUGE project!!

Surely it would be more cost-effective just to rebuild a contiguous structure on the West-North-East sides to increase capacity by at least 10,000? Yes, this would mean reducing capacity temporarily, but that happens anywhere that new stands are built rather than just added to (Twickenham was down by 10,000 seats for the Autumn internationals and by 5,000 for the Six Nations, meaning a net loss of 40,000 bums, but it will only take 7 games with the new capacity to "earn" that back)...

This would be the sensible approach.

Amazing

Especially when you consider the town Heerenveen (not the municipality) has less than 30.000 inhabitants. Having the support of the entire province of Friesland minus 1 town (Leeuwarden) really pays off for them.

I'd guess its a similar situation for Newcastle and Sunderland, compaired to say clubs in the north west/midlands there are not many rival clubs to take a share of the support.

Can anybody tell me why St James park is not a Uefa 5 star stadium? It is not even a 4 star!

But it has to be considered that these listed buildings could be in the way of what must be the most famous institution in Newcastle, and whether thats really good for the place.
I would be absolutely dead set against demolition of the listed buildings behind St James' Park. Leazes Terrace (the listed buildings) are a fine example of Newcastle's heritage and to lose them would be criminal, I dont care how famous the football club is.

http://www.students.ncl.ac.uk/porntip.bodeepongse/ncll.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/17/21778852_e6a13b13a0_m.jpg

There is also the small fact that although they may possibly be in the way of what's (arguably) the most famous institution in Newcastle, they also happen to be owned by one of Newcastle's other most famous (and largest) institutions, Newcastle University. I dont see them ever being willing to give up property that contributes so much to their image and status.

http://www.manutdzone.com/oldtrafford/photos/stjamespark.jpg

Looking at that pic it would actually be possible to expand the stadium at one side a little while only losing that part of the block sticking out(painted white) and the road. If you extend the other end and corner then do something similar to the Zaragoza design with a few rows extra and a block of directors boxs I'd guess you'd end up with a capacity around 65,000. I can't see Newcastle Utd needing more than that plus it would already give them the the drop on the likes of Emirates and the New Anfield in capacity when bidding for events(champs league finals, world cup semi's etc).

I would be absolutely dead set against demolition of the listed buildings behind St James' Park. Leazes Terrace (the listed buildings) are a fine example of Newcastle's heritage and to lose them would be criminal, I dont care how famous the football club is.

http://www.students.ncl.ac.uk/porntip.bodeepongse/ncll.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/17/21778852_e6a13b13a0_m.jpg

There is also the small fact that although they may possibly be in the way of what's (arguably) the most famous institution in Newcastle, they also happen to be owned by one of Newcastle's other most famous (and largest) institutions, Newcastle University. I dont see them ever being willing to give up property that contributes so much to their image and status.

Only an idiot would want those fine buildings knocked down for a new football stand!!

Pull the old buildings apart brick by brick, number them & build them elsewhere. Hey presto! More room to build the new stands. They do this in the US, why not in Newcastle?!

Hi guys,

Can you help me with some pictures of st. james park? Is there an open topic? And are there any plans for an entension?

I think there is a St James Park thread somewhere

on the st.james tour they said there were plans to expanded it but there is some important bluidings behind it

Only one i got. I think its from off this website anyway.

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/8279/stjamesparka12808an.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

THERE is a thread already on this, don't be so lazy and look for it

http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=326386

If there was a search function, this thread (and waste of bandwidth) would never have happened...

bringing

Can anybody tell me why St James park is not a Uefa 5 star stadium? It is not even a 4 star!

Its beacuse its compete and utter shyte.

mods, two good threads is enough

i live 5 mins from the ground..and honestly it is horrible. looks so erm wrong...and so uneven from the outside just as much inside. personally i dont think its that great and they CANNOT expend the rest of it...i know people who work for the council and they said it will never be expanded because of the listed buildings beside it.

Thats an awesome picture, hopefully if we get the 2018 WC they will expand it like this, probably up to 60000+ seats, enough for a semi final.

Certainly did a better job making the stands look flush, than that hole Old Trafford

i don't think Newcastle will be expanding anytime soon TBH


the exterior looks pretty brutal on some of the pictures

Yeah its horrible I saw it being built from my college window, all my newcastle supporting chums assured me the grey plastic was just temporary, oh how I had the last laugh.

Still looks great on the inside

I've often wondered why they could overhang at least one of the remaining undeveloped ends? The Gallowgate End could easily be built to overhang the road. It may be expensive, given the foundations, but if looking to a World Cup for the motive of expansion, then it'd be possible if not plausible.

I live the interior of the stadium. There's something about the grey seats and the fact that the room is mostly see through. Not great from a footballing view point because it casts dreadful shadows, but it looks wonderful from an aesthetic point.

I love the grey seats too, they make it seem like an immense cathedral of football like Dortmund, black and white seats looked so tacky when they had them.

I don't like this stadium, only if they expend it like in the last photos. Maybe they could do some Boca Juniors kind of thing with the side where the listed buildings are. Boca Juniors had the same problem with expending and is an impressive stadium.
Only think about the idea. It should be done with nowadays architecture.

http://i6.tinypic.com/14tn0pt.jpg


http://i6.tinypic.com/14tn0yh.jpg

In this way it would look some kind of complete. Now it is to my opinion just big and ugly... sorry

A very nice ground with lots of potential, and there always seems to be a good atmosphere there. The 2 current massive stands look similar to the Allianz Arena.

I love the grey seats too, they make it seem like an immense cathedral of football like Dortmund, black and white seats looked so tacky when they had them.


anyone got an image of what St. James' looked like with black and white seats?

It's one of may favorites stadiums in England.

Can anybody tell me why St James park is not a Uefa 5 star stadium? It is not even a 4 star!

One of the reasons is because the home and away dressing rooms are not the same size. Home changing room is large, away changing room is very very small.

just send the IDF up north. they'l demolish the Leazes Terrace for free.

One of the reasons is because the home and away dressing rooms are not the same size. Home changing room is large, away changing room is very very small.


Surely they could just improve the away changing rooms?

Found this photoshop job on google images.

http://www.the-scum.freeserve.co.uk/ntlsports/sjp2010.jpg

Also found this.

http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Stadium/2577/sjp_2000.htm

I never knew that Necastle had plans for a new stadium.

^^ from that Geocitie site

"brand new super stadium on Castle Leazers. It was to have been 55,000 seat stadium and would have cost in the region of £60 million."

A 55,000 seat "super" stadium for £60m? Who do this mob think they are, Celtic?

^^ from that Geocitie site

"brand new super stadium on Castle Leazers. It was to have been 55,000 seat stadium and would have cost in the region of £60 million."

A 55,000 seat "super" stadium for £60m? Who do this mob think they are, Celtic?

Your right, anyone to call anything under 90,000 a "super stadium" does have something wrong up stairs.

The rows of houses behind the other eside side are listing buildings aswell so its doubtful they'd be able to extend in that direction unless its merely directors boxs . The other end is I'd guess a possibility giving them a capacity around 60,000 which is I'd guess near the upper limate of what they could fill anyway.

The main reason it cant be expanded is because there is a train or metro stration behind the small end i was told that matching the foundations of the other larger stands would be 'implausible'

Originally Posted by Seth Gecko
A 55,000 seat "super" stadium for £60m? Who do this mob think they are, Celtic?

Whats your point, the fact it would be 55,000, or that it would have cost 60 million quid? The story is from 8 years ago so the capacity would have been the 1st or 2nd biggest club stadium in England. And the 60 million, although not a fortune, was not exactly peanuts either.

Found 2 pictures that show the problem with the university, too. Why didn't they move the stadium away from the university before expanding it? Since they had to rebuild the stands more or less anyway. Moving it in the direction of that park would have been possible. They could have built two stands, demolish the old stands after that and then built the rest of the stadium. They did move football pitches in some german cities (like Hamburg) and made use of dynamite in several stadiums. :devil:

A look at the Betzenberg in Kaiserslautern might show solutions. If you look at the outside of the stadium, that might be a way to expand the stand close to the university.
Funny, the north stand at Kaiserslautern which is now the smallest stand was once the largest when it was finished in 1994 (the inauguration game was a 1:0 win against the Rangers :) ). Well, it's not pretty but they made the best out of it for the World Cup. I doubt the stadium will be further expanded in the future because a 50.000 capacity is the max for a small city like Kaiserslautern (98.410 residents officially).

http://i7.tinypic.com/21ew237.jpg

http://i7.tinypic.com/21ew4u9.jpg

I guess you already know this one:
http://i7.tinypic.com/21ew5ep.jpg

Betzenberg, Kaiserslautern:
http://i7.tinypic.com/21evtar.jpg

http://i7.tinypic.com/21evvjq.jpg

http://i7.tinypic.com/21evw2g.jpg

http://i7.tinypic.com/21evwi8.jpg

http://i7.tinypic.com/21evy45.jpg

Betzenberg in 1994:
http://i7.tinypic.com/21eybk5.jpg

More Kaiserslautern pictures can be found here:
http://www.stadionwelt.de/stadionwelt_stadien/index.php?template=stadionguides&land=deutschland&stadion=1_fc_kaiserslautern&bereich=stadionfotos

:)

Whats your point, the fact it would be 55,000, or that it would have cost 60 million quid? The story is from 8 years ago so the capacity would have been the 1st or 2nd biggest club stadium in England. And the 60 million, although not a fortune, was not exactly peanuts either.
£60m for a brand new 55,000 all seater stadium would be peanuts, and hence the final result would not be 'super', not by a long way.

Remember, celtic built 3 new stands with a total capacity of 52000, and refurbished the remaining main stand, for a grand total of....£31 million.....and boy does it show!!!

You are right seth, 60 million quid in todays terms is not a lot of money for building a stadium.

But that figure was quoted for 8 years ago, when it seems redeveloping were no where near as expensive as it is now. For example (and don't start going off on a tangent) Man U's North stand, built a couple of years before cost 19 million pounds, and that single stand hold 26,000 people.

IMO it doesn't look cheap or ugly (new quadrants not counted, they really do look crap!)

http://www.manutdzone.com/oldtrafford/oldtraffordpanoramicdirectorsbox2004.jpg

In 1996/97 somewhere in the region of £480m paid for the Stadt de France - a super stadium, but not without flaws. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/in_depth/2000/wembley/990252.stm

If you take your £19m for Man United's pre quadrants North Stand, you are not getting 26,000 seats for that cash because it was not built from scratch, it only paid for tiers 2 and 3 and the roof, since the bottom tier was part of the original bowl that was the first all-seated old trafford pre 1995:

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/2276/oldtraffordold5tf4.jpg

So £19m didn't buy that much in 1995: it bought this wee extra bit:

http://www-scf.usc.edu/~choulart/itp204/old_trafford.jpg


So Newcastle were gonna buy a big patch of new land and then construct a "super" stadium upon it, for a little more than 3 times what half a rubbish stand cost in Manchester?

http://www.grandma-wilds.co.uk/acatalog/yorkshire%20biscuit%20tin%202.jpg

I'm pretty sure the bottom tier was rebuilt, or at least remodeled, as compare the exits on the bottom tier before and after -

before -

http://www.stadiumguide.com/oldtraffordold5.jpg

after -

http://www.manutdcz.com/Old%20Trafford/oldtra12.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/~united/assets/images/oldtraff.gif
(it is highly possible in the above photo that seats have been removed simply for access reasons, it does not necessarily mean a new tier!)

then again, the photo below looks like 2 tiers have been added to a previous one - note the huge gap at the sides, as if 2 tiers have just been lumped on top of the previous one!

http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/843/300na4.jpg

I'm pretty sure the bottom tier was rebuilt, or at least remodeled, as compare the exits on the bottom tier before and after -

before -

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/2276/oldtraffordold5tf4.jpg

after -

http://www.manutdcz.com/Old%20Trafford/oldtra12.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/~united/assets/images/oldtraff.gif
Its hard to tell from these pics (or any that I can find), because the roof is so low you cant really see the top of the tier, but it does look like there are now more exits than there were previously.

Perhaps they did do a spot of remodelling, that is fairly standard when some work is being done in the area, eg Peodo Dome Main stand refurb when new stands were built. Still a bin though.

If you look at this vulgar pic - to me it looks like the redevelopment, ie addition of the second and third tiers, have just been banged on top of (or behind even) the pre-existing bottom tier, especially if you consider inside there is absolutely no overhang to the bottom tier whatsoever...

http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/4197/mufcut3.jpg

And in this one you can see where the old tier ends (by looking at the curve round behind the goal, it looks like its a swift addition behind the original tier

http://www-scf.usc.edu/~choulart/itp204/old_trafford.jpg

Old Traffords North stand was totally razed to the ground, and a completely new stand was built.

Its hilarious when the clitbang of SSC, bubomb, uses his various egos to have a conversation with himself ... that latest being Sherrif's Badge and Seth Gecko ... as he feels one star dying, he makes it a point to start another screen name


As for St James park ... well, until NUFC starts playing in the CL again, i find it difficult to justify the tag on expansion ... right now the club needs to pool their money into getting a decent striker as Owen has played his last game for the magpies, IMO. Duff was certainly a score, but the extra revenue for UEFA lends to helping the team compete for the top 4 in the EPL. I'm sick of watching my beloved toons play spoiler!

Its hilarious when the clitbang of SSC, bubomb, uses his various egos to have a conversation with himself ... that latest being Sherrif's Badge and Seth Gecko ... as he feels one star dying, he makes it a point to start another screen name


As for St James park ... well, until NUFC starts playing in the CL again, i find it difficult to justify the tag on expansion ... right now the club needs to pool their money into getting a decent striker as Owen has played his last game for the magpies, IMO. Duff was certainly a score, but the extra revenue for UEFA lends to helping the team compete for the top 4 in the EPL. I'm sick of watching my beloved toons play spoiler!

How can one man be so stupid....even by Texas standards???? This guy is thicker than my grannies mince!

only you would know the viscocity of you old scottish grams "mince". Happy digging, douche!

only you would know the viscocity of you old scottish grams "mince". Happy digging, douche!

and he even took the bait!!!

ttt

Old Traffords North stand was totally razed to the ground, and a completely new stand was built.
Source?

Found some more pictures from the Betzenberg construction in Kaiserslautern. I could image something like this for expanding St James Park in Newcastle.
And it would also protect these old university buildings from sun and rain! :lol: It's a win win situation. :okay:

http://i7.tinypic.com/21kiblv.jpg

http://i7.tinypic.com/21kic95.jpg

http://i7.tinypic.com/21kicmq.jpg

http://i7.tinypic.com/21kie5l.jpg

http://i7.tinypic.com/21kiflv.jpg

http://i7.tinypic.com/21kikgk.jpg

http://i7.tinypic.com/21kj7dz.jpg

Old Trafford reminds me of one of those Airfix model aircrafts that i used to build when i was a kid.....i used to glue the wings on back to front and upside down :)

Originally posted by Seth Geko
Source?
Like yourself, I'm having problems sourcing pictures showing construction of the North stand back in '95. But take a look at these links and you'll see on the old stand just 3 exits.
http://www.manutdzone.com/oldtrafford/oldtraffordphotos/oldt90s.jpg

Yet on the new stand at least 18 exits for the one tier.
http://www.manutdzone.com/oldtrafford/oldtraffordphotos/europeancupfinal2003b.jpg.

Maybe you will now accept that it was a complete rebuild, and in the mid 1990's you could build a bloody big grandstand without compromising on the build quality for under 20 million quid!

Anyway, this is getting away from this thread about St. James Park.

St. James Park should not be expanded. It is beautiful in it's own, strange way. It would be a waste of such an unique stadium, Newcastle Utd would never be able to fill 80,000 on a weekly base.

I have the last edition of The Football Stadiums of Great Britain by Simon Inglis. It came out just as the North Stand was being finished and in it he says that the North Stand is entirely new.

NUFC new super stadium was going to be a land swap moving 100 yards to the north onto the leazes park moor but it was rejected by the silly council over some ancient grazing rights or some bullshit, even though they would have got better land right in the city to build a park on!

NUFC new super stadium was going to be a land swap moving 100 yards to the north onto the leazes park moor but it was rejected by the silly council over some ancient grazing rights or some bullshit, even though they would have got better land right in the city to build a park on!
But that would have put it on part of the town moor, that bit of grass is one of the biggest things that makes Newcastle unique. Where else can you see cows grazing in the city centre? Extending Leazes Park just wouldn't have been the same. The council definately made the right decision.

Source?

Nothing less than my memory and all the pictures above that show the different North STand vomitories pre- and post-'95/'96. In fact to clear the whole thing up, this was the schedule of events:

Summer '92: Old Streford End demolished. I remember standing on the wall opposite (when there used to be an industrial estate there) and looking directly into the ground, along the pitch towards the Soreboard End seats the day I went to buy my new lace-up home shirt in readiness for the '92/'93 season.

'92/'93 Season: New single-tier "West Stand" (official name) built. Check footage from opening premiership season. Hughes scoring against Liverpool and Leeds early on with the builder's screen behind the goal. Later games (Oldham, Dec '92) show lower tier fans accommodated and given free rain macs as the stand was still uncovered. Stand completed just in time for first Premiership win and celebration night v Blackburn

Summer '95: Old North Stand completely demolished.

'95/'96 Season: New 3-tier North Stand built. Early season game v Bolton was notable for a large number of youth players in the team, taking Bolton apart (very Babes-esque). Note lower tier open, with 'holes' in the terracing to allow for temporary floodlight pylons (as pictured above). United 1 (Canatona), Arsenal 0 was Premiership's first ever 50k+ gate.

Summer '99: Weeks after winning the Treble, the old Scoreboard End was demolished. I remember seeing a picture in the MEN which was the exact mirror-image of the sight I'd had stood on the wall opposite the Stretty 7 years earlier.

'99/'00 Season: New 2-tier East Stand built. Upper tier first opened on second game back after Rio WCC; 1-1 v Arsenal, with 58k gate. Next game was Middlesbrough (Keane v D'Urso) which was the Prem's first 60k+ gate. Meanwhile the West Stand Tier 2 was being built on top of the existing lower tier, as for the first time in the project so far, the structure beneath was young enough and was probably designed in readiness for future expansion - hence the point about the second tier just being put on top - that one was.

Season ended with Premiership trophy presentation after 3-1 over Spurs. Cantilever roof structure of new West Stand was visible, extending over the Stretford End.

Summer '00: West Stand Tier 2 completed.

'00/'01 Season: 68,000 OT opened.

and of course,

'06/'07 Season: New quadrants finished. 76,000 OT about to be opened.

Know your facts, sunshine, if you're going to dispute stuff.

Great timeline of construction events over the past 14 years or so. I'm surprised it's so hard to get any pictures of the redevelopment of the Stretford End and North Stands!

the original north stand at OT wasn’t demolished entirely. The new by then 2 tires were built above the original bowl and the same thing happened with regards to the east and west stands when they were expanded...it would be stupidity to suggest that they constructed a whole new stand with the exact same lower tier that existed before just to increase the number of exits..i remember quite well from EURO96 when they used to talk about the new development at OT that it was built above the original North Stand..as for the increase in the number of exits its clear the stand was just redeveloped same thing happened at St. James Park when the new tiers were built they removed those executive boxes from the stand facing the TV cameras and removed the seats that used to exist under those boxes (remember the black and white seats?) and constructed a new lower tier connected to the original upper tier to make it just a one tier stand.

But eh, is this the thread about OT, or St James? Pages of OT.

the original north stand at OT wasn’t demolished entirely. The new by then 2 tires were built above the original bowl and the same thing happened with regards to the east and west stands when they were expanded...it would be stupidity to suggest that they constructed a whole new stand with the exact same lower tier that existed before just to increase the number of exits..i remember quite well from EURO96 when they used to talk about the new development at OT that it was built above the original North Stand..as for the increase in the number of exits its clear the stand was just redeveloped same thing happened at St. James Park when the new tiers were built they removed those executive boxes from the stand facing the TV cameras and removed the seats that used to exist under those boxes (remember the black and white seats?) and constructed a new lower tier connected to the original upper tier to make it just a one tier stand.


i think you may be getting a little muddled here Egooner,the lower tiers were newly built.The two ends did have the upper tiers added at a later date to the exisiting lower,but the lower tiers did replace the stands of the original bowl

forget all these mancs always bringing old trafford into threads, anyway i really like st. james' park the big stands look great better than old traffords.

GOONER

But that would have put it on part of the town moor, that bit of grass is one of the biggest things that makes Newcastle unique. Where else can you see cows grazing in the city centre? Extending Leazes Park just wouldn't have been the same. The council definately made the right decision.

Leazes Moor not the town moor, the moor before Richardson Road is where the stadium would have gone.

The proposed new 'Castle Leazes' Stadium, of a few years ago was an excellent concept. It's initial capacity was probably going to be 55,000, but it was designed with a capapbility of pre-planned expansions, up to 70,000, if demand had justified it.

It was only a few hundred yards away, on 'Castle Leazes Moor' which is officially a part of the deservedly well-protected Town Moor, but is a small area separate from the main (famous) Town Moor area. The stadium would have utilised an underused and fairly un-usable part of the Moor (to great benefit to both the club and the City) while releasing a large area of land to extend the beautiful Leazes Park (one of our best City Centre parks) over part of the area currently occupied by the current St James Park football ground.

The West Stand (the Milburn stand) would have been demolished and removed, while the North Stand (the Sir John Hall / Leazes End stand) would have been demolished and moved towards the Gallowgate End, to form a roof. St James would have then become a 10,000 seater indoor stadium, to rival the similar -sized Newcastle Metro Radio Arena at the other side of the City Centre.

If planning approval had been given, we would have ended up with three excellent achievements:
(1) A brand new City Centre ground on Castle Leazes, with a 'ceremonial way' leading from St James through Leazes Park, with a capacity up to 70,000.
AND
(2) An extended and fully re-furbished Leazes Park, with those famous 'Listed Buildings' now exposed to view, and themselves having a much-improved view outward over the park, rather than of the back of the East Stand. Leazes Park has just received its re-furbishment anyway (Lottery money had to be found) but not (of course) its extension toward the City Centre, as St James Park is still there!
AND
(3) Another 10,000 seater indoor stadium for Concerts and Ice Hockey and Basketball matches, etc.

However, the NIMBY's won and we lost it all.

The current extended St James is definitely an awesome and wonderfully spectacular stadium, but it is difficult to extend it any further. It is still just about possible actually, at the Gallowgate end out over St James Metro / Undergound Railway Station, as part of the proposed Regional Super Casino development. This would probably give us about another 8,000 seats taking the total to 61,000, but it would be expensive. But OH, what a LOSS we suffered when planning approval was not given for the new stadium.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity - major, major, winners all round - LOST!!!

The proposed new 'Castle Leazes' Stadium, of a few years ago was an excellent concept. It's initial capacity was probably going to be 55,000, but it was designed with a capapbility of pre-planned expansions, up to 70,000, if demand had justified it.

It was only a few hundred yards away, on 'Castle Leazes Moor' which is officially a part of the deservedly well-protected Town Moor, but is a small area separate from the main (famous) Town Moor area. The stadium would have utilised an underused and fairly un-usable part of the Moor (to great benefit to both the club and the City) while releasing a large area of land to extend the beautiful Leazes Park (one of our best City Centre parks) over part of the area currently occupied by the current St James Park football ground.

The West Stand (the Milburn stand) would have been demolished and removed, while the North Stand (the Sir John Hall / Leazes End stand) would have been demolished and moved towards the Gallowgate End, to form a roof. St James would have then become a 10,000 seater indoor stadium, to rival the similar -sized Newcastle Metro Radio Arena at the other side of the City Centre.

If planning approval had been given, we would have ended up with three excellent achievements:
(1) A brand new City Centre ground on Castle Leazes, with a 'ceremonial way' leading from St James through Leazes Park, with a capacity up to 70,000.
AND
(2) An extended and fully re-furbished Leazes Park, with those famous 'Listed Buildings' now exposed to view, and themselves having a much-improved view outward over the park, rather than of the back of the East Stand. Leazes Park has just received its re-furbishment anyway (Lottery money had to be found) but not (of course) its extension toward the City Centre, as St James Park is still there!
AND
(3) Another 10,000 seater indoor stadium for Concerts and Ice Hockey and Basketball matches, etc.

However, the NIMBY's won and we lost it all.

The current extended St James is definitely an awesome and wonderfully spectacular stadium, but it is difficult to extend it any further. It is still just about possible actually, at the Gallowgate end out over St James Metro / Undergound Railway Station, as part of the proposed Regional Super Casino development. This would probably give us about another 8,000 seats taking the total to 61,000, but it would be expensive. But OH, what a LOSS we suffered when planning approval was not given for the new stadium.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity - major, major, winners all round - LOST!!!




would be good if somebody,using google earth perhaps,would show us the area's mentioned,to give us non-Geordies an idea of what was plannned

See new (2007) related thread at : http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=458912

A full buildout of St. James Park (bringing it up to a 70,000+ capacity) would be impossible because of a few good lowrise residences to the east being in the way. That would be a job that is as impossible as Old Trafford's buildout to 96,000. Why was St. James Park's north and west stands built so high, anyway like Newcastle Upon Tyne were a large city or something? Even with that build out, St. James Park would look like a white elephant and would never be filled up to its maximum capacity.

They got close to selling out every game last season so I have no idea what you're talking about. 70,000+ would be pushing it though.

Beautiful ground..sort of reminds me of Atletico Paranaense's Arena Kyocera in Curitiba!

St. James Park would look like a white elephant and would never be filled up to its maximum capacity.

Even with 80k capacity I doubt St James would ever become a white elephant.

Will NUFC be able to fill the stadium while being in the 1st division ?

If you mean the Championship, then I very much doubt it. Maybe once or twice for really important games but not week in week out like they have done in the PL.

http://www.fussballtempel.net/uefa/ENG/St_James_Park3.jpg





i noticed that those seats have armrests, its actually the first time i se a european stadium with armrest , and since those blackseats with armrests go all the way around the lower part of the stands , shouldn't that give this stadium europes highest " armrest capacity " ;) ?

IMO the black seats at the main stands are vip seats (=seats with armrests).
The other black ones are normal seats
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/191/463217999_f782a6cf7a_o.jpg

IMO the black seats at the main stands are vip seats (=seats with armrests).
The other black ones are normal seats
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/191/463217999_f782a6cf7a_o.jpg

yeah your probably right , but it is still a lot of VIP seats ;) does anybody know if there is a stadium in europe where every seat has armrests ?

yeah your probably right , but it is still a lot of VIP seats ;) does anybody know if there is a stadium in europe where every seat has armrests ?

Can't think of any. Emirates Stadium is as high spec as any in Europe but the vast majority of seats have no arm rests. It does have 60k (ie all of them) upholstered seats though. Don't know if anywhere else can match that.

The arm rests are something that never crossed my mind. Interesting.

Large canopy there.

- A

The arm rests are something that never crossed my mind. Interesting.


yeah , i think its kind of interesting that every new american stadium i can think of has armrest on EVERY seat , while the newest , state of the art stadiums in europe only have armrests in the vip / club sections ...

yeah , i think its kind of interesting that every new american stadium i can think of has armrest on EVERY seat , while the newest , state of the art stadiums in europe only have armrests in the vip / club sections ...

Was thinking more from the standpoint that college stadiums are criticized on this board for squeezing people in, when most stadium individual seats are 19" minus the arm rest, meaning the same space is alloted. Based on the Cowboys Build it bigger episode, you're talking about an extra 6,000 seats per inch in larger stadiums.

To criticise American College stadiums for using benches would seem a bid odd to me considering that by far the biggest moan Europeans have about modern European football stadiums on these forums is the lack of terraced areas.

Yes but with the exception of queuing, the British love nothing more than to have something to moan about. :D

My main moan about benches in college stadiums is that when they are grey particularly they look very drab. Take Minnosota's new stadium - it would look pretty awful without the purple/yellow seats IMHO.

Everyone knows we care more about the lack of roofs in American stadiums :laugh:

Was thinking more from the standpoint that college stadiums are criticized on this board for squeezing people in, when most stadium individual seats are 19" minus the arm rest, meaning the same space is alloted. Based on the Cowboys Build it bigger episode, you're talking about an extra 6,000 seats per inch in larger stadiums.


but ist that really the case ? i get the impression of seats with armrest taking the same amount of space as seats without , as there already is a gap between the seats anyway , you just put an armrest in the gap ?

some stadiums do not have a gap between the seats (camp nou, bernabeu) etc

but ist that really the case ? i get the impression of seats with armrest taking the same amount of space as seats without , as there already is a gap between the seats anyway , you just put an armrest in the gap ?

Not sure about that - maybe in the more executive seating but surely not in your cheap everyday seating.

My main moan about benches in college stadiums is that when they are grey particularly they look very drab. Take Minnosota's new stadium - it would look pretty awful without the purple/yellow seats IMHO.

Some stadiums, like the Columbus Crew Stadium and the new Stanford Stadium, have colored bleachers.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3137/2491141996_5ebbb0581d_b.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c4/11-04-06-LSJUMB-004.jpg/800px-11-04-06-LSJUMB-004.jpg

That does look better than grey.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2584/4141039909_40aa018e83_o.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ynysforgan_jack/4141039909/sizes/o/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7793596@N02/3651755412/sizes/l/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7793596@N02/3651755412/sizes/l/

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3386/3632711584_94f7fe9cf5_b.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/caffull/3632711584/sizes/l/

this stadium looks simply massive on 3 sides.

Could someone please explain what "the Toon" is a slang for? I still don't get it. does it refer to the town? or St James Park?
I know Geordies is the slang word for people from NewCastle.

BTW just went to see that movie Goal! awesome. I love the stadium from above at night.

Toon means Town in Geordie, and it refers both to the city and the club.

People in the towns and areas surrounding Newcastle call Newcastle 'The Toon' whilst Novocastrians themselves will refer to the City Centre as 'The Toon'. So if someone was to go shopping in Newcastle/the City Centre they may well say 'I'm away to the Toon'. Or you might be 'gannin to the Toon for a drink'. St James' Park being located in the city centre meant people started saying they were 'gannin to the Toon to watch the match'. Because of that, the team themselves quickly became refered to as 'The Toon', which has become one of NUFC's nicknames alongside 'The Magpies'.

Fans themselves will refer to the team/club as 'The Toon'. The term 'Toon Army' was briefly used in the mid 90s as a nickname for the fans (but NOT the team). The media still use the term, but its not used by the fans anymore.

'Magpies' refering to the team tends to be used more by the media than the fans, though the fans will often refer to themselves as 'Magpies' or 'Mags'.

As for the stadium itself, it is possible to extend the Gallowgate - building over Strawberry Place ( a bit like the road which passes under the stand at Atletico Madrid's Vincente Calderon.) and on top of St James' Metro Station and the car park. The plans are there, but are currently on hold for the forseeable fututre, though they haven't been entirely shelved and may be dusted off at some point in the future.

It's lopsided look does look odd, but I don't think it looks ugly at all. Although I'd concede that if the Gallowgate was also extended it would look better.
Even in its current state it looks great, and I'd have it over anyone of the increasing number of off the peg clone stadiums built hidden away on a soulless shopping park or industrial estate on the edge of town.

sorry for yet again talking about old trafford on the st jame park thread but the north stand was demolished bar the old F and J stands.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs572.snc3/31233_398946893296_621518296_4066121_5781223_n.jpg

sorry for yet again talking about old trafford on the st jame park thread but the north stand was demolished bar the old F and J stands.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs572.snc3/31233_398946893296_621518296_4066121_5781223_n.jpg

Well then don't. Find the right thread and post.:)

Well then don't. Find the right thread and post.:)

it was for the arsenal fan on here who didnt believe the north stand was demolished :bash:

http://i34.tinypic.com/28uo3gj.jpg

st james park in the early 80's

Oh dear! :ohno:

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/2546/dsc02255u.jpg

^^ that's hideous

http://www.tuesdaynightclub.co.uk/T95_Imag/95_1/95a152.jpg

bad picture, but shows the north stand being built at OT in1995 - this is taken from the canal that runs behind the north stand. You can clearly see construction is below the corners that remained.

Wish they were making this stadium bigger its a great stadium. But the owner is a **** its right in the heart of that city

Newcastle - Arsenal

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6062/6039521863_4ed0d92ae6_b.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/60507808@N05/6039521863/

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6192/6040827947_c1b71617de_b.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomw362/6040827947/

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6141/6040939567_380027f9d8_b.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13164072@N00/6040939567/

Whilst watching Match of the Day, I noticed that even the dugout seats have SportsDirect.com advertised on them now. :cripes:

Oh dear! :ohno:

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/2546/dsc02255u.jpg

Are they ever going to make this stand like the Sir John Hall stand ?

Think you mean the Sir bobby Robson stand

Think you mean the Sir bobby Robson stand

Can be. Sorry when I'm wrong.
But the point is, are the ever make the stand like the other one

Can be. Sorry when I'm wrong.
But the point is, are the ever make the stand like the other one

Don't think so. Mike Cashley don't really care

Great stadium.

Massive tier.

Yeah it does look like a baseball stadium with that big tier rapping around the pitch

:ohno:

Latest SJP Photos . .

http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv345/manorpark_photos/Newcastle%203/406971472.jpg

http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv345/manorpark_photos/Newcastle%203/20110927134235.jpg

^^^^ That is just ugly.

by Tam S (http://www.flickr.com/photos/saoralba/) http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4073/4801636194_e0b1ba644d_b.jpg

by $ourapple$ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/40610332@N05/) http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2681/4301768888_d0a3befaa9_b.jpg

by Photoblog.ie (Patrick Dinneen) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/pacork/) http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6177/6216986007_ce9f4aa5cc_b.jpg

Deeply the return of the great Newcastle ^^

by Paul J White (http://www.flickr.com/photos/pauljw/) http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2474/3779012004_727ff34328_o.jpg

by mrahayes (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrahayes/) http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3175/3091694107_e5dcef64eb_b.jpg

by Ahmed.. ID (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahmed-id/) http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1015/1480859896_a5f12e84d6_o.jpg

by shibuya88 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/56369857@N00/) http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1080/1318932043_d4ab924ace_o.jpg

by Ahmed.. ID (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahmed-id/) http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1079/1472759316_b4120e0ea5_o.jpg

by shibuya88 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/56369857@N00/) http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1399/1319817302_4e60ed7027_o.jpg

by Ahmed.. ID (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahmed-id/) http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2350/1804061206_c1b23346ea_o.jpg

by kpmst7 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kpmst7/) http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1372/639837051_315bf08a69_z.jpg?zz=1

http://images.wikia.com/olympic/images/5/51/St_James_Park.jpg



if you want to see more stadia pictures , Please visit below URL.


NewCastle ② (http://cafe.daum.net/stade/5Ay7/878)


NewCastle ① (http://cafe.daum.net/stade/5Ay7/267)



http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_eosGkndaIFM/RrhvIHNtUMI/AAAAAAAAAvg/rVAc0gLUGYo/s1600/st_james_park_aerial_view_350x240.jpg

such a lopsided stadium, its quite odd. but it is definitely one of the premier league's better ones. i love how mike ashley just plasters sportsdirect logo's all over the place. the guy truly doesnt give a toss what the supporters think!

Reading the St. James' Park thread in the UK section, someone has said that even more Sports Direct advertising is being added to the outside of the stadium. There really is no stopping Ashley, is there? :ohno:

Yep they have all around the stadium now.

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/9354443.Newcastle_United_rename_St_James__Park/

SPORTS DIRECT ARENA ! HELL NO

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/9354443.Newcastle_United_rename_St_James__Park/

SPORTS DIRECT ARENA ! HELL NO

Tough! The name sounds crappy but Newcastle are like almost every other club. They need the extra revenue to comply with the Financial Fair Play rules. Plus, if they expect to maintain their currently high PL status in ensuing seasons they will have to spend more money to bring in better players and keep the ones they already have (since they'll all want bigger contracts for being successful). Where do you suppose that extra money will come from?

Its still not fair to just throw 130 years away cos the players want to be paid more.

Its still not fair to just throw 130 years away cos the players want to be paid more.

What a load of rubbish, get a grip!

It's not a new stadium so the name won't stick, nothing to worry about, you might have several names in the years to come but everybody will only call it one. :)

My club plays at Valley Parade, everybody knows that. Recently we have been the Sonic something or other Stadium and the Pulse Stadium. I've just had a look on our website and whaddyaknow, it's now the Coral Windows Stadium, I had no idea...........it'll always be Valley Parade to us.

What a load of rubbish, get a grip!

It's not a new stadium so the name won't stick, nothing to worry about, you might have several names in the years to come but everybody will only call it one. :)

My club plays at Valley Parade, everybody knows that. Recently we have been the Sonic something or other Stadium and the Pulse Stadium. I've just had a look on our website and whaddyaknow, it's now the Coral Windows Stadium, I had no idea...........it'll always be Valley Parade to us.

I Never said it was MY Team !

I don't think it'll mean anything, it doesn't work with an old stadium, people are going to call it what they've always called it. Look at San Francisco, everyone called it Candlestick and it had like five different sponsors.

People even call Sports Authority Field (I had to look that up) "Mile High" and it's a replacement stadium.

Knowsley Road which was the home of St. Helens Rugby League Club got renamed the GPW recruitment stadium, but everyone still referred to it as the old name.

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/9354443.Newcastle_United_rename_St_James__Park/

SPORTS DIRECT ARENA ! HELL NO

Disgusting.

Might be going to this stadium in a few weeks, might upload some photo's. when I work out how

Mike ashley is a fat joker.

City leaders in plea to keep St James' Park name
by Andrew Glover, The Journal, January 21st 2012


CITY leaders have now written to media organisations calling on them to continue using the St James’ Park name. Newcastle City Council leader Nick Forbes and his opposite number David Faulkner have signed the letter which details a council motion that opposes the name change to the Sports Direct Arena.

Coun Forbes and Coun Faulkner say in the letter: “The motion requests that the city council write to the media and asks that they continue to use the name of St James’ Park in all reporting and refuse to use the name Sports Direct Arena."

“We respectfully request that you take this approach.

For its part, the city council has taken the decision not to change any wayfinding signs which bear the name St James’ Park, and also calls on the club to reconsider their decision to change the name of the ground.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2012/01/21/newcastle-city-leaders-in-plea-to-keep-st-james-park-name-61634-30168666/#ixzz1k5QSztXK

St James' Park signs removed from stadium entrance:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-17064694

Stills of the event shown on bbc news 24 at about 1350 - Horrible

At least the sports presenter showed sympathy

KEN



Following up on the above


See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-17064694 link to bbc news to see text and 21 second video showing removal by crowbar of final letters from St James' Park sign

KEN

Sports Direct Arena signs go up at St James' Park
Evening Chronicle, February 16th 2012

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nejournal/feb2012/4/7/army-image-2-387521354.jpghttp://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nechronical/feb2012/5/3/st-james-park-renamed-sports-direct-arena-217511904.jpg

NEWCASTLE UNITED have started the process of installing new Sport Direct Arena signs at St James' Park, prompting reaction from NUFC fans around the city.

NUFC revealed plans for the stadium name change back in November 2011, in a bid to pave the way for it to sell the naming rights to a corporate sponsor. It marked the end of an era on Tyneside as the historic stadium changed its name after 119 years as the home of Newcastle United.

The plans to re-brand the stadium, unveiled in November last year, sparked fierce criticism from fans who claimed the sports tycoon was erasing more than 130 years of history.

But yesterday, hoardings bearing the Sports Direct company name were painted outside the stadium and signs bearing the iconic St James’ Park name were wrenched down.

Officials from Newcastle United last night refused to comment, but managing director Derek Llambias said the name change could generate up to £10m in revenue for the club each year.

The club confirmed it was completing the final phase of the stadium’s re-branding, but said it would not be auctioning off the signage.


Read More - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news//tm_headline=sports-direct-arena-signs-go-up-at-st-james-park%26method=full%26objectid=30344585%26siteid=72703-name_page.html#ixzz1mYzNDS00
.

St James graffiti daubed on Newcastle United's ground
BBC Newcastle Website, 17th February 2012

http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv345/manorpark_photos/Newcastle%203/_58552905_graffiti.jpg

Graffiti was daubed at Newcastle United's ground hours after the St James' Park signs were removed. On Thursday the letters had been removed after November's announcement of the name change to the Sports Direct Arena.

The removal sparked anger among many fans and the words "St James" were written in white paint at the ground before being removed on Friday morning.

The club says the change is a temporary measure to "showcase" the sponsorship opportunity to "interested parties". The graffiti was written on one of the walls at the ground below where one of the St James' Park signs had been.


Read More - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-17071779

St James graffiti daubed on Newcastle United's ground
BBC Newcastle Website, 17th February 2012

http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv345/manorpark_photos/Newcastle%203/_58552905_graffiti.jpg

Graffiti was daubed at Newcastle United's ground hours after the St James' Park signs were removed. On Thursday the letters had been removed after November's announcement of the name change to the Sports Direct Arena.

The removal sparked anger among many fans and the words "St James" were written in white paint at the ground before being removed on Friday morning.

The club says the change is a temporary measure to "showcase" the sponsorship opportunity to "interested parties". The graffiti was written on one of the walls at the ground below where one of the St James' Park signs had been.


Read More - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-17071779


Radio Newcastle News at 1100 on 17/02/12 - "29 year old from Newbiggin Hall arrested and charged with criminal damage"

KEN

Financial expert criticises rebranding of St James' Park
by Dan Warburton, The Journal, February 18th 2012


A FINANCIAL expert last night criticised Mike Ashley’s efforts to re-brand St James’ Park and said huge Sports Direct hoardings threatened to devalue the marketing potential of Newcastle United. Managing director Derek Llambias said that club chiefs were targeting new revenue streams and advertising rights for the stadium could generate up to £10m a year, but in the wake of a decision to unceremoniously crowbar lettering from the stadium, Dr Joanna Berry, director of engagements for Newcastle University Business School, said potential investors may not want to associate themselves with the brand values of Mike Ashley’s company.

“I think having already put the Sports Direct brand up there as a sort of ‘to let’ sign makes it more difficult because if you become the sponsor that follows Sports Direct, in a sense you are associating yourself with the brand values of Sports Direct, which are not necessarily the brand values that a sophisticated, global, aspiring football club would necessarily want.

Dr Berry said: “I think if it had been left as just St James’ Park that carries with it such incredibly strong echoes of tradition and heritage and excellence and effort and all those great things. To take the St James’ Park name away and replace it with another one is a very big mistake. “You are devaluing the part of the football club brand that really has got associations of excellence.

One solution for potential investors would be buying the naming rights and giving the fans what they want, a ground with St James’ Park at the entrance. Dr Berry said: “They would certainly win the hearts and minds of millions of regional and also global football fans. “You’ve got to remember Newcastle United is a massive global brand, like Virgin is a global brand. There’s no reason why you couldn’t just rename it St James’ Park, stick your name on the shirt and other things ... in effect, give it back. I think there would be a huge value in that.”


Read More (Two Pages) - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2012/02/18/financial-expert-criticises-rebranding-of-st-james-park-61634-30354137/#ixzz1miuXQEjE

Who owns the pavement in front of the stadium where the signage was? What's to stop anyone standing there with a big fat St James' Park sign in front of whatever signs are put up? Is planning permission needed for a change to the signage?

The club had to apply for planning permission to put up the new signage facing Barrack Road and Strawberry Place, but once that signage is up, I dare say they can change what is actually on it, to a certain degree, when they want.

As for the 'St. James' Park' lettering, again, it may have required permission to put it there initially, but once its there, they can probably change the sign whenever, to whatever - its only if they wanted to add additional signage, they may require new permission.

EDIT: That application was put up signs with 'SD.com @ St James Park' - and they appear to have been abel to change them to 'SDA' without any council issues.

Security is upped at St James' Park after graffiti

by Michael Brown, Evening Chronicle Feb 22 2012

EXTRA security has been drafted in to stop more irate fans from attempting to return Newcastle United’s St James’ Park home to its former name.

Since Thursday, when workmen started removing the iconic lettering from the Magpies’ ground, two supporters have daubed the stadium walls with paint.

Now guards can be seen regularly patrolling the area, day and night, to prevent further attacks following the move to rename the stadium the Sports Direct Arena.

A spokesman for the club did not wish to comment about the new security measures or even confirm it was the black and whites who had hired them.

But judging by the mood of many of the Toon Army, it may yet save the club on cleaning costs.

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2012/02/22/security-is-upped-at-st-james-park-after-graffiti-72703-30381762/

Inevitable

MPs outrage over St James' Park name change

by William Green, Evening Chronicle Feb 23 2012

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nechronical/feb2012/5/5/the-st-james-park-sign-is-removed-from-712540125.jpg

QUESTIONS are being asked in the Commons about Toon tycoon Mike Ashley’s efforts to ban the name St James’ Park.

Gateshead Labour MP Ian Mearns has tabled a Parliamentary motion condemning the move and has urged the Newcastle United owner to reconsider his decision to rebrand the stadium the Sports Direct Arena.

Mr Mearns said the move left a “stain on my heart” as a Newcastle United fan and stirred emotions amongst his fellow parliamentarians.

The developments come after workmen were photographed removing the St James’ Park lettering from the ground.

Mr Mearns said: “To see the signs calling St James’ Park St James’ Park being crowbarred from the walls of the ground left a stain on my heart, certainly as a Newcastle United fan, and has stirred emotions amongst colleagues as well.”

His Early Day Motion – which has won support from other local MPs – condemns what it calls “corporate vandalism” and highlights opposition to the rebranding exercise. It notes how Newcastle City Council has passed a motion refusing to recognise the new name and decided not to change any signs bearing the name St James’ Park.

Read More http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2012/02/23/mps-outrage-over-st-james-park-name-change-72703-30391087/#ixzz1nCsnLp9C

Someone had to do it - I did not like doing it, but it had to be done for record purposes.

To show the state of the signs at St James' Park ( no way will I back down like the BBC and give its "new name" ) , Pictures taken by myself 28/02/12 approx 1000 ( hosted on Photobucket)

http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa358/KenOHeed/IMG_9753.jpg

http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa358/KenOHeed/IMG_9776.jpg

http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa358/KenOHeed/IMG_9785.jpg


And this one at main entrance on Barrack Road - the scene of the recent "pained signs"

http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa358/KenOHeed/IMG_9777.jpg

Horrible !

KEN

How long before somebody fixes up one of those remote-controlled helicopters with an easily activated spray can...

Would happily chip in for a cherry picker and get the emulsion out!! Are they permanent signs or canvas banners? Do signs like this need planning permission?

.....and now I know how to post photos on here, instead of just links!

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7057/6794850870_51fa62c06a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallrevolution/6794850870/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallrevolution/6794850870/) by Andy Welsh (http://www.flickr.com/people/wallrevolution/), on Flickr

St James’ Park Olympic matches to go into extra time
by Kim Carmichael, The Journal, March 3rd 2012

http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv345/manorpark_photos/Newcastle%204/6040827947_c1b71617de_b.jpg

FOOTBALL fans watching Olympic matches at St James’ Park will have to arrive at least two hours before kick-off, it has been revealed. Spectators have also been warned not to bring any bags into the stadium, or they will face lengthy security searches.

The announcement came as security chiefs make final preparations to the plans for the Games taking place later this year. A statement on the London 2012 website read: “We want your visit to St James' Park to be as memorable as possible.

“Make sure you’re prepared for your 2012 Games experience – and don’t forget to plan and book your travel in advance. We recommend you arrive at St James' Park up to two hours before your session starts so you have plenty of time to get through security checks and to your seat."

“When you get to the venue, you’ll be asked to go through security checks. With so much going on and thousands of people arriving at the same time, you should expect to wait. Please do not bring a bag – if you do bring a bag, it will be searched and may delay your entry to the venue. There is nowhere to store luggage.”

Newcastle’s 52,000-seater stadium is one of the venues to host fixtures in the Olympic football tournament, with nine matches to be played in July and early August, including a men’s quarter-final.


Read More (Two Pages) - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2012/03/03/st-james-park-olympic-matches-to-go-into-extra-time-61634-30449860/#ixzz1o2l76YeQ

if it's such an outrage over the signage and name change maybe people should take more drastic actions than just graffiti and vandalism. why not hold peaceful protests and NOT go to the matches at the stadium. the loss of revenue from ticket sales would send a pretty clear message.

MPs outrage over St James' Park name change

by William Green, Evening Chronicle Feb 23 2012

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nechronical/feb2012/5/5/the-st-james-park-sign-is-removed-from-712540125.jpg

QUESTIONS are being asked in the Commons about Toon tycoon Mike Ashley’s efforts to ban the name St James’ Park.

Gateshead Labour MP Ian Mearns has tabled a Parliamentary motion condemning the move and has urged the Newcastle United owner to reconsider his decision to rebrand the stadium the Sports Direct Arena.

Mr Mearns said the move left a “stain on my heart” as a Newcastle United fan and stirred emotions amongst his fellow parliamentarians.

The developments come after workmen were photographed removing the St James’ Park lettering from the ground.

Mr Mearns said: “To see the signs calling St James’ Park St James’ Park being crowbarred from the walls of the ground left a stain on my heart, certainly as a Newcastle United fan, and has stirred emotions amongst colleagues as well.”

His Early Day Motion – which has won support from other local MPs – condemns what it calls “corporate vandalism” and highlights opposition to the rebranding exercise. It notes how Newcastle City Council has passed a motion refusing to recognise the new name and decided not to change any signs bearing the name St James’ Park.

Read More http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2012/02/23/mps-outrage-over-st-james-park-name-change-72703-30391087/#ixzz1nCsnLp9C

As much as some people outside of Newcastle may say Newcastle Utd need to get with the times, I applaud the fans, the council and the MPs for their determined stance. :applause:

I've always been open minded with progression and ways of making money but this is the first time I would agree with the term 'corporate vandalism'.

Its been on the BBC Local news for weeks interviewing fans, council leaders, dogs,cats and sunderland fans. Its getting to a point where its overkill

When is Ashley changing the colour of the seats? :lol:

When is Ashley changing the colour of the seats? :lol:

End of the season ? Next footballing break ? Think he will write sports direct arena on the seats like other clubs do it so why not newcastle

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/newcastle-united/9124262/Newcastle-United-revival-reaches-boardroom-as-club-prepare-to-announce-return-to-profit.html
Newcastle United revival reaches boardroom as club prepare to announce return to profit
Newcastle United’s success this season has not been confined to their activity on the pitch as the club prepare to release healthy financial figures which will strengthen their claim to be considered among the Premier League’s elite group.

By Luke Edwards

11:59PM GMT 05 Mar 2012

As the dust settles on a fractious derby draw with Sunderland, Newcastle will reflect on the five-point gap they have opened up over seventh-placed Liverpool, as well as the 10-point advantage they hold over their neighbours.

But, with Uefa Financial Fair Play regulations to punish clubs who spend beyond their means, Newcastle’s economic vitality is just as important as the improvements manager Alan Pardew has fashioned.

With only 11 games left, Newcastle are confident they are good enough to qualify for the Europa League and there will be more good news from the boardroom later this week.

Managing director Derek Llambias has overseen a remarkable shift in the health of the club’s accounts and Newcastle are likely to have bucked the Premier League trend and will not record a loss for the first time since Mike Ashley bought the club in the summer of 2007.

The club have also announced a nine-year season ticket price freeze for fans who renew this summer.

Those figures will not include player trading, although Telegraph Sport understands there is still some money left from the sale of Andy Caroll to Liverpool for £35million last year, despite the £10million signing of Papiss Demba Cissé in January.

Despite his unpopularity, inflamed again this season by the decision to rename St James’ Park the Sports Direct Arena, Ashley has dramatically improved the club as a business.

MPs urge Ashley to restore St James's Park name
by William Green, Evening Chronicle, March 6th 2012


TOON owner Mike Ashley has been urged by dozens of MPs to restore the name St James’ Park to Newcastle United. From Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland, 34 MPs have signed a Parliamentary motion calling for a rethink over the rebranding of St James’ Park as the Sports Direct Arena.

They include Liberal Democrats, such as Berwick’s Sir Alan Beith, along with Northern Irish DUP MP Gregory Campbell and former Labour Cabinet members Nick Brown and Frank Dobson. Tyne and Wear MPs have also signed the motion, tabled by Gateshead’s Ian Mearns.

Mr Mearns said it was a “good show of solidarity” and that he was still hoping for more signatures this week. The Early Day Motion expresses deep regret at the rebranding of St James’ Park and “condemns the corporate vandalism perpetrated by the club’s owners in removing the name St James’ Park from the stadium.”


Read More - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2012/03/06/mps-urge-ashley-to-restore-st-james-s-park-name-72703-30469935/#ixzz1oLCTWSOI

rubbish :ohno:

those mp want also to pay the players wages?

SportsDirect can fuck off

newcastle united fans are never happy! mike ashley took over a club in decline and albeit they went down on his watch they have come back up and he has managed to turn the club into a proper business which is starting to show results on and off the pitch. he has put his hands in his pockets and brought in players like ba, cabaye, santon and cisse and was proven to be absolutely right about letting the likes of nolan, barton and carroll go as well as bringing in alan pardew for chris houghton. so be it if he wants to create more revenue streams, its for the benefit of newcastle united! nobody is asking anyone to call SJP sports direct arena... its just branding. call it whatever you want! at the end of the day its time for newcastle fans to accept what they have and stop with the moaning and groaning which has helped to destablise that great club too many times in the past. rant over.

rubbish :ohno:

those mp want also to pay the players wages?

and what does that have to do with stadium's historical name?

Someone had to do it - I did not like doing it, but it had to be done for record purposes.

To show the state of the signs at St James' Park ( no way will I back down like the BBC and give its "new name" ) , Pictures taken by myself 28/02/12 approx 1000 ( hosted on Photobucket)

Horrible !

KEN
If this is how Ashley wants to 'present' the possibilities of naming rights to potential sponsors, we shouldn't expect anyone being interested any time soon. Or any time at all. It looks horrible even when you try to forget the whole story behind name change.

newcastle united fans are never happy! mike ashley took over a club in decline and albeit they went down on his watch they have come back up and he has managed to turn the club into a proper business which is starting to show results on and off the pitch. he has put his hands in his pockets and brought in players like ba, cabaye, santon and cisse and was proven to be absolutely right about letting the likes of nolan, barton and carroll go as well as bringing in alan pardew for chris houghton. so be it if he wants to create more revenue streams, its for the benefit of newcastle united! nobody is asking anyone to call SJP sports direct arena... its just branding. call it whatever you want! at the end of the day its time for newcastle fans to accept what they have and stop with the moaning and groaning which has helped to destablise that great club too many times in the past. rant over.
Actually, stadium operators often urge people to call stadiums by their naming right owners so you're wrong about nobody asking anyone. You're also completely wrong about the position of fans here. It's completely understandable, they've been served a very doubtful explanation/excuse for the name change, the club was never interested in what supporters think and the club does receive NO REVENUE from the branding. If my club announced a stupid decision like that, disrespectful to my club's history, making a mockery of the club, I'd be pretty pissed of as well.

Actually, stadium operators often urge people to call stadiums by their naming right owners so you're wrong about nobody asking anyone. You're also completely wrong about the position of fans here. It's completely understandable, they've been served a very doubtful explanation/excuse for the name change, the club was never interested in what supporters think and the club does receive NO REVENUE from the branding. If my club announced a stupid decision like that, disrespectful to my club's history, making a mockery of the club, I'd be pretty pissed of as well.

that's a weak argument in my opinion, which is what my post was. in south africa we've had most of our stadiums renamed. ellis park was changed to coca-cola park a few years back, i can guarantee you nobody calls it that. newlands cricket stadium was renamed sahara park, everyone still calls it newlands. soccer city's official name is fnb stadium but everyone calls it soccer city. even our rugby teams have been given corporate names. the blue bulls are the vodacom bulls, but everyone calls them the bulls and the stormers are the dhl stormers, yet everyone calls them the stormers. the point im trying to make is they're only corporate tags used primarily by the media. there is no obligation from the fans to use those names and most fans don't. if mike ashley wants to name the stadium timbuck two park then that is his choice. he owns the club and all the finance comes out of his pocket.. it doesn't mean his approach is right but lets be honest the fans turned him into what he is today.. it was their attitude towards him that gave him the fuck you attitude he shows towards them today. i think he has a genuine passion to make newcastle a profitable, successful club and his attitude towards certain sections of the fans is if you don't want to join me tough. at least he isn't taking profits out of the club like a certain mr glazer and his family. all he has done is inject funds into newcastle and for that he should be applauded.

Sports Dircet paid newcastle United to £10million for the naming rights

The only thing I like about this stadium is that it´s ´different´...

http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/1533/captureexl.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/831/captureexl.jpg/)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/mar/08/newcastle-fans-sports-direct-stadium

^^^ Yeah that was just on the news was hoping for them to show any video's of what had happened but no luck. Only 3,000 fans were at the game which is ok for a reserve's game

:ohno:

so they should tear them down!

Well done to the geordies who tore the banners down:cheers:

^^ Yeah that was just on the news was hoping for them to show any video's of what had happened but no luck. Only 3,000 fans were at the game which is ok for a reserve's game


OEc9DHbWsFY

Will be interesting to see Ashley's response to this.