St James’ Park

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	Capacity		52,387
	Opened		1892
	Owner		Freemen of Newcastle upon Tyne
	Pitch Dimensions		344 × 223 feet

St James’ Park is an all-seater football ground in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, the home of Newcastle United Football Club, and the oldest football stadium in the North East of England. Located in the centre of Newcastle, its white cantilever roof is visible across the city, and is the largest cantilever in Europe.

Occupied by the Toon Army fan-base in the Milburn Stand, the East Stand, the Leazes End and the Gallowgate End, the ground has been the home ground of Premier League club Newcastle United since 1892, and been used for football since 1880. Throughout its history, the desire for expansion has caused conflict with local residents and the local council. This has led to proposals to move at least twice times, in the late 1960s, and a controversial 1995 proposed move to nearby Leazes Park. Reluctance to move has led to the distinctive lop-sided appearance of the present day stadium, due to asymmetrical stands.

Besides club football, the stadium has also been used for international football, charity football, rock concerts, as a film set and by a reality television show.

Architecture

The Milburn stand is the ‘main’ stand of the stadium, housing the main entrance, lifts and escalators behind a glass fronted atrium. The dugouts and player’s tunnel is located in the traditional position of the middle of the main stand.

Behind the seating terraces of the stands, the Milburn/Leazes structure contains 4 concourse levels, the Gallowgate End has three concourse levels, and the East stand has two concourse levels.

The stadium has a lop-sided asymmetrical appearance from the air and from some angles from ground level, due to the discrepency in height of one side and end of the ground, compared to the others. The height difference of the Leazes/Milburn complex over the other stands allows views of the city centre from many seating positions inside the ground. Further expansion of the Gallowgate End could potentially produce a more balanced horseshoe arrangement of equal height stands, similar to that of Celtic Park .

The Milburn stand and Leazes end are double tiered, separated by a level of executive boxes; The East Stand and Gallowgate End are single tiered, with boxes also at the top of the Gallowgate. The three newest sides, the Milburn Stand, Leazes End and Gallowgate End are of structural steel frame and pre-cast concrete construction. In common with many new or expanded British football stadiums, the traditional box shaped ‘stands’ were augmented in the 1993 expansion by filling in the corners to maximise available seating, up to a uniform height. The Milburn Stand and Leazes End now rise higher than this level, up to Level 7, inclusive of the joining north west corner, covered by a one piece catilevered glass roof. A further smaller stand section rises above this level behind the Gallowgate End.

The 1998 built steel truss cantilever roof above the Milburn/Leazes complex is the largest cantilever structure in Europe at 64.5 metres, eclipsing the 58m cantilevers of Manchester United’s Old Trafford.

Seating layout

The current stadium design offers an unobstructed view of the pithc from all areas of the ground. The Milburn is the location of the directors box and press boxes, and the main TV camera point for televised games such as Match of the Day.

Away fans for league matches are usually accommodated in the upper level, in the north west corner, which can hold a maximum of 3,000 fans. This location has attracted criticism due to the poor view offered by being so far from the pitch due the the height of the stand, and the 14 flights of stairs to reach the upper level. For FA Cup matches the lower section of the corner is also used.

The traditional home of the more vocal fans is considered the Gallowgate End, in the same veign as The Kop for Liverpool FC. The Gallowgate End is the end that the team attacks in the second half if they win the coin toss. In recent years there has been unnofficial fan movement to create a singing section in the Leazes End upper tier, partly to counter the away fans, and partly to recreate some atmosphere lost since the recent expansion over 36,000. The Leazes End also houses the official Family Enclosure.

The stadium houses premium priced seating areas designated into clubs, each with their own access to a bar and lounge behind the stand for use before the match and at half-time. The Platinum Club, Bar 1892, Sovereign Club and the Black & White Club are in the Milburn Stand, and the Sports Bar is in the Leazes End.

The Gallowgate End houses Shearer’s Bar, effectively another city centre nightspot in Newcastle, accessible only from the exterior of the ground, named in honour of former player Alan Shearer. The Gallowgate also houses a large club shop in partnership with main kit sponsor Adidas, a police station. The Milburn stand houses the main box-office. In the south west corner there is also a cafe and a club museum.

(source .. wikipedia) reproduced under GFDL

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Newcastle United FC official website
St James’ Park wikipedia entry
NUFC.com fansite
Talk of The Tyne fansite
Toon-Army.co.uk fansite
newcastle-online.com fansite
The Football Association
The Premier League Website
Bet with Paddy Power

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