St. James’ Park is a 52,000-seater football stadium, home to Newcastle United, located on Barrack Road. It opened when the club was established in 1892, and has since been renovated three times, the most recent being 25 years ago. Sometimes referred to as ‘The Cathedral on the Hill,’ Geordies congregate inside the stadium week-in, week-out to be dazzled or disappointed by their beloved football team.
My first visit to St. James’ Park was when I was six years old in 2010. It was a summer pre-season friendly against PSV Eindhoven, which ended 2-2. Since then, I’ve attended matches in the Premier League, Championship, Carabao Cup, FA Cup and, for the first time this season, the coveted Champions’ League. I’ve visited for other events too: I saw local artist Sam Fender perform twice and watched women’s football games during the London 2012 Olympics.
Ever since the infamous takeover of Newcastle United in 2021, ticket demand has shot through the roof, making it increasingly rare to actually go to the stadium at all. I manage through a variety of methods: the ballot, the general sale, the re-sale and the kindness of people passing their tickets on.
Due to all of these different methods, I’ve sat in various different parts of the stadium. There are four stands: Leazes, East, Milburn and Gallowgate. The last of these is my favourite. It’s home to the singing Strawberry Corner, completely opposite to the away fans and is the preferred end of the players to shoot in the second half (as the pitch is ever so slightly tilted towards it). Most of all, the Gallowgate end is home to my dad’s season ticket, and my favourite seat out all 52,000 is the one right next to him.
It’s home to the singing Strawberry Corner, completely opposite to the away fans and is the preferred end of the players to shoot in the second half (as the pitch is ever so slightly tilted towards it).
In this past year, there’s been a lot of buzzing conversations about the possibility of a new stadium, in order to satisfy the growing demand for tickets. There’s rumours flying around that Leazes Park would be the site for it, as to not move it too far away from the original area. On one hand, a new stadium might mean I wouldn’t have to spend hours of my life refreshing the resale site. On the other, I’ve seen football clubs ruined by a shiny new stadium, case-and-point West Ham and the London Stadium.
In Leazes Park, I took a really deep breath. The air was warmer than expected, but still very clear. The little ducks swam in the lake beneath my feet. The sky was ready to envelope St. James’ Park into the darkness. A sleeping giant. We are so very lucky.