St James' Park

Hi there!

In this picture taken almost six years ago you can see me to the left and my mother next to me, but you should rather focus on the background. There you can see the great football stadium in Newcastle, in the north-east of England. The stadium has for commercial reason recently been renamed to Sports Direct Arena, but the most people still uses the old name, St James' Park.

The historical perspective is a little bit strained, but since I've found this picture I wanted to use it. Anyhow, the stadium still has a story to tell.
The first football was played here in 1880, and the stadium became the home of Newcastle United in 1892. With the first stands built seven years later, the stadium had its first official capacity of 30 000 spectators (standing). During the years, small extensions were made, but due to political disagreements, any significant renovations weren't made until the 1990s. But in 1995 the stadium was largely rebuilt with a new capacity of almost 37 000 (all seated).

However, that wasn't enough for the growing crowd of supporters and in July 2000 the stadium was enlarged once more. The capacity is now over 52 000 (all-seated), making it the sixth largest football stadium in the United Kingdom.

In 2006 I visited Newcastle and St James' Park to see Newcastle-Everton (1-1), a fantastic experience.

/ Joakim