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St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United. With a seating capacity of 52,350 seats, it is the 8th largest football stadium in England. St James' Park has been the home ground of Newcastle United F.C. since 1892 and has 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 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's asymmetrical stands. Besides club football, St James' Park has also been used for international football, at the 2012 Olympics, for the rugby league Magic Weekend, rugby union World Cup, Premiership and England Test matches, charity football events, rock concerts, and as a set for film and reality television. History Early history The site of St James' Park was originally a patch of sloping grazing land, bordered by Georgian Leazes Terrace, and near the historic Town Moor, owned by the Freemen of the city, both factors that later affected development of the ground, with the local council being the landlord of the site. Leazes Terrace was built c1830 by notable Newcastle residents, architect Thomas Oliver and builder Richard Grainger. Once the residence of high society in Newcastle, it is now a Grade 1 listed building, and, recently refurbished, is currently being used as self-catering postgraduate student accommodation by Newcastle University. The site was also near the gallows of the city, last used in 1844, lending the Gallowgate End its name. The first football team to play at St James' Park was Newcastle Rangers in 1880. They moved to a ground at Byker in 1882, then returned briefly to St James' Park in 1884 before folding that year. Newcastle West End took over the ground in 1886. West End were wound up in 1892 and effectively merged into their rivals Newcastle East End, who took over the lease of St James' Park and became Newcastle United later that year. On 3 September 1892, Newcastle East End played its first game on the football ground. Local residents opposition to football being played at St James' dated back to the first games in the Football League following the building of the first small stand at the Gallowgate End. A redeveloped Gallowgate and further stands followed in 1899, bringing the first official capacity to 30,000 (standing). While the stadium is now synonymous with the Black and Whites, Newcastle United actually played in red and white at St James' Park until 1904. In 1905, a doubling of capacity to 60,000, with a main stand on the Barrack Road (now Milburn Stand), and major other stands, produced a state-of-the-art facility, even boasting a swimming pool. The second-ever rugby league test match, and first test victory by Great Britain, was played at the ground in 1908 against the touring Australian Kangaroos side on 23 January 1909. 1920–1990 Between 1920 and 1930, plans were drawn up for a double-tiered stand by notable football architect Archibald Leitch. However, after planning disputes, all that was achieved was a small roof over the Leazes Terrace side (Sir John Hall Stand). Floodlights were constructed in the 1950s, with the first match played using them held on 25 February 1953 against Celtic. Up until the 1960s planning difficulties continued, culminating in lack of development of the ground being cited as the reason for failure of Newcastle United to secure the right to host a group stage of the upcoming 1966 World Cup following political disputes. In the late 1960s further attempts were made to develop the site, and the council proposed a multi-use sports development of St. James' Park. This was rejected as not financially viable. Plans were drawn up by the club for a move to a stadium in Gosforth, or even a groundshare with Sunderland A.F.C. in a new stadium on Wearside. These plans were withdrawn in 1971 after agreement to redevelop St James' Park was finally reached, after mediation by the then Minister for Sport, Denis Howell. In 1972, work started on the East Stand, 50 years after it was last permitted to be developed. In 1978 the Leazes End was demolished, but relegation and financial difficulties meant the new stand was not built. Investigations following the Bradford City stadium fire in 1985 identified a need to replace the ageing West Stand, which was demolished in 1986. Its replacement, the Milburn Stand, was named in honour of Jackie Milburn and opened in 1987. Further development was again shelved for lack of finance. Sir John Hall era Until the early 1990s the ground had achieved only modest expansion under various owners, with plans dogged by disputes and lack of finance due to poor on-field performances. In January 1992 businessman Sir John Hall, who had led the Magpie Group consortium in a hostile takeover of the club, was installed as chairman. Sir John used his experience in property development to rapidly gain approval and invested heavily in the stadium with finances gained from success under new manager Kevin Keegan. 1993 expansion The Leazes End that had been demolished but not replaced was finally rebuilt, and opened as the Sir John Hall stand for Newcastle's debut season in the Premiership in 1993. The Gallowgate End was rebuilt, the Milburn Stand modified, and a new pitch, drainage and floodlights were installed. With all four corners filled in with seating, by 1995 the stadium had reached a capacity of 36,610. Proposed Leazes Park development As the expanded stadium still received full houses due to continuing success of the team led by the returning Kevin Keegan, in 1995, plans were submitted by the club to relocate to Leazes Park to the north. A new £65m purpose-built 55,000-seat stadium would be erected, less than two pitch lengths away from the original, but rotated, which would be similar to the San Siro in Italy. The old ground would be redeveloped to be used by Newcastle Falcons Rugby Club, as part of the wider envisaged 'Sporting Club of Newcastle', with basketball and ice-hockey teams purchased by Sir John Hall. Leazes Park was historically part of the Town Moor, owned by the Freemen of Newcastle, and protected by the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Town Moor Act 1988. The City council initially invited the planning proposal amid suggestions that the club might move to a site in Gateshead, a 75,000-seat stadium next to Gateshead International Stadium, but it led to political debate and opposition. A pressure group "No Business on the Moor" eventually gathered a 36,000-petition signature, equal to the then-current stadium capacity. Opposition also came from a conservation group Friends of Leazes Park led by Dolly Potter. The club proposed to mitigate the loss of the moor land with proposals for a land trade-off with landscaping of land freed up by .... Discover the James Park popular books. Find the top 100 most popular James Park books.