- Address: Barrack Road, Newcastle upon Tyne
- Country: United Kingdom
- Capacity: 52,000
- Opened: 1892
- Main use: Football
- Tenants: Newcastle United (football)
Extra stadium info – St. James’ Park
The stadium is among the largest venues by capacity in the United Kingdom. It is known as a venue for several events, like concerts, football, rugby league and rugby union. The St. James’ Park was one of the eight 1996 UEFA European Football Championship venues. The stadium’s first UEFA European Football Championship match was won by the national football team of the French Republic, commonly known as France. They won the game after beating Romania in front of 26,000 spectators. In 2012, the St. James’ Park was one of the venues for the Games of the XXX Olympiad. The St. James’ Park was one of the six football venues for the world-famous sports event.
Statues and Alan Shearer
Several statues of former football players can be found around the stadium. One of those statues is a statue of Alan Shearer, who played as a forward for Newcastle United. He became the Premier League’s record goalscorer. Shearer started his professional football career with Southampton FC in 1988. In 1992, he signed with the Blackburn Rovers. Between 1996 and 2006, Shearer played hundreds of matches for Newcastle United. The former striker scored numerous goals for the national football team of England.
Newcastle United and Sunderland AFC
Newcastle United Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, moved to the stadium named St. James Park in 1892. The stadium’s record attendance was broken in 1930, when 68,000 people showed up for a match between Newcastle United and Chelsea. NUFC and their arch-rivals Sunderland AFC became the first sports clubs from Tyne and Wear with 1 million followers on their main social media page. They both won the English top-flight football league several times. In 1892, Sunderland AFC were crowned English football champions for the first time in their history. Newcastle United won their first-ever English top-flight football league title in 1905. They won 23 of their 34 domestic league games in that football season. Two of those 34 games ended in a draw.
The group stage of the UEFA Champions League
In 1997, NUFC made their debut in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. 24 clubs participated in the tournament, which became the first sports competition with 100 million followers on its main social media page. Newcastle United faced Dynamo Kyiv from Ukraine, FC Barcelona from Spain and PSV from the Netherlands in the group stage. They finished third place in the group stage of the European championship for football clubs.
UEFA Champions League matches
NUFC won their first UEFA Champions League match against FC Barcelona 3-2. The game took place at the St. James’ Park in front of 35,000 fans. Faustino Hernán Asprilla Hinestroza scored three goals for NUFC in that match. Luis Enrique Martínez García and Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo both scored for FC Barcelona in the game. Serhiy Stanislavovych Rebrov, Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko, Wilhelmus Maria Jonk, Luc Gilbert Cyrille Nilis, Gilles De Bilde and Giovanni Silva de Oliveira also scored against NUFC in that UEFA Champions League season. Newcastle United drew 2-2 against Dynamo Kyiv in their second UEFA Champions League match. They lost their third UEFA Champions League game against PSV from Eindhoven.
A purchase
On 7 October 2021, Newcastle United was bought for £300 million by a consortium led by the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. The purchase made NUFC a financial powerhouse in the Premier League. In 2023, Newcastle United played their first UEFA Champions League match since the purchase. Their previous UEFA Champions League game took place various years earlier.
Average home attendance
In 2023, NUFC were qualified for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League after finishing fourth place in the Premier League. They drew an average home attendance of 52,000 in that Premier League season. Arsenal, Liverpool FC, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United were the only English sports clubs with a higher average home attendance in that league season. That league season, they all played in the Premier League.


