Kingston Park is home to Rugby Union and League side Newcastle Falcons and Newcastle Thunder respectively. The stadium has a capacity of 10,200 and was built in 1990 for Newcastle Falcons (formerly known as Newcastle Gosforth) who purchased the stadium for £55,000.
Table of Contents
Stadium Guide by Rugby Tripper
History
Northern Rock Bank bought the stadium in 2007 for £14,756,646, however, Newcastle Falcons continued to lease the stadium in order to play there. Northumbria University bought the stadium for an undisclosed fee in 2008 before selling it to its original owners Newcastle Falcons in June 2015. To this day, Newcastle Falcons own and the surrounding land including the car park which generates a lot of matchday income.
Between the years of 2007 and 2009, semi-professional football team Newcastle Blue Star played at Kingston Park, however, they had to fold due to financial troubles. The club was reformed in 2018 but do not play at Kingston Park. Newcastle United’s reserve team and academy side have both played matches at Kingston Park, however, these days they play at either Whitley Park or St James’ Park which is where the first team play their home games.
In 2014, an artificial pitch was approved by Premiership Rugby to become only the second artificial pitch in the league following Saracens’ Barnet Copthall Stadium. Further developments are planned with the North Stand set to be expanded in order to provide more facilities, more capacity and better protection from wind and rain.
The 2021 Rugby League World Cup will host 3 matches in Group B with Fiji vs Scotland, Fiji vs Italy and Scotland vs Italy all set to take place in October and November 2021. The 2015 Rugby World Cup was held in England, however, Kingston Park was selected to host matches, nor was it proposed as a potential venue.