Home > Back the World Cup Bid >

NewcastleGateshead

NewcastleGateshead has a long history of passion when it comes to the beautiful game. The area is steeped in footballing history, providing the footballing world with some of the best players, managers, personalities and fans the country has ever seen, so it's no surprise that NewcastleGateshead was one of the first cities to put their name down as a potential host for England's 2018 World Cup bid.

The home of football in NewcastleGateshead is St. James' Park, which was selected as one of the grounds for Euro '96. It played host to three matches in total in the group made up of France, Spain, Bulgaria and Romania. Since then the ground capacity has been extended to house just over 52,000 supporters and has hosted competitive England internationals, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League football.

St. James' is also one of the five stadia that has been selected to play host to the 2012 Olympic football tournaments.

Alongside St. James' Park, there are a number of training facilities available for visiting nations. Kingston Park, Blyth's Croft Park, the Riverside Stadium and Gateshead FC's proposed Prince Consort Road ground are all free for teams to use should the bid be successful.

NewcastleGateshead is also home to a fantastic transport infrastructure, with Newcastle Airport, a mainline railway, the Metro system and a ferry terminal all serving the area. Bid officials are hoping that the central location of St. James' Park in comparison with accomodation for fans, officials and media alike will encourage them to travel on foot, reducing the impact on the environment.