This season’s visit to Newcastle United is tomorrow night with an 8.15pm kick-off, and it’s live on Sky TV. You’ll find St. James' Park on the north-western edge of the city centre.

If you’re driving in you need to follow the A1(M) till the end, then continue on the A1 and then the A184 towards Newcastle. Continue along this road, bearing left onto the A189. Continue over the River Tyne on the Redheugh Bridge, from which the ground can be clearly seen. Carry on straight up the dual carriageway (St James Boulevard) and you can’t miss it.

As the ground is central parking is limited nearby, but you can park at Newcastle College, which is 10-15 minutes walk from the stadium and costs £4. To get there cross the Tyne on the A189, then go left at the next set of traffic lights (signposted A695 Blaydon/Metro Radio Arena) and then right at the next roundabout. The club operate a park-and-ride service from the MetroCentre, which is close to the A1 to the south-west of the city and costs £2 return, while the parking itself is free.

Another option will be to park south of the river in Gateshead and cross the city by the Tyne and Wear metro, which is “part of everyday life” according to it’s own website. A direct line leads to Monument station, which is only a short distance away, though you can change onto the other line and travel one station further to St. James', which as the name suggests is right outside the stadium.

If you’re going up by train then it’s going to take quite a while to get back, as you’d have to get the 22.41 after the game, and then spend a no doubt pleasant one and a half hours changing at York. At least Newcastle Central Station is only be about half a mile from the ground. To get there you need to cross the two zebra crossings outside the station and then head up the pedestrianised Pink Lane.

Then cross Westgate Road at the top. Then up pedestrianised Bath Lane with the old city walls on your right. Turn right onto Stowell Street (Chinatown). At the end of Stowell Street bear left up St Andrews Street by Rosie’s Bar, under the ornate Chinese arch. Then left up Gallowgate. St James is on your right.

The best pubs for away fans are usually the ones around the Station, including the 'A Head Of Steam' 'The Lounge' and 'The Newcastle Tap'. Options just the other side of the stadium are the ‘Percy Arms’ on Percy St and the ‘Trent House’ on Leazes Ln, while hardcore real ale fans can head for the CAMRA-listed ‘Bodega’ on Westgate Road.

For the first few years after going all-seater the capacity was only 32,800 and the home areas were sold out to season ticket holders, with a waiting list of 10,000 others, yet when the club wanted to build a larger new stadium on the nearby Leazes Park a protest group ensured they were denied planning permission.

This left them to develop St. James' Park at a cost of £42m, putting huge extra tiers on top of two of the stands, including the largest cantilever structure in Europe, bringing the current capacity up to 52,405.

We have an allocation of 2,918 seats on level 7 at the top of the Sir John Hall Stand. Getting there invoices a climb of 14 flights of stairs and you end up a long way from the action, so it’s not recommended for anyone who suffers from short-sightedness, vertigo or problems with climbing that number of stairs.

On the plus side there is plenty of legroom and a good selection of pies from the tea bars. Ticket prices are £30 for adults, with different categories of concessions at £27 and £22. Fans under 13 years of age must be accompanied by an adult. It’s no surprise that they have already sold out. Home tickets are only on sale to Newcastle members, and it looks like they have also sold out.

The Club are looking at various options as to how they can increase the capacity of the stadium. to at least 60,000. These mostly involve the redevelopment of the Gallowgate End and the East Stand, but this is facing a few difficulties. There is a conservation area around the East Stand, and a Metro tunnel beneath the Gallowgate, which would limit how much weight can be placed on top of it.

The other option is to revive the idea of building a brand new stadium in nearby Leazes park, but this will run into opposition just as it did in the 1990s. Any plans would be subject to local authority approval, and as of yet no formal timescales have been announced as to when any of this might take place.

Some of this stuff came from www.footballgroundguide.com.

Reuters