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EnergyAustralia Stadium is an Australian stadium, located in Newcastle, New South Wales. It is the home ground of the Newcastle Knights rugby league and Newcastle United Jets football teams. It is owned and managed by the Hunter International Sports Centre Trust.
Work began on the stadium on December 1, 1967, and was offically opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on the April 10, 1970. It was originally known as the International Sports Centre, and is still part of the ISC complex to this day.
The Knights secured a lease on the stadium in 1986, and converted it from an oval to a rectangle layout. In the early 1990's, local tyre outlet Marathon Tyres became the naming rights sponsor for the stadium, and it was renamed Marathon Stadium. Toward the late 1990's, energy supplier EnergyAustralia took over naming rights, and thus the stadium became EnergyAustralia Stadium.
Before redevelopment, the stadium had a capacity of 28,000, including 5,000 in the main grandstand. The ground attendance record is 32,642, which was set when the Knights took on the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in July 1995.
Redevelopment
The stadium is currently under going redevelopment, funded mostly by local and state government grants. Further development will depend on funding from the federal government, who have not committed money to the project yet.
Factors that brought on the redevelopment included
- non-compliance of NRL and NSL stadium criteria, especially the dressing rooms
- failure to attract major sporting events to the area
- inadequate and ageing spectator and corporate facilities
- covered seating capacity well below best practice and NRL standards
- minimal areas within the grandstand to increase members' patronage both during a sporting event and on non-match-days
- poor facilities for media officials
- unsatisfactory temporary spectator facilities to the north and south of the western stand
So far, the first stage of the redevelopment has been completed. This consisted of:
- The construction of the lower level of the Eastern Stand (brought into operation for the 2004 NRL season and Anzac Test between Australia and New Zealand). This level holds 7,700 people.
- The relocation of corporate boxes and seating to the North and South stands.
The second stage of construction is well underway, with the construction of the Eastern Stand's second level of seating and corporate boxes. Other features to be added include a new scoreboard, seats for the northern and southern ends, and remedial work for the Western Grandstand, including updating the media facilities.
When the revelopment is completed, it will become a state of the art stadium, with capacity for around 27,000, and making it the premier sports venue in Northern New South Wales.
External Links
Hunter International Sports Centre Trust (http://www.hunterisc.com)
EnergyAustralia Stadium page at Austadiums.com (http://www.austadiums.com/stadiums/stadiums.php?id=46)
EnergyAustralia Stadium page at newcastleknights.com.au (http://www.newcastleknights.com.au/about/stadium.asp)
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