McDonald Jones Stadium
Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium is a rectangular stadium located in the regional NSW city. It’s a massive outdoor arena with a 30,000-crowd capacity.
It is part Venues NSW’s portfolio which includes Newcastle Entertainment Centre Showground, ANZ Stadium, Bankwest Stadium, and Wollongong’s WIN Stadium and Entertainment Centre.
The site was officially inaugurated by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II herself on the 10th of April, 1970. It was originally known by two names, the Newcastle Stadium and the International Sports Centre. Currently, it is considered the centre of the Hunter Venues sports precinct.
The McDonald Jones Stadium has been the subject of several name changes, including Marathon Stadium in 1992-2001, EnergyAustralia Stadium in 2001-2011, Ausgrid Stadium in 2011-2012, and now settled in its current name. At one point, it was known as the Hunter Stadium during the time that it still had no naming-rights agreement, and also as Newcastle Stadium during the 2015 Asian Cup. Browse around this site.
The multi-purpose stadium is home to Newcastle’s two flagship sporting franchises, namely: the Newcastle Knights and the Newcastle Jets.
The Knights have won the NRL Premiership twice: in 1997 and 2001. On the other hand, the Jets won in the 2008 Hyundai A-League Grand Final.
The arena was the home of the Newcastle Knights soccer team from 1988 until 2011, when the state government took over management. Discover More about Newcastle here.
The Stadium has undergone significant redevelopment since the building of the Andrew Johns Grandstand in 2003. In the four years that followed, the Western Grandstand was demolished and rebuilt.
The Western grandstand was launched in April 2011 and highlights its 13,500 seats, five function rooms, 21 corporate suites, eight food and beverage outlets, and boasts itself a first-class player change room and media facilities.
Because of its state-of-the-art design and amenities, it has won several prestigious building and construction industry awards, including the 2012 Engineering Excellence Awards for Engineers and Aurecon. The subsequent redevelopment project was cited with the Newcastle’s Master Builders Association award for Commercial Projects Over $20 million category in 2011. The latest upgrade was a new giant video screen that was installed in 2018 as a treat to fans to be able to better enjoy their match-day experience.
The McDonald Jones Stadium has featured several prestigious international games and events. These include the AFC Asian Cup, the A-League Grand Final, Nitro Circus events, the 2013 Special Olympics Opening Ceremony, an exhibition match between the Newcastle Jets and David Beckham’s LA Galaxy, as well as rugby league test matches in recent years.
Before the AFC Asian Cup in January of 2015, it received funding for the upgrade of its playing surface in 2014.
It has hosted a total of four fixtures so far during the tournament, which includes the Socceroos Semi-Final versus the United Arab Emirates. In 2017, it hosted NRL’s All-Stars match, besides the Westfield Matildas against Brazil that has drawn a record crowd attendance for a standalone Matildas match played in Australia.
However, the record-breaking crowd attendance at the stadium stands at 32,890, and this was between Rugby League Test Match and the Kangaroos and New Zealand. It has beaten the previous record set at 32,642 during the July 1995 match between Newcastle and Manly ARL game.
Embedded Driving Directions from McDonald Jones Stadium to Merewether Ocean Bath
Written Driving Directions from McDonald Jones Stadium to Merewether Ocean Bath
Start: McDonald Jones Stadium
Follow Lambton Rd, Chatham St and Glebe Rd to Railway St in Merewether
Follow Lingard St to Mitchell St
Take Frederick St to John Parade
Drive to Henderson Parade
Destination will be on the left
End: Merewether Ocean Bath
Embedded Driving Directions from WASP Industries to McDonald Jones Stadium
Written Driving Directions from WASP Industries to McDonald Jones Stadium
Start: WASP Industries
Get on New England Hwy/A43 from Weakleys Dr
