Prince Consort Road stadium
 | |
| Former names | Gateshead F.C. new stadium |
|---|---|
| Location | Prince Consort Road, Gateshead |
| Coordinates | 54°57′30.54″N 1°36′21.15″W / 54.9584833°N 1.6058750°W |
| Owner | Gateshead F.C. |
| Capacity | 7,856 |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Built | Never |
| Tenants | |
| Gateshead F.C. | |
The Prince Consort Road stadium was a proposed stadium in Gateshead, England that would have been the home stadium of the town's senior association football (soccer) team Gateshead F.C. The plans for the stadium were unveiled in 2009 and permanently shelved in 2015.
Location
The new stadium would have been in the town centre, on Prince Consort Road opposite the Gateshead Civic Centre. The derelict land was formerly used by the North Durham Cricket & Rugby Club.
The second-ever football club to be set up on Tyneside, Rangers AFC played their first season there (then known as the Drill Field) in 1879–80 before relocating across the river Tyne to found Newcastle United's St. James' Park. They later returned to Gateshead, where they became Gateshead Casuals and then Gateshead Association, playing back at the Drill Field before going out of existence.
The 1890s and early part of the 20th century saw the North Durham ground be used for athletics and cycling events, with the running events taking place on a grass track and the cycling on a banked ash oval. The advent of the Second World War saw the location return to military hands to once again become the Drill Field.
North Durham Rugby and Cricket Club made it their home for the second half of the 20th century. The pavilion was burnt down in late 2000 after North Durham Rugby Club merged with Gateshead Fell to become Gateshead RFC, subsequently moving out in 1998. Since then North Durham has mainly been used for youth football as a covenant decrees the land can only be used for sporting purposes, blocking attempts to sell the land for property development.
New stadium
The club had been making plans to move out of the Council-owned stadium, Gateshead International Stadium, since 2008. Although the International Stadium is one of the largest in English non-league football, the many empty seats and the running track surrounding the pitch were considered to detract from the atmosphere at football matches, and non-ticket revenue at the International Stadium is controlled by the council and not the club. Chairman Graham Wood had noted in December 2008 that they were close to purchasing the land for the new stadium.
On 28 October 2009 Gateshead unveiled plans for a new football stadium to be built in the town centre. Just under 8,000 capacity, the stadium would have been covered on all four sides. The plan included:
- a Main East Stand of 2,000 seats
- a seated West Stand
- two covered terraces behind the goals with the ability to be converted to seating reducing the total capacity to 6,000.
- reception and club offices, dressing rooms, a medical room, press and spectator facilities, executive suites and boxes and multi-functional spaces for match day hospitality
- lettable business space[1]
The pitch would have measured 105 metres x 68 metres (114.82 yards x 74.36 yards) and been to FIFA standard.
The Football Association noted that they were impressed with the proposed new stadium, which formed part of the failed 2018/22 Newcastle/Gateshead World Cup bid.
Cancellation
After the failure of England's bids to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022, the stadium, which would have acted as a training base for teams playing at nearby St. James' Park, was put on hold indefinitely. In 2014 it was reported that chairman Graham Wood "no longer considers a new purpose-built football ground vital to the future of Gateshead Football Club".[2] In December 2015 new owner Richard Bennett announced that the club had restarted the search for a new stadium location, while describing the International Stadium as "fabulous".[3]
References
- ↑ "Gateshead FC unveil new stadium site". Gateshead FC. 28 October 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
- ↑ Brown, Steve (2014-07-27). "Book reveals Gateshead might ditch new stadium plans". Retrieved 2016-10-04.
- ↑ Brown, Steve (2015-12-13). "Gateshead have restarted the search for a new home, says Tynesiders owner Richard Bennett". Retrieved 2016-10-04.