Newcastle International Sports Centre

EnergyAustralia Stadium

ISC
Former names	International Sports Centre Marathon Stadium
Location	Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Owner	Newcastle City Council
Operator	Hunter International Sports Centre Trust
Capacity	26,126
Surface	Grass
Construction
Broke ground	1967
Opened	1970
Closed	N/A
Demolished	N/A
Construction cost	?
Architect	?
Tenants
Newcastle Knights - rugby league Newcastle United Jets - Football (soccer)

EnergyAustralia Stadium is a football stadium located in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is the home ground of the Newcastle Knights (NRL) and Newcastle United Jets (A-League) teams. It is owned and managed by the Hunter International Sports Centre Trust.

Work began on the stadium on December 1, 1967, and was officially 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 1990s, local tyre outlet Marathon Tyres became the naming rights sponsor for the stadium, and it was renamed Marathon Stadium. Towards the end of 2001, 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. Despite a lack of incidents, police subsequently asked for the allowed capacity to be lowered for reasons of safety.

Following the retirement of former Knights captain Andrew Johns, the new eastern grandstand was renamed The Andrew Johns Stand in front of a packed crowd before the Knights vs Brisbane Broncos NRL match on Sunday 22 April 2007.

Redevelopment

The stadium underwent redevelopment during the years 2003-2005, funded mostly by local and state government grants.

Factors that brought on the redevelopment included:

• non-compliance of NRL 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; and
• unsatisfactory temporary spectator facilities to the north and south of the western stand.

The first stage of the redevelopment was completed in early 2004. 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 began in 2004 and was completed in 2005. This consisted of:

• The construction of the Eastern Stand's second level of seating and corporate boxes;
• a new scoreboard; and
• remedial work for the Western Grandstand, including updating the media facilities.

Due to the increasingly large popularity of the Socceroos, Newcastle United Jets and football in general in the Hunter, the Government of Newcastle has said that hopefully by 2012, the stadium will have become large enough to host important Australian International Football Team games, such as World Cup Qualifiers. The capacity for this may involve somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 covered seats and a further 5,000-10,000 standing room areas behind the goals for die-hard supporters, bringing capacity up to around 40,000. As Australia is preparing to bid for the right host the FIFA World Cup 2014 or 2018, the Mayor of Newcastle has said if Novocastrians want to see games, a stadium of this size would be needed to attract a few matches. Also, as Newcastle is one of the fastest growing population cities, a stadium of this size would soon be needed even without International games played.

Famous Incidents and Events

• During a 2004 match against the St George Illawarra Dragons Newcastle forward Clint Newton was sent off for elbowing opponent Ashton Sims.
• The Brisbane Broncos suffered their worst-ever shutout at the stadium in 2001, losing 44-0. Their worst defeat was 50-4, at the hands of the Melbourne Storm.
• In another match against the Dragons, then-captain Trent Barrett applied a dangerous hit on Knights winger Brian Carney. This incident was then picked up by a Channel Nine producer the following Monday.
• Towards the end of the Knights vs. Manly Sea Eagles match played in Round 23, 2006, an Andrew Johns pass went astray, landing on the sidelines. After the referees argued, Johns allegedly told the touch judge: "F*** you, c***". He was then suspended for two matches. Newcastle lost 16-14.
• In the same match-up in the finals, referee Sean Hampstead conferred to the video referee to adjudicate on a Danny Buderus spear tackle on Manly winger Michael Robertson. Just as when Hampstead was about to send off the Newcastle rake, he placed him on report. Ben Kennedy was the third-man in, and for this, he was sent to the sin bin. In the same match, Travis Burns and George Carmont traded blows. Both were sent to the sin bin.
• In the Knights 2006 home game to the St George Illarwara Dragons, Channel 9 commentator, Gus Gould said that if the video ref awarded a try he would jump out of the Channel 9 commentator's box on to the field. The video ref awarded the try. Gus then had to jump from a diving tower into the pool, in full suit at the Sydney Aquatic Centre.

External links

• Hunter International Sports Centre Trust
• Newcastle International Sports Centre at Austadiums
• EnergyAustralia Stadium page at newcastleknights.com.au

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