McDonald Jones Stadium

McDonald Jones Stadium is a 30,000-capacity rectangular stadium located in the regional NSW city of Newcastle. Originally known as the International Sports Centre and non-commercially as Newcastle Stadium, the venue was officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on April 10 1970 and today is the centrepiece of the Hunter Venues sports precinct.

The multi-purpose outdoor stadium is home ground to the city's two flagship sporting franchises, the Newcastle Knights and the Newcastle Jets. The Knights have claimed the NRL Premiership on two occasions in 1997 and 2001, while the Jets were victors in the 2008 Hyundai A-League Grand Final.

The venue was managed by the Newcastle Knights from 1988 until 2011 when the NSW Government took ownership. McDonald Jones Stadium is part Venues NSW’s portfolio which includes ANZ Stadium, Bankwest Stadium, Newcastle Entertainment Centre and Showground and Wollongong’s WIN Stadium and Entertainment Centre.

McDonald Jones Stadium has undergone a large scale redevelopment which commenced with the building of the Andrew Johns Grandstand in 2003. The following four years saw the demolition and rebuild of the Western Grandstand.

The Western grandstand opened in April 2011 and features 13,500 seats, 21 corporate suites, 5 function rooms, 8 food and beverage outlets and first-class player change room and media facilities. These facilities have won several building and construction industry awards including the 2012 Engineering Excellence Awards for Engineers, Aurecon, and the redevelopment project was recognised as the Newcastle winner of a Master Builders Association award for Commercial Projects Over $20 million in 2011. A new giant video screen was installed in 2018 to enhance the match-day experience for fans.

The stadium has hosted several international events in recent years including the A-League Grand Final, AFC Asian Cup, an exhibition match between the Newcastle Jets and David Beckham’s LA Galaxy, Nitro Circus events, rugby league test matches and the 2013 Special Olympics Opening Ceremony.

In 2014 McDonald Jones Stadium was granted funding to upgrade the playing surface ahead of AFC Asian Cup in January 2015. It hosted four fixtures during the tournament, including the Socceroos Semi-Final against United Arab Emirates. In 2017, the stadium hosted NRL’s All Stars match in addition to the Westfield Matildas versus Brazil match which was played in front of a record crowd for a standalone Matildas match in Australia.

The record ground attendance at the venue is 32,890 for a Rugby League Test Match between the Kangaroos and New Zealand, beating the previous record of 32,642 set in July 1995 for a Newcastle v Manly ARL game. Previous names of the venue include Marathon Stadium (1992-2001), EnergyAustralia Stadium (2001-2011), Ausgrid Stadium (2011-2012) and now McDonald Jones Stadium. It has also been known as Hunter Stadium when it had no naming-rights deal and Newcastle Stadium during the 2015 Asian Cup.

McDonald Jones Stadium Details

McDonald Jones Stadium Logo
Location
Address
294 Turton Rd, Broadmeadow NSW 2292 GET DIRECTIONS
Capacity
30,000
Record Crowd
32,890 - 16/10/11: Test Match: Kangaroos v New Zealand
Highest Crowd since 2003
Lights
Yes
Arena Roof
No
Video Screen
Yes
Opened
1970
Redeveloped
2010
Former/Other Names
Newcastle International Sports Ground
Marathon Stadium
EnergyAustralia Stadium
Ausgrid Stadium
Newcastle Stadium
McDonald Jones Stadium
Sports Played
Rugby League
Rugby Union
Football  
Home Teams
Newcastle Knights (NRL)
Newcastle Jets (A-League)  
Historic Events
2015 AFC Asian Cup
Last Event
Next Event
Sun 24 Mar 2024: NRL: Knights v Storm  
Official Website
Transport
For train travel, catch the train to Broadmeadow station and either walk the short distance (about 15 minutes) to the stadium or catch a taxi.
Parking
A limited number of parking spaces are available in the northern and southern carparks. The Newcastle Harness Racing Club has also made 400 car parking spaces available for match days.
Accommodation
See hotels near McDonald Jones Stadium VIEW ACCOMMODATION
More News

Related News

Information about McDonald Jones Stadium (Newcastle Stadium) in Newcastle including venue layout, history, records, events, map, tickets, directions and accommodation.
The Austadiums website is made possible by displaying some advertisements to our visitors.
Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker, whitelist us, or DONATE TO US