Gateshead International Stadium - History and Development

History and Development

During the 19th century, Felling established itself as an important industrial town in the north east of England. At its north-western fringe, at Felling Shore, two large chemical works were opened in 1827 and 1834. These initially thrived, but by the early part of the 20th century both had entered terminal decline. In 1932 both were demolished, leaving in their wake a 2 million tonne heap of spoil. This land, some 2 miles (3.2 km) east of the centre of Gateshead, was cleared in 1942 but it continued to lie derelict until the middle of the 1950s.

In early 1955, work was started by Gateshead Council on transforming this derelict land and the Gateshead Youth Stadium, built on the site of the old chemical works, was opened by Jim Peters on 27 August 1955. Costing £30,000, the original stadium contained little more than a cinder running track and an asphalt cycling track, though floodlights and a seating area were added soon after. On 1 July 1961, the stadium hosted its first major meet – the Vaux Breweries International Athletics Meet but in spite of these international events, the Youth Stadium remained "little more than a minor track with a tiny grandstand and open terraces".

By the turn of the 1970s, the town of Gateshead was suffering from "the classic symptoms of decay in its inner-city areas". This was the result of the industrial economy of the town having contracted to a fraction of its pre-war counterpart, its housing estates "blighted by troublesome high rise buildings and poor layouts and in its areas of industrial dereliction". The response during the 1960s had been a programme of systematic derelict land reclamation and environmental improvement. Whilst these did not have an immediate positive impact on the perception of the town, Gateshead council pressed ahead by looking to develop existing infrastructure with a view to overall regeneration.

One such opportunity was identified at the Gateshead Youth Stadium, where it was considered that investment might bring a raising of the region's profile and international recognition. In April 1974, Gateshead Council inaugurated their first 'Sport and Recreation' department. In July 1974, the council appointed Brendan Foster– a former schoolteacher turned world-class athlete and a native of Tyne and Wear– as the Council's sport and recreation manager. Foster, who would become "the father of Gateshead athletics", had been forced to train in Edinburgh during 1973 as a result of the poor condition of the Youth Stadium track. In December 1973, he had been invited to a civic reception to celebrate his breaking the two-mile world record earlier that year at Crystal Palace. At this reception, Foster was told that a new synthetic track was being laid at Gateshead Youth Stadium. His response was a promise that, if the Council were serious, he would run at the stadium and break a world record (Foster later offered an explanation of that promise: "You know how it is when you've had a few drinks - you promise the world!"). When the track was laid in early 1974, Foster became convinced of the Council's sincerity. He was interviewed for the managerial position and, upon appointment, became the "driving force" behind the programme of improvements to the Youth Stadium, which included the building of the main, covered Tyne and Wear stand in 1981 and three accompanying stands, and a renaming of the stadium to the 'Gateshead International Stadium'. This first tranche of improvements cost around £8 million and Foster's proposal to commemorate the re-opening with an athletic event was approved, allowing for the first 'Gateshead Games' to be held in 1974.

The success of the first Gateshead Games, and their subsequent annual renewal, saw the profile of the stadium increase and so Gateshead Council furthered their financial investment. During the 1980s, additions were made to the stadium infrastructure, including the building of an indoor sports hall, outdoor football pitches and a gymnasium. In 1989, the running track was again relayed, this time by Spurtan V, and Gateshead confirmed its reputation as a top-class athletics venue by hosting the Europa Cup – forerunner to the European Team Championships – in 1989. In the 21st century, the stadium has been the subject of two major re-development projects. The first of these was completed in 2006, when two outdoor artificial football pitches, indoor athletic training facilities, sports science provisions and conferencing rooms were added at a cost of £15 million. The revamped stadium, funded by collaboration between One NorthEast, Sport England and Gateshead College among others, was opened on 12 May 2006 by Sebastian Coe.

A second tranche of development, to be undertaken in two stages, was approved in November 2009. This included a general refurbishment and improvement of the existing facilities at the stadium, adding cover, better toilet and new refreshment facilities to the exposed East Stand, improving wheelchair access, adding extra catering and conferencing facilities as well as the building of a new media and management centre. This was funded by collaboration between Gateshead Council, local development funds and Gateshead College. The covering of the 4,000-seated capacity East Stand with a new canopy roof by Willmott Dixon Construction was completed in July 2010, immediately prior to Gateshead hosting a Diamond League event. The second stage of the re-development– the building of the corporate and media facilities– commenced on 6 September 2010 was completed on time in summer 2011 and the corporate facilities are now open to the public. The total cost of the work was estimated to be £7.6 million.

A third programme of expansion was initially mooted in 2008. The aim of this programme was to expand the stadium into an all-embracing 'sports village', replete with ice rink, indoor golf course, restaurants and shops. Gateshead Council invited tenders in August 2008 from commercial organisations interested in undertaking the development. A formal draft development brief was compiled and published in November 2009. A report to Council in December 2009 noted that there had been "a reasonable level of interest at the preliminary stage" from private investors, but that only one detailed proposal had been submitted which had been declined by the Council on financial grounds. The report also noted concerns that the original centrepiece of the proposed village, the ice rink, may be deterring investors and that a proposal to redevelop land at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, which also proposed an ice rink as a centrepiece, was detracting from what councillors had hoped to be a unique feature of the proposed village. The result was that a fresh proposal was raised to remove the ice rink 'anchor' from the brief in an attempt to "stimulate the market". A public consultation was launched after that proposal was accepted and in May 2010 the council reported that the response had been "very good", some 327 positive responses from a total of 375 responses received. As a result, notice was given to developers that the council intended to market the site, and ten responses were received, but as of summer 2012, the sports village proposals remain at a development stage.