Gateshead International Stadium
Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England
Gateshead International Stadium, Gateshead, England — opened 1955, 226 rugby league games hosted, home of Gateshead Thunder (1999 Super League season); also used by successor clubs Gateshead Storm and Newcastle Thunder/Gateshead Thunder in lower divisions, including a 2024 return.
Ground facts
| Opened | 1955 (Opened 27 August 1955 as the Gateshead Youth Stadium; redeveloped and renamed Gateshead International Stadium following further work in the 1970s-80s (exact renaming year not pinned down in sources found).) |
| Home club | Gateshead Thunder (1999 Super League season); also used by successor clubs Gateshead Storm and Newcastle Thunder/Gateshead Thunder in lower divisions, including a 2024 return |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 226 |
| Top recorded crowd | 10,248 |
| Capacity | approximately 11,800 (sources vary between roughly 11,750 and 11,800) |
| Surface | Polymer synthetic (tartan) athletics track surrounding the pitch; an IAAF-standard 400m eight-lane oval |
| Years used | 1991–2024 |
| Location | Gateshead, Tyne and Wear |
Name history
- Gateshead Youth Stadium — 1955-c.1970s
- Gateshead International Stadium — since the 1970s-80s redevelopment
Rugby league history
Primarily an athletics venue, the stadium staged rugby league Test and Charity Shield fixtures from the 1980s onward before becoming a full-time rugby league home in 1999, when the newly formed Gateshead Thunder entered the Super League. Backed by Australian chief executive Shane Richardson and coached by Shaun McRae with a largely Australian playing roster, Thunder finished sixth in their debut season, just outside the play-offs, on an average crowd of around 3,895 — well short of the roughly 5,000 needed to break even. The club lost about £700,000 in that one season and, facing a £1.25m Super League incentive to merge, combined with Hull and relocated to Humberside for 2000. A reformed Gateshead-based club later played lower-division rugby league in the 2000s (including a 2005 National League Two match recorded at the stadium), before eventually settling at Kingston Park under the Newcastle Falcons umbrella; a Gateshead-based team returned to play at the International Stadium again from May 2024 under a licensing agreement.
The stadium's primary identity is as an athletics venue — home of the Gateshead Games since 1974 (where Brendan Foster set a world record over 3000m) and three-time host of the European Team Championships (1989, 2000, 2013) — with football (Gateshead F.C.) as another regular tenant.
Notable games played here
| Date | Competition | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Group A, 1 Nov 2000 | 2000 Rugby League World Cup | Australia 66-8 Fiji |
| Group A, 10 Oct 1995 | 1995 Rugby League World Cup | Australia 86-6 South Africa |
Only matches we have full, sourced records for are listed here — other historic games mentioned above may not have a dedicated match page built yet (World Cup coverage in particular is still expanding tournament by tournament).
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
← Rugby League · Champions list · All-time records · Grand Final results · World Cup · All competitions · Teams · Players