‘Best in the world’ - Newcastle United supporters hail new St James’ Park feature that transformed matchday experience

Newcastle United supporters cannot get enough of the St James’ STACK - the new city centre entertainment hub on the stadium’s doorstep.

Crowds of fans queued outside the venue for its grand unveiling on Thursday to sample the 3000-capacity site. STACK previously opened its doors in 2017 on Pilgrim Street but were forced to close to make way for the state-of-the-art HMRC building.

Revellers were distraught given its popularity - but STACK teamed up with Sela, Newcastle’s front-of-shirt sponsor, to create a fresh matchday experience. Live music, street food and alcohol were all on show as the venue returned to Tyneside.

STACK is labelled as the “official fanzone” for Toon supporters but will be open as usual on non-match days. A vibrant, 21st-century spot, the fresh feature of St James’ Park has gone down a treat with the fans.

“Newcastle United now have the best fan zone in the world,” the Newcastle United Supporters Club wrote on social media. “Congratulations to Darren (Eales, Chief Executive Officer), Brad (Miller, Chief Operating Officer), Neil (Winch, STACK owner) and all involved in this project.”

Thousands of fans sampled the hub for the first time when the Magpies hosted Girona and Brest over the weekend. One match-goer praised the “vibe” but admitted the pricing was a tad on the high side.

“They had a tribute singer and a DJ on,” Sean, from Westerhope, told NewcastleWorld. It had good vibes, with people of all ages. I paid £7.80 for a double vodka and lemonade, which isn’t bad, but a bottle of wine was £26!”

Another dweller wrote on social media: “(There were) queues at 5pm today. It looked bad at first glance but was in and served by 5.10pm. The bars were class once in, easy to get served.”