Kingston Park
Rugby
Premiership Rugby
Newcastle
Score:
40
/ 60
Overview
Red Bull haven’t yet totally ruined Kingston Park. They probably will soon. For now, though, their investment in the club seems to have bought a degree of interest from the local rugby community not seen for several years. Games are regularly selling out and, until the scoreboard delivers a crushing dose of reality, there is a palpable buzz of optimism about the place. The future is uncertain. Red Bull may make splashy signings, invest in the academy set-up, or both to try to buy some on-field success. They may just use the whole endeavour as a factory for marketing content. At the time of writing, almost halfway through Red Bull’s first season in control, it’s not yet clear where this is going. Catch it now while there’s still a pre-match hopefulness you wish you could bottle because it’ll probably go down a dark path from here.
Score Summaries
Atmosphere & Experience: 6.5
It starts out hopeful and excited. There appears to be a high degree of optimism attached to the Red Bull buy-out of Newcastle, an expectation that big corporate money might lead to immediate performance improvements on the field. For a little while, it seems like there may be merit to that logic as Newcastle put in a spirited first-half performance. At halftime, albeit that they’re 19-14 down, I think I might just be lucky enough to see Newcastle’s first Prem win in their new guise. Then they return to type and Bath put up 31 unanswered points to finish 50-14. Unsurprisingly, the atmosphere flattens as the away team’s score steadily ticks up throughout the second period. One can’t help but assume that this is a common occurrence at Kingston Park.
Seats: 7.5
While Newcastle is a relatively dry city by UK standards, it’s still no fun if you’re caught standing outside in freezing drizzle watching the home team getting battered for two hours. With that in mind, you might want to push for a seat in the North Stand which is both seated and covered. Seats and terraces at the south and east sides of the ground are uncovered, while the terraced West Stand is covered. Views from everywhere in the ground are unobstructed and stands are not set back very far from the playing area, meaning you’ll feel up close and have a good chance of hearing every hit.
Catering: 7
When it comes to food, there isn’t a great deal of choice. However, the options available are reasonably good quality for a smaller stadium. You can get a pretty decent portion of fish and chips (or vegetarian sausage and chips) for a reasonable price. Your view on the drinks selection will depend, to some extent, on whether you have a taste for Red Bull. If you do, then there’s a veritable smorgasbord of beverages available to do. If you don’t, there’s still a fairly good selection of beers and soft drinks.
Facilities: 8
Bathrooms are fine and, most importantly, there are enough of them that you can pee and get a beer during halftime.
Getting There: 7
Kingston Park is located right at the very edge of Newcastle, about four miles from the city centre. It’s fairly easy to get to, taking about half an hour from Newcastle station (20 minutes to Kingston Park station, followed by a ten-minute walk) or roughly the same amount of time by bus from the central bus station with a similar amount of walking.
Getting Away: 4
Metro trains do not run all that often and you may find yourself caught in a long queue outside Kingston Park station. One on-board, it’s a simple 20-minute journey back into town. Buses are also relatively infrequent so may involve a similarly long wait.