McDonald Jones Stadium was originally known as the International Sports Centre when it was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on the 10th of April 1970. When the Newcastle Knights were introduced to the competition in 1988, they would adopt the stadium as their home. After several name changes—first Marathon Stadium In 1992, then Energy Australia Stadium, and then Ausgrid Stadium in 2001, before the penultimate moniker of Hunter Stadium—the ground now bears the name McDonald Jones stadium, which was assigned in 2016.
In 1995, the Knights would set a ground record of 32,642 in a match against the Sea Eagles. At this stage the stadium would only consist of one grandstand and three hills. The stadium would then go under development twice with the ground now boasting two brand new state of the art Western and Eastern grand stands which would lead to total capacity being lifted to the current limit of 33,000.
2007 would see the retirement of club legend Andrew Johns. To commemorate his retirement, the Knights would go on to name the brand new Eastern grandstand “the Andrew Johns Stand”. The Post-Johns era as been something of a disaster for Novocastrians though, with their rebuilding phase of late being hard to watch for the even the most loyal Knights fans.
Hoping to emerge out of this disappointing era in 2018, the Knights will be doing everything they can to make their home ground a tough road trip for opposing clubs. If they can fix up their home form, that’s half the work done in returning to finals footy and bringing joy to their devoted fans.
