December,
1962
The announcement of the establishment of a new sports
stadium was made in Sydney by NSW Minister for Lands.
The original concept was for three ovals - one to
accommodate 70,000 spectators and the smaller two
with a capacity of 30,000. The Minister released
details of a grant of £20,000 and a long-term
loan of £30,000 to assist the centre to become
a reality.
|
 |
1962
|
January,
1963
The Minister for Lands visited the proposed site
and stated that a submission would be made to Cabinet
and details of funding the development would be
made.
|
1963
|
February,
1964
The NSW Government dedicates the former Broadmeadow
Aerodrome as a site for public recreation reserve.
|
1964
|
May,
1965
Newcastle firm, Thelander, McKenzie and Hilliard
were retained as project architects.
|
1965
|
January,
1966
NSW Premier, the Hon R.A. Askin, informed the ISC
Trust that it was not practical to agree to the
original funding proposal of £40,000 a year.
|
1966
|
April,
1966
A public appeal was officially launched at the Newcastle
Tattersalls Club (now Surf City) to raise money
to build the sports centre. By September, the appeal
had reached $360,000.
|
November
30, 1967
The NSW Government passed an act to make provisions
for the establishment of the Newcastle International
Sports Centre. A Trust was appointed soon after
to manage the crown land site.
|
1967
|
December,
1967
The ISC Trust awarded the construction contract
to Newcastle company, W. Stronach Pty Ltd and the
work commenced at this time.
|
Mid
1969
Grandstand and Club facilities completed.
|
1969 |
October,
1969
The first sporting fixture was played at the ground
when NSW played Queensland in a soccer match.
|
December,
1969
Club facilities opened for trading.
|
April
10, 1970
The International Sports Centre is officially opened
by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
|
1970 |
March
5, 1978
More than 15,000 spectators witness Newcastle KB
United's first home game in the National Soccer
League, when they were beaten 4-1 by Hakoah Eastern
Suburbs.
|
1978 |
1982
The largest ever crowd at the ISC was in 1982 when
more than 40,000 Hunter school children welcome
the Prince and Princess of Wales, Charles and Diana,
to the region.
|
1982 |
1987
The first redevelopment of the stadium. The playing
field was made rectangular.
|
1987 |
January
4, 1988
The Newcastle Knights, admitted to the Winfield
Cup NSWRL, take on a 20-year lease of the ISC.
|
1988 |
February,
1990
Thousands pack the Stadium for the Newcastle Earthquake
Relief Concert. Some of the music industry's biggest
names including Midnight Oil, The Angels and Jimmy
Barnes help raise money for the relief effort.
|
1990 |
August,
1991
The Newcastle Knights played their first home game
under permanent floodlighting at the ISC.
|
1991 |
1992
Newcastle Knights major sponsor, Marathon Tyres,
come on board as the stadium's first naming rights
sponsors. Until 2001, the ISC was known as Marathon
Stadium.
|
1992 |
October,
1995
The region's Australian Baseball League franchise,
the Hunter Eagles, played their first game.
|
1995 |
December,
1995
NSW Liberal Premier, John Fahey, agreed to take
over most of the $2.62million debt the Knights owed
to the ISC Trust for improvements to the ground.
|
1998
Newcastle's representative in the NSW Rugby Union
competition, the Wildfires, use Marathon Stadium
as their home ground.
|
1998 |
October,
2000
National League Soccer returns to its Hunter roots,
when the newly former Newcastle United took up residence
at the stadium.
|
2000 |
September
30, 2000
After winning the NRL Grand Final, Newcastle Knights
captain Andrew Johns tells an international television
audience that the Knights fans are the best in the
world and they "deserve a new stadium".
|
2001 |
October,
2001
A Taskforce, headed by Newcastle Lord Mayor John
Tate, is convened to investigate the redevelopment
of the Stadium.
|
December,
2001
Energy supplier, EnergyAustralia, take over from
Marathon Tyres as the naming rights sponsor in what
is believed to be a $1million plus agreement over
five years.
|
February,
2002
The Trust approves plans for the redevelopment of
EnergyAustralia Stadium.
|
2002 |
April,
2002
A funding submission is issued to the NSW State
and Federal Governments.
|
June
28 , 2002
NSW Premier, The Hon Bob Carr, presents the Trust
with a cheque for $23.6 million for the redevelopment
of EnergyAustralia stadium.
|
January
31, 2003
The NSW Minister for Sport and Recreation, The Hon.
Morris Iemma MP, announced details of a proposed
private sector funded development on the 3.3 hectare
Sports Facilities Zone adjacent to EnergyAustralia
Stadium.
|
2003 |
March
21, 2003
The Trust releases plans for the first stage of
redevelopment to EnergyAustralia – the construction
of a new Eastern Grandstand.
|
June
27, 2003
Minister for the Hunter, The Hon. Michael Costa
announces the project team brought together to turn
EnergyAustralia Stadium into a world-class sports
and entertainment facility. The team is headed up
by the Incoll Group who will act as Project Manager
for the Eastern Grandstand and also include four
Hunter-based companies.
|
September
5, 2003
The Premier of NSW, The Hon. Bob Carr joined with
Newcastle, NSW and Australian Rugby League Captain,
Andrew Johns, and Newcastle Lord Mayor John Tate,
to turn the first sod to mark the start of construction
on the Eastern Grandstand at EnergyAustralia Stadium.
|
September
22, 2003
After more than two years of planning, demolition
work started on the Eastern Hill at EnergyAustralia
Stadium marking the official start of the
redevelopment project.
|
March 10, 2004
NSW Premier Bob Carr visited EnergyAustralia
Stadium to announce his Government would provide the
Hunter ISC Trust with an additional $8.5million for
the redevelopment of the Eastern Grandstand. The
funding would cover a number of unforseen costs
including kitchens facilities, state of the art
lighting, relocation of permanent corporate boxes
and a new electronic scoreboard.
|
2004 |
March 23, 2004
The Hunter ISC Trust awards the contract for the
fifth and final tender in the EnergyAustralia
Stadium redevelopment to Hunter-based construction
company, John Holland Pty Ltd. The contract covers
the remaining work on the Eastern Grandstand
superstructure including corporate and function
areas and upper grandstand seating for around 5000
spectators. When completed, the Eastern Grandstand
will hold around 12,500 spectators.
|
April 18, 2004
The new Eastern Concourse at EnergyAustralia
Stadium is open for the first time when the Knights
took on the Sydney Roosters for their first home
game of the 2004 NRL season. A near-capacity crowd
of 22,126 turned out to watch the much anticipated
encounter.
|
April 23, 2004
The new look EnergyAustralia Stadium hosts the
historic ANZAC Test between Australia and New
Zealand. More than 21,000 fans went through the
turnstiles to see the Australia run out big winners
over the Kiwis. It was the first time a test between
the two countries was played outside Sydney or
Brisbane.
|
May, 2004
Work starts on the final stage of the Eastern
Grandstand project, which includes the construction
of the corporate facilities and upper deck.
|
September, 2004
The first of the grandstand’s 24m roofing beams
are put into place with the help of a 150-tonne
capacity crane. Once completed, the roof will cover
the entire grandstand which runs the length of the
playing field. At its highest point the roof will be
28 metres above the playing field; seven metres
higher than the existing Western Grandstand roof. A
suspension system will be put in place at the back
of the grandstand to hold the roof in place,
ensuring patrons in the upper deck have an
unobstructed view of the entire playing field.
|
October, 2004
The Hunter ISC Trust has vowed to continue its bid
to secure Federal Government funding to complete the
redevelopment of EnergyAustralia Stadium despite
missing out in the Howard Government’s pre-election
promises.
Over the previous two years the Trust and the
Lord Mayor’s Task Force have been pressing both the
Federal Government and Opposition to match the
$30million provided by the NSW Government, enabling
the construction of the new Eastern Grandstand.
The Federal ALP pledged $20million to the
redevelopment project, however a similar offer was
not forthcoming from Prime Minister John Howard in
the lead-up to last weekend’s election. The
Newcastle Knights launch a marketing campaign headed
by captain Andrew Johns to promote the facilities
available to fans in the new Eastern Grandstand from
2005.
|
January, 2005
Construction on the upper deck structure at the
southern end of the new Eastern Grandstand is
underway and similar work on the northern end will
soon follow.
|
2005 |
March, 2005
The removal of the temporary roof props on the
upper deck signals the end of the construction of
the grandstand structure. Work continues on the main
stairwells and fit out of the facility in time for
the Knights first home game at the stadium on
Sunday, 17 April.
|
