QPR are back on the road next Sunday for a televised lunchtime match against Newcastle at St James' Park. The usual travel hints and tips follow.
Ground Name: St James’ Park
Capacity: 52 387
Address: St James’ Park, Newcastle Upon Tyne , NE1 4ST
Main Telephone No: 0191 201 8400
Ticket Office: 0844 372 1892
By Car:
A straight road, but a long one. Take the A1 out of London and follow it all the way up to the other end of the country, past the Angel of the North, and Newcastle . Take the A184 from it, and then the A189 over the Tyne and the ground should be visible from there. Follow the dual carriageway up to the stadium. The guide also recommends taking the Westerhope exit from the A1, crossing two roundabouts and parking around the Royal Victoria Infirmary. About five hours and 252 miles at the speed limit from Loftus Road.
Map:
Click link to visit Multi Map site and zoom in/out or tour round
Parking: A city centre ground means you can either brave the traffic and pay and display car parks in the immediate vicinity or park out of town and use public transport. The guide recommends Heworth near Gateshead next to the A184 and getting the Metro direct to the stadium - £2.40 return for the Metro, £1.10 for the parking. On our last visit we got into a multi-storey no more than two minutes from the ground with no problems at all, and straight out afterwards as well.
Train: East Coast services from Kings Cross for this one and a combination of a Sunday lunchtime kick off, engineering works, and extortionate ticket prices make it a bit of a pig to be honest. The 1330 kick off leaves you with just three possible trains to catch in the morning. The 0900 arrives 1150, the 0930 arrives at 1236 and the 1000 arrives at 1249. Coming back the first possible train is the 1559 arrives 1856 and the last is 2032 arrives 0001 with eight other direct services in between. The cheapest tickets at this late stage are an astonishing £96.95 based on buying two singles. We got ours for £30 return on the day the game was moved but as far back as six weeks ago they were already past £60.
Coach: The official club coach leaves Loftus Road at 5am and the Target roundabout at 5.30am. The coach is priced £36 for adults, £24 for seniors and young adults, and £22 for juniors with the usual season ticket holder discounts. No word on an LSA coach for this one.
Pubs: Away fans have traditionally congregated in the three pubs opposite the station and I'm sure that will be the case again although I'm told that all three refuse to admit children on matchdays. The ground is right in the city centre so there will certainly be no shortage of bars.
Tickets: QPR have 1,740 allocated tickets for this game priced £26 adults, £21seniors and students, and £13 for juniors. Very reasonable Premiership prices it must be said. Rangers also have eight wheelchair spaces at £13 and ten ambulant disabled spaces at £13 with a free helper. The match is all ticket for away fans and tickets will be on general sale from QPR until Friday January 13.
Links:
Detailed fans' guide to St James’ Park