Its capacity of around 11,800[nb 1] is the greatest in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, the third-largest in Tyne and Wear (behind St James' Park and the Stadium of Light), and the sixth-largest in North East England.

By breaking the world record in the men's 3,000 m, Foster brought international publicity to the new stadium and began a tradition of athletics competitions at the venue, which has since hosted the British Grand Prix (2003–10) and the European Team Championships in 1989, 2000 and 2013.

The stadium has also been used as a concert venue by numerous musical artists including Little Mix, Guns N' Roses, Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams and Tina Turner.

[2] On 1 July 1961, the arena hosted its first major competition—the Vaux Breweries International Athletics Meet[12]—but according to sportswriter John Gibson, the Youth Stadium remained "little more than a minor track with a tiny grandstand and open terraces".

[14] While these measures did not have an immediate positive impact on the perception of the town, Gateshead Council pressed ahead by looking to develop existing infrastructure with a view to overall regeneration.

[15] One such opportunity was identified at the Gateshead Youth Stadium, where the council believed that investment might raise the region's profile and bring international recognition.

[17][18] Foster, who according to Gibson became "the father of Gateshead athletics",[17] had been forced to train in Edinburgh during 1973 as a result of the poor condition of the Youth Stadium track.

[2][18] This first tranche of improvements cost around £8 million,[21] and Foster's proposal to commemorate the re-opening with an athletic event was approved, allowing for the first "Gateshead Games" to be held in 1974.

[2] In 1989 the running track was again relayed[23] and Gateshead confirmed its reputation as a top-class athletics venue by hosting the Europa Cup (forerunner to the European Team Championships).

The first was completed in 2006, when two artificial outdoor football pitches, indoor athletic training facilities, sports science provisions and conferencing rooms were added at a cost of £15 million.

[28] The covering of the 4,000-seat[27] East Stand with a new canopy roof[30] was completed in July 2010, immediately prior to Gateshead hosting a Diamond League event.

The sprint straight consists of eight lanes and is situated in front of the Tyne and Wear Stand, adjacent to the long and triple jump area.

[47] A retractable indoor athletics facility was previously housed alongside the sports hall, consisting of a 50 metres (55 yd) long synthetic sprint straight and areas for throwing and jumping events, but its mechanical operation proved problematic[48] and a more modern structure replaced it in 2006.

According to its sponsors, the highlight of this meet was the team three-mile race, won by the Blackpool and Fylde Athletic club who were awarded a gold tankard as their prize.

[3] Watched by a capacity crowd of 10,000 spectators, the men won their respective races; Halberg placed first in the mile with a time of 4:03:70 and Snell led a New Zealand one-two in the 880-yard event, finishing ahead of teammate Gary Philpott in 1:50:40.

[3] When the comprehensive refurbishment of the stadium was completed more than a decade later, Brendan Foster (by this time a Gateshead Council employee) proposed an international athletics meet.

[53] The track was resurfaced by Regisport in 1982[23] and the venues' profile was further raised in the summer of 1983, when Gateshead-born athlete Steve Cram[nb 2] faced Sebastian Coe over 800m in the Gateshead Games.

In front of a reported crowd of 15,000 who were "shoehorned into the bowl" and millions more watching on BBC's Sunday Grandstand, Cram prevailed to spark "pandemonium" in his final race before winning the gold medal at the 1983 World Athletics Championships in Helsinki.

The men's competition was won for the first time by a Great Britain team captained by Linford Christie and which included Kriss Akabusi and Jack Buckner; the event was described a decade later as having had an "invigorating effect" on those who were in attendance.

[62] Foster's "Gateshead Games" had become the British Grand Prix by 2003, and on 13 July 21-year-old Yelena Isinbayeva set a new world record of 4.82m in the women's pole vault event.

The meet was also notable for the return to competition of Dwain Chambers after his ban for using performance-enhancing drugs, and for Eliud Kipchoge breaking Foster's stadium record over 3000m that had stood for more than three decades.

[71] Due to redevelopment of Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the British Grand Prix Diamond League fixture was set to return to Gateshead in 2020 for the first time in 10 years.

[75] In May 2008 Gateshead hosted Buxton in a promotion play-off and won 2–0 in front of 1,402 spectators, the largest crowd to watch the club at the ground in 14 years.

[77] The current record attendance for a competitive fixture stands at 8,144, set on 4 May 2014 when Gateshead played host to Grimsby Town in the second leg of the Conference Premier play-off semi-final.

[91] Foster, inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010 and recently voted the eleventh "greatest Geordie" in a local poll, later became the president of Gateshead Harriers and remains so as of 2012.

[92][93] Current world triple-jump record holder Jonathan Edwards, another member of the England Athletics Hall of Fame,[94] joined Gateshead Harriers in 1991.

[97] The Thunder played at Gateshead International Stadium and the club had, according to sports journalist Andy Wilson, "an enjoyable and surprisingly successful season" which included home and away wins against St. Helens and a sixth-place finish in the table – missing out on the playoffs by two points.

[98] Despite these performances, which attracted an average crowd of 3,895 to Gateshead Stadium, the franchise lost £700,000 in its first year[97] and in November 1999 the Rugby Football League (RFL) approved a merger with the Hull Sharks.

[98] There have been some highlights, including winning Championship 1 in 2008[97] and a run to the quarter-final of the Challenge Cup in 2009 which ended in a 66–6 defeat to Super League side St Helens.

Reports in the local press suggested that The Police seemed disappointed that the stadium was only half full and cited high ticket prices and poor weather as possible causes.