[17] Up until the 1960s planning difficulties continued, culminating in lack of development of the ground being cited as the reason for failure of Newcastle United to secure the right to host a group stage of the upcoming 1966 World Cup following political disputes.

[6] These plans were withdrawn in 1971 after agreement to redevelop St James' Park was finally reached, after mediation by the then Minister for Sport, Denis Howell.

Until the early 1990s the ground had achieved only modest expansion under various owners, with plans dogged by disputes and lack of finance due to poor on-field performances.

In January 1992 businessman Sir John Hall, who had led the Magpie Group consortium in a hostile takeover of the club, was installed as chairman.

The Leazes End that had been demolished but not replaced was finally rebuilt, and opened as the Sir John Hall stand for Newcastle's debut season in the Premiership in 1993.

[18] As the expanded stadium still received full houses due to continuing success of the team led by the returning Kevin Keegan, in 1995, plans were submitted by the club to relocate to Leazes Park to the north.

[27] In late 2003, preempting the relaxation of the UK gambling laws, the club signed a deal with MGM Mirage to hand over the land above St James Metro station,[28] behind the Gallowgate End, in return for an equity investment, to build a jointly run complex centred on a 1,000-square-foot (93 m2) Super Casino.

[29] These plans failed when the proposed number of super casinos was reduced to one in the UK, and in January 2008 £5 million was repaid by the club to MGM.

It was announced on 2 April 2007 that the club intend to submit plans for a new £300million development of the stadium and surrounding areas, to include a major conference centre, hotels and luxury apartments.

This expansion would be funded by the city council and linked to the redevelopment of the land behind the stand and over the Metro Station, which had previously been earmarked for the casino project.

Expansion of the Gallowgate end involves difficulties due to the proximity of a road, Strawberry Place, and issues surrounding reinforcement of the underground St James Metro station.

[31] One of the first noticeable changes in the stadium in the new era was the removal of advertising mounted underneath the roofs (facing the crowd) for Shepherd Offshore and Cameron Hall Developments, companies associated with the previous regime.

The first home game of the 2008–09 season, at 3 pm on a Saturday, saw the lowest-ever Premier League attendance at the expanded ground, of 47,711,[32] resulting in cash turnstiles.

[clarification needed] It was speculated at the time that this was due to the Great Recession; however, with the shock departure of Kevin Keegan before the next home game, future changes in attendances would be hard to attribute to this alone.

The first game after Keegan's resignation, a league fixture against Hull on 13 September 2008, registered a crowd of 50,242[33] amid protests against Ashley and Dennis Wise.

[40] The stadium's official renaming as the Sports Direct Arena, or SDA, caused considerable perturbation amongst supporters of the team.

On 9 October 2012, payday loan company Wonga.com became Newcastle United's main commercial sponsor and purchased the stadium naming rights.

[49] Further, the use of one s and an apostrophe mark differs from the common convention of adding a second s to monosyllabic possessives ending in s, as is the case with the well-known public space in London: St James's Park.

[47] The BBC stated that both local newspapers The Evening Chronicle and The Journal write the name with a second 's', reinstating it partially in response to reader complaints after a period of publishing stories without it.

The stadium is bordered by Strawberry Place behind the Gallowgate, Barrack Road in front of the main entrance, a car park to the north and Leazes Terrace to the East.

[55] Further expansion of the Gallowgate End could potentially produce a more balanced horseshoe arrangement of equal height stands, similar to that of Celtic Park.

[3] In common with many new or expanded British football stadiums, the traditional box shaped 'stands' were augmented in the 1993 expansion by filling in the corners to maximise available seating,[16] up to a uniform height.

[58] The stadium houses premium priced seating areas designated into clubs, each with their own access to a bar and lounge behind the stand for use before the match and at half-time.

The stadium had not featured a scoreboard or big screen of any kind since the 1993 expansion displaced one from The Gallowgate end, although in 2007 bright red digital time displays were installed near the corner flags at pitch level.

The first day of its use in a game versus Leicester City saw a one-hour delay to kick-off over safety concerns around the screen due to high winds.

[77] On 21 November 2017 it was announced that Newcastle Falcons would take their Premiership Rugby match against Northampton Saints on 24 March 2018 to St James' Park.

The stadium was also the venue of the final of The Prince's Trust Challenge Trophy, on 14 October 2007, between the Duke of Northumberland and Earl of Durham teams.

The title sequence of FIFA Football 2004 featuring Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry and Alessandro del Piero was shot at the stadium.

[84] The stadium has hosted concerts for many famous artists, including The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band, Queen, Bob Dylan, Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, Kings of Leon and Ed Sheeran.

Immediately after his death, St James' Park became an impromptu shrine to Sir Bobby, with thousands of fans leaving floral tributes, club shirts and scarves in the Leazes End for the following ten days.