Newcastle United Youth - Whitley Park

Newcastle United U21

Whitley Park

Whitley Road

Newcastle upon Tyne 

NE12 9SF

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1481

Thursday 18th September 2025

Newcastle United 23- Barcelona

UEFA Youth League

NEWCASTLE UNITED U21 - A BRIEF HISTORY

Newcastle United F.C. Under-21s and Academy are the reserve and academy teams for the Premier League club Newcastle United. The Under-21 team plays in the Premier League 2, Division 2. It also participates in the Northumberland Senior Cup each season. Newcastle Under-21 play their home games at Whitley Park, the former home ground of West Allotment Celtic, and also at the first team stadium St James' Park. In previous seasons, the team has also played at Gateshead International Stadium, the home ground of Gateshead, and Kingston Park, the home ground of Newcastle Falcons.

HONOURS - LEAGUE

The Central League (1): 1947–48

Northern Football League (3): 1902–03, 1903–04, 1904–05

North Eastern League (6): 1906–07, 1907–08, 1908–09, 1910–11, 1922–23, 1925–26

Northern Football Alliance (5): 1897–98, 1900–01, 1901–02, 1938–39, 1957–58

HONOURS - CUP

Northumberland Senior Cup (33): 1884–85 and 1888–89 (Newcastle East End), 1887–88 and 1891–92 (Newcastle West End), 1898–98, 1900–01, 1903–04, 1904–05, 1906–06, 1908–09, 1909–10, 1910–11, 1911–12 (joint), 1921–22, 1924–25, 1925–26, 1926–27, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2017-18, 2023-24

HKFC Soccer Sevens (3): 2012, 2018, 2019

MY VISIT

From my game at Route One Rovers, it was a 15-minute walk to our required bus stop. We just missed the half-hourly bus by a few minutes and so went to a local shop for a drink. Our bus duly came, and it was a busy one, but swift getting back to Leeds in under 40 minutes. It was under ten minutes back to our room with us in at 11.15. Colin went straight to bed, but I stayed up for a while and then had a patchy night's sleep. I woke up at 7 and got my stuff together, and had a shower. There was an unexpected bonus tick at Newcastle's training ground as they faced Barcelona. I'm not usually keen on training grounds, but it split the costs for the day into two, so it seemed a sensible option.

Tickets were purchased online for a fiver apiece, train tickets were booked for £6 each, and just in case of any issues, we arranged to have our bags stored. It would be a very right timeframe, but I thought it would be worth it. We left at 10.30 and had a wander around Leeds before going to a Wetherspoons that Colin needed. I had a breakfast muffin, chicken wings, cranberry juice and a pint of Stowford Press for under £9, a bargain even with the higher city prices. Colin left his phone on the table, a fact that he didn't realise until he reached Leeds Station; luckily for him, I'd picked it up for him.

Our train to York was delayed, but that didn't matter with a large amount of time to transfer between trains. The second one was also delayed, which meant we'd be late for the game. After dropping our bags, we got the Metro to Benton, then walked ten minutes to the ground. It was a decent attendance with a few familiar faces, including a Gillingham fan we knew. It was happily goalless when we arrived 12 minutes in. On 24 minutes, Xavi Espart gave Newcastle United the lead, sliding the ball home at the back post from a left-wing cross. Oscar Gistau doubled the lead on 44 minutes, a shot into the top of the net from just inside the area. Gistau got his second and Barcelona's third with a sweet 30-yard lob right on the half-time whistle. Newcastle reduced the arrears with a well-worked free kick, Leo Shahar reducing the arrears on 51 minutes. In a much contrasting second half, Newcastle dominated. They had the ball in the net on 75 minutes but it was ruled out for offside. They did get another back on 82 minutes, a well-worked move and a low shot into the bottom left corner from Kacey Wooster. That was it for goals; it had been an entertaining game in front of just under 700 fans.

THE GROUND

WHITLEY PARK is the Northumberland FA ground and the former home of West Allotment Celtic. It's also used for the Sunde Over 40s League, at least the adjacent Blue Flames Sporting Club is. It's a functional ground with metal stands, but the pitch is in immaculate condition. There was also decent-looking food, but no bar. Parking was plentiful and the Benton Metro station is a ten-minute walk away.