Sporting Venues

Do we love sport? To misquote the mighty Bill Shankly, to us, ‘it’s more important than life or death’. Whatever time of year you visit, we guarantee there’ll be something exciting and adrenaline-inducing going on and a warm and friendly crowd to share the thrills and spills.
We’ve three fantastic football clubs, with first-class stadia, at Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough. Tickets may be scarce but worth a shot, or take a behind-the-scenes-tour, peeking in the dressing rooms and playing fantasy football manager in the dug-outs. Jonny Wilkinson, of course, is our rugby hero, at Premier League Newcastle Falcons where you can join a boisterous rugby-mad crowd.
We’ve four racecourses where you can enjoy the sport in style. Hexham and Sedgefield have lovely country settings, Redcar is warm and friendly while Newcastle has year-round meetings, including Ladies’ Day and the three-day Northumberland Plate.
More sedate, but no less committed, are the cricket followers at Durham County Cricket Club’s beautiful riverside ground, where you can see first-class cricket including international Test Matches. World-class athletics are held at Gateshead International Stadium while the Great North Run, the world’s biggest half-marathon, sets out from Newcastle each autumn. Come October, surf’s up at Tynemouth for the British National Surfing Championships - make a date now and book your accommodation online.
Then there’s international tennis and greyhound racing at Sunderland; motorsports at Darlington; ice hockey and basketball at Newcastle; canoeing and rally driving through Kielder Forest and championship golf at Stockton. Phew!