St James' Park to host Newcastle's game against Northampton

Aviva Premiership club Newcastle will play this season's Premiership match at the city's St James' Park this season. The Premiership showdown is scheduled for March 25 with a 5.30pm kick-off

Newcastle's United's 52,000-capacity stadium staged three matches during the Rugby World Cup 2015, has also hosted three Super League Magic Weekends and will be the venue for the 2019 European Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals.

"We have set ourselves a target of 20,000 tickets sold for what will be a great day at a fantastic venue, one which has already shown itself to be more than capable of hosting top rugby events," Newcastle Falcons managing director Mick Hogan said.

"The passion for sport in our region and the commitment from the public in supporting major sporting events is second to none," Falcons director of rugby Dean Richards said.

"It will be a memorable day which people will want to be part of," Richards added. "I was working at Harlequins when they began a similar initiative of playing a game at Twickenham every season, and they really are great occasions."

The game will followed by a match between Newcastle University and Northumbria University.