There are some incredible stadia within the sport of rugby that fans and players will have special memories of for different reasons.
The MCG stadium in Melbourne will hold a place in the heart of Hugo Keenan for the rest of his life and for many fans who were in attendance due to its significance in the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour.
While it may not be the most glamorous location, Kingston Park has a special place in mine, being the home of the first professional rugby club I could attend regularly.
Felt like home
The area and the stadium felt like home to me.
I had moved to the city of Newcastle to study at university, and our Gaelic football team would train next to Kingston Park.
At times, I would look across and see the floodlights shining down at Kingston Park, and then as I would walk to catch the metro back towards Haymarket following my Gaelic football training next to the stadium.
Travelling out to the area weekly felt comforting, as I was able to continue playing the sport that had been incredibly significant throughout my childhood while my love of rugby and the Newcastle Falcons started to blossom.
It may have helped that the 2015 Rugby World Cup was being held in England, with the facilities our Northumbria Gaelic football team used also being where Tonga prepared for their clash with New Zealand.
Getting to, in some way, share a pitch with international rugby players will always hold a special place in my heart.
While it may not have been in Kingston Park, the image of the stadium in the distance will always be remembered fondly by me.
Like with my life at Northumbria University, every era must come to an end.
Now the same must be said for Kingston Park.
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As Red Bull finalises their takeover of the club, it has been reported in the Telegraph that the name of the team that will play at the stadium will change.
It will see Newcastle Falcons become Newcastle Red Bulls.
I’ll be honest, the change of name is not one I like, and they will always be Falcons to me and possibly to many of their supporters.
Fans who grew up with the team will have countless memories with the club, from the highs of 1998 as they lifted the Premiership to the lows of the modern era when they have seemingly become a constant fixture at the bottom of the league.
SV Austria Salzburg and SSV Markranstädt are the names of clubs that have been lost to history following their acquisition or through deals made with Red Bull.
Both football clubs have experienced some sort of success at both the domestic and European levels under their current names, Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig.
The energy drink giant may be hoping for something similar with their takeover of Newcastle Falcons as they look to completely revitalise the club.
The aim is to reverse the trend of top players wanting to leave the club and start to attract talent to Newcastle as they look to work towards winning their second Premiership title and then a Champions Cup.
While this takeover by Red Bull is heralding in a new and more prosperous era for Newcastle, at least that is the hope, it will be sad to think that the club I had gotten to know personally over three years before watching from afar is now set to become a distant memory.
New era
Newcastle were in desperate need of this investment to help keep the club alive, and it is a great thing for both the area and English rugby that they will survive.
I just hope that this new era for Newcastle does not strip the club away from its community feel or negatively impact the diehard Falcons fans who endured torture in recent seasons.
If Newcastle Falcons becomes successful through turning them into an empty and soulless club, then count me out.
However, there is an opportunity to rebuild a club to once again be proud to support and recapture the hearts of rugby fans in the northeast, the way the club and Kingston Park captured mine 10 years ago as I began my new life in England.