Hunter City Motor Group Stadium

What is now the Hunter City Motor Group Stadium began life in 1970 as the Newcastle International Sports Centre, and for the next four decades it carried whatever brand paid the bill — Marathon Stadium, EnergyAustralia Stadium, Ausgrid Stadium, Hunter Stadium, McDonald Jones Stadium. Through all of it, one tenant stayed put: Weston Workers Bears, who have called this patch of Government Road home since well before the current stand existed.

The club plays its football several tiers below the professional game, in the Northern NSW National Premier Leagues. A redevelopment running through to early 2025 replaced the old grandstand with a proper clubhouse, added change rooms, physio and gym space, floodlighting and a scoreboard — work paid for by Cessnock City Council and federal funding rather than by a naming-rights sponsor, which is part of why Hunter City Motor Group Stadium is the name that has stuck.

The pitch holds barely a thousand spectators, and for most of its history that was more than enough. Then, in the 2026 Australia Cup, Weston Bears drew Melbourne City — an A-League club dropping into their car park for the first time. The Bears lost 3-0, but the ground was full for it, and for one afternoon a stadium built for suburban Saturday football hosted a name from the top flight.