St James' Park: Qualifying venue (StuartFranklin/Allsport)

The Football Association announced today that the 52,000-seater Tyneside stadium would host the nation's World Cup qualifier against the Eastern European side on Wednesday, September 5, just five days after the crunch clash with Germany in Munich.

It is a huge boost for United, who have spent around £70million in the last decade to develop their ground into the second biggest in the Premiership, with only champions Manchester United able to boast a higher capacity.

For Shepherd and his fellow directors, it is a vindication of their, at times, controversial refurbishment programme, and the chairman is confident that Sven-Goran Eriksson and his players will get just the reception they need as they battle to book their trip to Japan and Korean in 2002.

'It's the best crowd in the country and everybody knows that,' he said. 'I think that's one of the reasons why they're here.

'If we're fighting for points in the last games, they'll certainly get the Newcastle folk behind them, I'll tell you that, because the Geordies aren't slow coming forward and they'll get right behind the England team.'

The last of the four peace-time internationals to be played at St James' a 4-0 victory over Norway took place in November 1938, but the work carried out at the stadium during the last few years, and its successful participation in the Euro 96 tournament, mean that it is now a viable venue for big games.

'We must have impressed them the last time they played an international here in 1938 because it's taken them 63 years to come back,' joked Shepherd.

'We've got the best stadium here, in my opinion, in England, and it's the second in capacity, so why shouldn't internationals be played here?

'Newcastle are supported batter than most clubs in the country, so I'm really pleased that they're here.

'Everybody seems to be a bit surprised that they're here. I'm not surprised I'm disappointed that they didn't come here in the first place.'

The redeveloped St James' is indeed an impressive stadium, and when 52,000 voices are raised at once, the noise is deafening.

That, as well as the capacity, was a major factor in the FA's decision to opt for Newcastle when they plotted their campaign on the road while Wembley is out of commission.

'Sven and the squad are very much looking forward to coming here,' said director of marketing Paul Barber at a press conference at the stadium today.

'He's been here a couple of times since he was appointed and I think he was just amazed (a) by the stadium and (b) by the strength of the support and noise that's generated here.

'This is a magnificent stadium. It's a great credit to Newcastle United, to the region, and it's a stadium worthy of both an England international and in particular, a World Cup qualifier.

'It's terrific to be back here after 63 years. The north-east is a hotbed of football, it really is, and we've recognised that.

'We hope we can replicate our last game here, which was a 4-0 victory against Norway in 1938. Let's hope that's a good omen for Sven and the squad to come here in September.'

Tickets for England games are always at a premium, and the Albania game will be no exception, but the FA are to set aside around 5,000 specifically for local schoolchildren and priced at £11 half of the lowest adult admission price to ensure local representation in the crowd.

'We both agree that, as far as football is concerned for England and Newcastle United, that children are very, very important,' said Barber. 'We want them to see England internationals, we want them to get the buzz for football, we want them to get the passion that we've all got for football and so many people up here have.

'We felt that rather than trying any kind of special balloting system for season ticket holders, that we would actually go out for the children.

'It's really important that, in terms of getting the right balance and in particular taking advantage of being here in the north-east, we wanted to get local supporters in the stadium, and we felt this was the fairest way we could do it.'

If nothing else, the September date will at least give United midfielder Kieron Dyer a target to aim for as he attempts to recover from the shin injury which has ruled him out of Eriksson's plans for the next three qualifying games.