Newcastle Thunder

Newcastle Thunder is a professional rugby league club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was founded in 2000 as Gateshead Thunder, after the merger of the original Gateshead Thunder into Hull F.C. in 1999. The Thunder were based in Gateshead until 2014. In 2015, the club relocated and changed its name to Newcastle Thunder.

In 2024, the Newcastle Thunder made a return to Gateshead as their playing base. For 2025 they will play their home games at Crow Trees Ground in Swalwell, home of Blaydon RFC. The club currently competes in the Championship.

History The club was formed by the Thunder 2000 working group, formed by supporters of the original Gateshead Thunder after that organisation made the decision to merge with Hull Sharks at the end of the 1999 season. The new club, like the former club, played their home games at Gateshead International Stadium, also the home ground of Gateshead F.C. The Thunder entered the Northern Ford Premiership for the 2001 season; however, they struggled to compete, and eventually finished 17th out of the 19 clubs.

Gateshead continued to struggle in the following season, finishing bottom of the league in 2002. When the Northern Ford Premiership was split into two divisions for the 2003 season the club joined National League Two, and again finished in the bottom two, being kept off the bottom only by new entrants London Skolars. The club's fortunes began to improve in 2005, a seventh-place finish being enough to gain a first ever place in the play-offs, before losing to Workington Town in their first ever play-off game. The club again finished seventh in 2006, but went on to lose 46–18 to Featherstone Rovers in the play-offs.

In 2008 the club won its first silverware, finishing the season as League 1 champions. As champions, the club were promoted to the Championship, and avoided on-field relegation by finishing seventh under coach Steve McCormack. Thunder's joy at securing a second season in the second tier was however short-lived, as the club was wound up following a dispute between the directors. A new company was formed to continue the club, however the club had to restart as a Championship 1 side, effectively being relegated for the 2010 season.

Gateshead Thunder were taken over by the owners of rugby union side Newcastle Falcons in 2015. The club was rebranded as Newcastle Thunder and applied for permission to use Kingston Park in Newcastle as their home ground.

Further silverware was earned in 2016, when Newcastle defeated North Wales Crusaders to win the League 1 Shield

On 10 December 2020, Thunder were promoted to the Championship by a committee to replace Leigh who were, in turn, promoted to Super League to replace Toronto Wolfpack, who went out of business. Newcastle began playing in the 2021 Championship season.

For the 2022 season, Newcastle announced they were adopting the full time professional model in order to aid promotion to the Super League. This lasted for one year with the club reverting back to part time semi professional status for 2023.

Following the 2023 RFL Championship season, Newcastle were relegated to League One after winning five of 27 matches. On 13 October 2023, the club announced that they had withdrawn from League One for the 2024 season. A club statement said "Unfortunately, the impact of COVID-19, combined with the low levels of regional growth and development in the game, means it just isn't feasible to continue." An attempt to revive the club was immediately launched under former chairman, Keith Christie. Despite an application to rejoin the league not having been accepted by the RFL, the RFL did include the club in the fixture lists for the 1895 Cup and the 2024 League One season when these were announced at the start of December 2023. In December 2023 the RFL approved the club's change of ownership and confirmed Newcastle's participation in the 2024 season competitions.

On 16 May 2024, the club announced that it would return to the Gateshead International Stadium for the rest of the 2024 season.

For 2025 the club moved to play at the Crow Trees Ground, home of Blaydon RFC.

Kit manufacturers and sponsors

YearsKit ManufacturerMain Shirt Sponsor1999AvecNorthern Electric & Gas2000–2001exitonone2004–2005HalbroHalbro2006Nikenone2010XBladesGMC Transport Limited2011–2012Puma2013StagJack Coupe and Sons2014Gateshead College2015Impact Gizmowizard2016Errea Greene King IPA2017ISCPTM Group2018–2019Tyne Metropolitan College2020–2023Macron2026DXG Mini

2027 squad

2027 transfers Gains Player From Contract Date

Losses Player From Contract Date Cody Hunter York Knights 2 years16 September 2026 David Nofoaluma18 September 2026 Tom Inman23 September 2026

Players

Notable former players (in alphabetical order) Russell Aitken Ryan Bailey Matt Barron David Bates Luke Branighan Tabua Cakacaka Scott Dyson Paul Franze Ashley Gibson Andrew Henderson Kris Kahler Jordan Meads Wade Liddell David Mycoe Chris Parker Damien Reid Stewart Sanderson Netani Suka Kerrod Walters Nick Youngquest

Past coaches Also see :Category:Newcastle Thunder coaches Gateshead Thunder

Andy Kelly (2001–2002) Dean Thomas (2005–2006) Dave Woods (2006) Chris Hood (2009) Steve McCormack (2009) Richard Pell (2010–2011) Stanley Gene (2013–2014)

Newcastle Thunder

Mick Mantelli (2016–2017) Jason Payne (2017–2019 Simon Finnigan (2019–2020) Eamon O'Carroll (2020–2022) Chris Thorman (2023-2025) Graham Steadman (interim) (2025-)

Records

Correct to September 2017

Player records

Most tries in a match: 5 by Andy Walker vs London Skolars 22 June 2003 Most points in a season: 246 by Chris Birch, 2005 Most career tries: 64 by Kevin Neighbour, 2001–2013 Most career goals: 137 by Paul Thorman, 2001–2004 Most career points: 365 by Paul Thorman, 2001–2004

Team records Biggest win: 98-6 v. West Wales (at Kingston Park Stadium, 23 September 2018) Biggest defeat: 132-0 v. Blackpool (at Memorial Stadium, 16 May 2010)

Attendance records Highest all-time attendance: 6,631 v. Bradford (at Gateshead International Stadium, 16 May 1999)

Seasons

Season(As Gateshead Thunder)LeagueChallenge CupOther competitions Division P W D L F A Pts Pos Play-offs2001Northern Ford Premiership282026346990417thR4 2002Northern Ford Premiership2701263381108118thR3 2003National League Two18311436566379thR3 2004National League Two181017298715210thR3 2005National League Two18819516508176thLost in elimination playoffsR3 2006National League Two2211011547540227thLost in elimination playoffsR3 2007National League Two2260163816922111thR4 2008National League Two221903767415591stN/AR3 2009Championship209294610657327thQF 2010Championship 12010192361232-2 11thR3 2011Championship 12001192681094210thR4 2012Championship 1181017276824510thR4 2013Championship 1164111356542207thR3 2014Championship 1201190615576364thLost in semi-finalR3 Season(As Newcastle Thunder)LeagueChallenge CupOther competitions Division P W D L F A Pts Pos Play-offs2015Championship 12211110555552228thR4 2016League 114716404368159thWon in Shield FinalR3 2017League 115906459328186thFifth in Super 8sR4 2018League 12614012841520288thR4 2019League 1201415741364293rdLost in play-off finalR41895 Cup R22020League 1colspan="7"R6 2021Championship20711243162715 11thR3 1895 Cup R12022Championship2771195598771512thR4 2023Championship254120361862914thR52024League One200020190112409thR31895 Cup2025League One18001898992010thR21895 Cup2026Championship2421031093302422ndLost in Semi-finalsR21895 Cup

Honours RFL League 1: Winners (1): 2008 RFL League 1: Promotion(1): 2020 League 1 Shield: Winners (1): 2016

Reserves As of 2026, Newcastle entered a reserve team, Newcastle Lightening, into the Yorkshire Mens League, playing their games as double headers with the first team.

Notes

Newcastle Thunder

Bron en licentie