Newcastle Thunder

The Newcastle Thunder is a professional rugby league club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Founded in 1999 as Gateshead Thunder after the merger of the original Gateshead Thunder with Hull F.C. the club played in the Championship and League 1 competitions, the second and third tier of rugby league in the United Kingdom. In 2015 the club changed it's name to Newcastle Thunder. They played their home matches at Kingston Park, also home to rugby union side Newcastle Falcons. In October 2023 the club announced that it was withdrawing from the Rugby Football League.

Newcastle Thunder
Club information
Full nameNewcastle Thunder Rugby League Football Club
Nickname(s)Thunder
Short nameNewcastle
Colours
Founded1999 (1999)
(as Gateshead Thunder)
Exited2023 (2023)
Websitethunderrugby.co.uk
Former details
Ground(s)
ChairmanSemore Kurdi
CoachChris Thorman
CaptainAlex Foster
2023 season14th (relegated)
Uniforms
Home colours
Away colours
Records
Challenge CupsQuarter finalists (2009)
League 11 (2008)
Most capped234 – Joe Brown
Highest points scorer449 – Benn Hardcastle

History

The club was formerly known as Gateshead Thunder, and played their home games at Gateshead International Stadium in Gateshead. The club was formed by the Thunder 2000 working group, supporters of the original Gateshead Thunder after that organisation made the decision to merge with Hull Sharks at the end of the 1999 season.[1] The new club entered the Northern Ford Premiership for the 2001 season, however they struggled to compete, and eventually finished 17th out of the 19 clubs.[2]

Kingston Park, seen during a Newcastle Falcons game

Gateshead continued to struggle in the following season, finishing bottom of the league in 2002.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5] The club again finished seventh in 2006, but went on to lose 46–18 to Featherstone Rovers in the play-offs.[6]

In 2008 the club won its first silverware, finishing the season as League 1 champions.[7] As champions, the club were promoted to the Championship, and avoided on-field relegation by finishing seventh under coach Steve McCormack [8] 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.[9]

Gateshead Thunder were taken over by the owners of rugby union side Newcastle Falcons in 2015.[10] The club was rebranded as Newcastle Thunder and applied for permission to use Kingston Park in Newcastle as their home ground.[11]

Further silverware was earned in 2016, when Newcastle defeated North Wales Crusaders to win the League 1 Shield[12]

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.[13]

For the 2022 season, Newcastle announced they were adopting the full time professional model in order to aid promotion Super League.[14] This lasted for one year with the club reverting back to part time semi professional status for 2023.[15]

Following the 2023 RFL Championship season, Newcastle were relegated to League One after winning five of 27 matches.[16] 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."[17]

Kit manufacturers and sponsors
2009 shirt
Gateshead Thunder emblem
YearsKit ManufacturerMain Shirt Sponsor
1999AvecNorthern Electric & Gas
2000–2001exitonone
2004–2005HalbroHalbro
2006Nikenone
2010XBladesGMC Transport Limited
2011–2012Puma
2013StagJack Coupe and Sons
2014Gateshead College
2015ImpactGizmowizard
2016ErreaGreene King IPA
2017ISCPTM Group
2018–2019Tyne Metropolitan College
2020–2023Macron

Players

Notable former players

(in alphabetical order)

Past coaches

Also see Category:Newcastle Thunder coaches

Records
Correct to September 2017 [18]

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
See also: Gateshead Thunder (1999) § Season summary
Season
(As Gateshead Thunder)		 League Challenge Cup Other competitions
DivisionPWDLFAPtsPosPlay-offs
2001 Northern Ford Premiership 2820263469904 17th Did not qualify R4
2002 Northern Ford Premiership 27012633811081 18th Did not qualify R3
2003 National League Two 1831143656637 9th Did not qualify R3
2004 National League Two 1810172987152 10th Did not qualify R3
2005 National League Two 1881951650817 6th Lost in elimination playoffs R3
2006 National League Two 221101154754022 7th Lost in elimination playoffs R3
2007 National League Two 22601638169221 11th Did not qualify R4
2008 National League Two 22190376741559 1st N/A[lower-alpha 1] R3
2009 Championship 20929461065732 7th[lower-alpha 2] Did not qualify QF
2010 Championship 1 2010192361232-2 11th Did not qualify R3
2011 Championship 1 20011926810942 10th Did not qualify R4
2012 Championship 1 1810172768245 10th Did not qualify R4
2013 Championship 1 16411135654220 7th Did not qualify R3
2014 Championship 1 20119061557636 4th Lost in semi-final R3
Season
(As Newcastle Thunder)		 League Challenge Cup Other competitions
DivisionPWDLFAPtsPosPlay-offs
2015 Championship 1 221111055555222 8th Did not qualify R4
2016 League 1 1471640436815 9th Won in Shield Final R3
2017 League 1 1590645932818 6th Fifth in Super 8s R4
2018 League 1 261401284152028 8th Did not qualify R4
2019 League 1 20141574136429 3rd Lost in play-off final R4 1895 CupR2
2020 League 1 League abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic [lower-alpha 3] R6
2021 Championship 20711243162715 11th Did not qualify R3[lower-alpha 4] 1895 CupR1
2022 Championship 27711955987715 12th Did not qualify R4
2023 Championship 2541203618629 14th Did not qualify R5

Honours
Winners (1): 2008
Promotion(1): 2020
Winners (1): 2016

Notes
  1. League leaders do more enter third division playoffs
  2. Enforced Relegation due to Salary Cap Breach
  3. Newcastle were promoted by an independent panel following Toronto Wolfpack's expulsion.[19]
  4. Officially round 1 due to the competitions temporary restructure in 2021.

References
  1. "Club History". Newcastle Thunder. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  2. "2001 Season". Cherry & White (RLFans). Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  3. "2002 Season". Cherry & White (RLFans). Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  4. "2003 Season". Cherry & White (RLFans). Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  5. "2005 Season". Cherry & White (RLFans). Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  6. "2006 Season". Cherry & White (RLFans). Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  7. "Newcastle Thunder". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  8. "McCormack joy as Thunder survive". BBC Sport. 7 September 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  9. "Gateshead rescue bid gathers pace". BBC Sport. 26 October 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  10. "Newcastle Thunder to soar under new ownership, predicts Brian Carney". Evening Chronicle. 26 May 2015. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  11. "Newcastle Thunder: Gateshead rugby league side relocates". BBC Sport. BBC. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  12. "Sunday 18th September 2016 Match Report". Rugby Football League. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  13. "Thunder awarded Championship place". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  14. https://www.thunderrugby.co.uk/article/173/newcastle-thunder-confirm-2022-full-time-status
  15. https://www.thunderrugby.co.uk/article/470/newcastle-thunder-announce-reversion-to-part-time-status
  16. "Championship relegation confirmed following latest defeat to promotion hopefuls Featherstone Rovers". www.loverugbyleague.com. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  17. "Newcastle Thunder: Relegated Championship rugby league team pull out of 2024 season". BBC Sport. 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  18. "Records and Honours". Newcastle Thunder. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  19. "Newcastle Thunder to join Betfred Championship in 2021". www.rugby-league.com. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
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