# Newcastle Thunder

The 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 League 1, the third tier of rugby league in the United Kingdom.

## 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

| Years | Kit Manufacturer | Main Shirt Sponsor |
| 1999 | Avec | Northern Electric & Gas |
| 2000–2001 | exito | none |
| 2004–2005 | Halbro | Halbro |
| 2006 | Nike | none |
| 2010 | XBlades | GMC Transport Limited |
| 2011–2012 | Puma | GMC Transport Limited |
| 2013 | Stag | Jack Coupe and Sons |
| 2014 | Stag | Gateshead College |
| 2015 | Impact | Gizmowizard |
| 2016 | Errea | Greene King IPA |
| 2017 | ISC | PTM Group |
| 2018–2019 | ISC | Tyne Metropolitan College |
| 2020–2023 | Macron | Tyne Metropolitan College |

## 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
* 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)
* Mick Mantelli (2016–2017)
* Jason Payne (2017–2019
* Simon Finnigan (2019–2020)
* Eamon O'Carroll (2020–2022)
* Chris Thorman (2023)

## 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) | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | Challenge Cup | Other competitions | Other competitions |
| Season (As Gateshead Thunder) | Division | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Pos | Play-offs | Challenge Cup | Other competitions | Other competitions |
| 2001 | Northern Ford Premiership | 28 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 346 | 990 | 4 | 17th | Did not qualify | R4 | | |
| 2002 | Northern Ford Premiership | 27 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 338 | 1108 | 1 | 18th | Did not qualify | R3 | | |
| 2003 | National League Two | 18 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 365 | 663 | 7 | 9th | Did not qualify | R3 | | |
| 2004 | National League Two | 18 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 298 | 715 | 2 | 10th | Did not qualify | R3 | | |
| 2005 | National League Two | 18 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 516 | 508 | 17 | 6th | Lost in elimination playoffs | R3 | | |
| 2006 | National League Two | 22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 547 | 540 | 22 | 7th | Lost in elimination playoffs | R3 | | |
| 2007 | National League Two | 22 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 381 | 692 | 21 | 11th | Did not qualify | R4 | | |
| 2008 | National League Two | 22 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 767 | 415 | 59 | 1st | N/A | R3 | | |
| 2009 | Championship | 20 | 9 | 2 | 9 | 4610 | 657 | 32 | 7th | Did not qualify | QF | | |
| 2010 | Championship 1 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 236 | 1232 | -2 | 11th | Did not qualify | R3 | | |
| 2011 | Championship 1 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 268 | 1094 | 2 | 10th | Did not qualify | R4 | | |
| 2012 | Championship 1 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 276 | 824 | 5 | 10th | Did not qualify | R4 | | |
| 2013 | Championship 1 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 356 | 542 | 20 | 7th | Did not qualify | R3 | | |
| 2014 | Championship 1 | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 615 | 576 | 36 | 4th | Lost in semi-final | R3 | | |
| Season (As Newcastle Thunder) | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | Challenge Cup | Other competitions | Other competitions |
| Season (As Newcastle Thunder) | Division | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Pos | Play-offs | Challenge Cup | Other competitions | Other competitions |
| 2015 | Championship 1 | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 555 | 552 | 22 | 8th | Did not qualify | R4 | | |
| 2016 | League 1 | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 404 | 368 | 15 | 9th | Won in Shield Final | R3 | | |
| 2017 | League 1 | 15 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 459 | 328 | 18 | 6th | Fifth in Super 8s | R4 | | |
| 2018 | League 1 | 26 | 14 | 0 | 12 | 841 | 520 | 28 | 8th | Did not qualify | R4 | | |
| 2019 | League 1 | 20 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 741 | 364 | 29 | 3rd | Lost in play-off final | R4 | 1895 Cup | R2 |
| 2020 | League 1 | League abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic | League abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic | League abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic | League abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic | League abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic | League abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic | League abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic | | | R6 | | |
| 2021 | Championship | 20 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 431 | 627 | 15 | 11th | Did not qualify | R3 | 1895 Cup | R1 |
| 2022 | Championship | 27 | 7 | 1 | 19 | 559 | 877 | 15 | 12th | Did not qualify | R4 | | |
| 2023 | Championship | 25 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 361 | 862 | 9 | 14th | Did not qualify | R5 | | |
| 2024 | League One | 20 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 190 | 1124 | 0 | 9th | Did not qualify | R3 | 1895 Cup | GS |

## Honours

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