Newcastle Thunder


The Newcastle Thunder are a professional rugby league club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. They play in the Betfred League 1 competition, the third tier of rugby league in the United Kingdom. They play their home matches at Kingston Park, also home to rugby union side Newcastle Falcons. The club was known as Gateshead Thunder until 2015.

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 supporters of the original Gateshead Thunder after that organisation made the decision to relocate to Hull at the end of the 1999 season. 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.
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

Kit manufacturers and sponsors

YearsKit ManufacturerMain Shirt Sponsor
1999AvecNorthern Electric & Gas
2000-2001exitonone
2004-2005HalbroHalbro
2006Nikenone
2010XBladesGMC Transport Limited
2011-2012PumaGMC Transport Limited
2013StagJack Coupe and Sons
2014StagGateshead College
2015ImpactGizmowizard
2016ErreaGreene King IPA
2017ISCPTM Group

2020 squad

2019 transfers

In
PlayerClubContract lengthDate
Ben DentYork City Knights1 yearDecember 2017
Aaron OllettDewsbury Rams1 yearNovember 2017
Conor FitzsimmonsCastleford Tigers1 yearNovember 2017
Keal CarlileFeatherstone RoversN/ASeptember 2018
Alex RoweBatley BulldogsN/ASeptember 2018
Jared BlankeLézignan Sangliers2 YearsAugust 2018
Liam FinnWakefield Trinity WildcatsN/AAugust 2018
Misi TaulapapaFeatherstone Rovers1 yearNovember 2018
Kieran GillCastleford Tigers1-year loanNovember 2018
Jy-mel ColemanLondon Skolars1 yearDecember 2018
Carne Doyle-MangaNorths Devils2 yearFebruary 2019
Joel EdwardsN/Auntil end of seasonMay 2019

Out
PlayerClubContract lengthDate
Ben PointerSheffield Eagles1 yearOctober 2018
Tee RitsonBarrow RaidersN/AOctober 2018
Liam ScottLondon SkolarsN/ANovember 2018

Records

Player records

Newcastle Thunder run player development programmes for U12 through to U16's
Thunder also run a U16 Scholarship side and an U19 Academy side that play in the Super League U19's structure
The 2018 u16 team has seen wins against London Broncos, Widnes Vikings and Leeds Rhinos and the u19's picking up an early season win against Wakefield Trinity