Newcastle Thunder

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Newcastle Thunder
Newcastle Thunder logo.svg
Club information
Full nameNewcastle Thunder Rugby League Football Club
Nickname(s)Thunder
Short nameNewcastle
ColoursGthundercolours.svg
Founded1999; 23 years ago (1999)
(as "Gateshead Thunder")
Websitethunderrugby.co.uk
Current details
Ground(s)
ChairmanSemore Kurdi
CoachEamon O'Carroll
CaptainBob Beswick
CompetitionRFL Championship
2020 season3rd (League 1)
Uniforms
Home colours
Away colours
Records
Challenge CupsQuarter finalists (2009)
League 11 (2008)
Most capped234 -
Highest points scorer449 - Benn Hardcastle

The Newcastle Thunder are a professional rugby league club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. They play in the Betfred Championship competition, the second 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.[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 Centurions who were, in turn, promoted to Super League to replace Toronto Wolfpack, who went out of business. The Thunder will play in the 2021 Championship season.[13]

Kit manufacturers and sponsors[]

2009 shirt
Gateshead Thunder emblem
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
2013 Stag Jack Coupe and Sons
2014 Gateshead College
2015 Impact Gizmowizard
2016 Errea Greene King IPA
2017 ISC
2018-2019 Tyne Metropolitan College
2020- Macron

2021 squad[]

Newcastle Thunder 2021 Squad
First team squad Coaching staff

Head coach

Assistant coach

Legend:
  • (c) Captain(s)
  • (vc) Vice captain(s)

Updated: 16 March 2021
Source(s): 2021 Squad Numbers

2021 transfers[]

In

Player Club Contract length Date
England Calum Turner Castleford Tigers 1 Year November 2020
England Wigan Warriors 1 Year November 2020
England Jack Johnson Warrington Wolves 1 Year November 2020
England Sam Wilde Widnes Vikings 1 Year November 2020
England Evan Hodgson Bradford Bulls 1 Year December 2020
England Wigan Warriors 1 Year December 2020
England Connor Bailey Wakefield Trinity Season Loan December 2020
Democratic Republic of the Congo Samy Kibula Warrington Wolves Season Loan December 2020
England Josh Woods Wigan Warriors 1 Year December 2020
England Jake Shorrocks Wigan Warriors 1 Year December 2020
England Cole Oakley Warrington Wolves 1 Year December 2020
England Ted Chapelhow Widnes Vikings 1 Year December 2020
England Jay Chapelhow Widnes Vikings 1 Year December 2020
Tonga Ukuma Ta'ai Huddersfield Giants 1 Year February 2021

Out

Player Club Contract length Date
Samoa Quentin Laulu-Togagae Keighley Cougars 1 Year August 2020
Scotland Sam Luckley Salford Red Devils 1 Year December 2020
England Adam Lawton Widnes Vikings 1 Year December 2020
England N/A March 2021
England Colton Roche N/A March 2021

Players[]

Notable former players[]

Past coaches[]

Also see Category:Newcastle Thunder coaches

Records[]

Correct to September 2017 [14]

Player records[]

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

Team records[]

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

Attendance records[]

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

Seasons[]

See also: Gateshead Thunder (1999) § Season summary
Season
(As Gthundercolours.svg Gateshead Thunder) 		League Challenge Cup Other competitions
Division P W D L F A Pts Pos Play-offs
Northern Ford Premiership 28 2 0 26 346 990 4 17th Did not qualify R4
Northern Ford Premiership 27 0 1 26 338 1108 1 18th Did not qualify R3
National League Two 18 3 1 14 365 663 7 9th Did not qualify R3
National League Two 18 1 0 17 298 715 2 10th Did not qualify R3
National League Two 18 8 1 9 516 508 17 6th Lost in Elimination Playoffs R3
National League Two 22 11 0 11 547 540 22 7th Lost in Elimination Playoffs R3
National League Two 22 6 0 16 381 692 21 11th Did not qualify R4
National League Two 22 19 0 3 767 415 59 1st N/A[a] R3
Championship 20 9 2 9 4610 657 32 7th[b] Did not qualify QF
Championship 1 20 1 0 19 236 1232 -2 11th Did not qualify R3
Championship 1 20 0 1 19 268 1094 2 10th Did not qualify R4
Championship 1 18 1 0 17 276 824 5 10th Did not qualify R4
Championship 1 16 4 1 11 356 542 20 7th Did not qualify R3
Championship 1 20 11 9 0 615 576 36 4th Lost in Semi Final R3
Season
(As Gthundercolours.svg Newcastle Thunder) 		League Challenge Cup Other competitions
Division P W D L F A Pts Pos Play-offs
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
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
League 1 League abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic [c] R6
Championship 20 7 1 12 431 627 15 11th Did not qualify R3[d] 1895 Cup R1

Honours[]

Winners (1): 2008
Winners (1): 2016

Juniors[]

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

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.[15]
  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. ^ "Records and Honours". Newcastle Thunder. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  15. ^ "Newcastle Thunder to join Betfred Championship in 2021". www.rugby-league.com. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2021.

External links[]

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