Newcastle was a professional rugby league club.


The club was based in Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

 (often shortened to Newcastle

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

), a city

City

A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

 and metropolitan borough

Metropolitan borough

A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England, and is a subdivision of a metropolitan county. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts, however all of them have been granted or regranted...

 of Tyne and Wear

Tyne and Wear

Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in north east England around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972...

 and in North East England

North East England

North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...

. It is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne

River Tyne

The River Tyne is a river in North East England in Great Britain. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers: the North Tyne and the South Tyne. These two rivers converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters'.The North Tyne rises on the...

. Historically it was a part of Northumberland

Northumberland

Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...

 and was a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius.

The club played (semi) professional Rugby League for a total of 2 seasons, 1936-37

1936-37 Northern Rugby Football League season

-Challenge Cup:Widnes beat Keighley 18-5 in the final played at Wembley Stadium in front of a crowd of 47,699.This was Widnes' second Challenge Cup final win in three final appearances.This was Keighley's first, and to date, only Challenge Cup final appearance....

 and 1937-38, possibly joining direct from non-league.

They left the league at the end of season 1937-38. Their future is unknown.

Northern Union

There had been several rugby league teams based on Tyneside since the Schism. Wallsend RFC were an early non-league club and South Shields

South Shields (Rugby League)

South Shields was a professional rugby league club.The club was based in South Shields South Shields was a (semi) professional rugby league club.The club was based in South Shields South Shields was a (semi) professional rugby league club.The club was based in South Shields (known locally as just...

 tried their luck, with the (semi) professionals in the second division of the Rugby League in 1902-03 and 1903-04, neither club with any great success, and Gateshead Thunder

Gateshead Thunder

Gateshead Thunder is a professional rugby league club based in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear in England. They currently play in the Championship 1 competition, the third tier of rugby league in the United Kingdom...

 were granted a licence for the 1999 season.

Newcastle Rugby League FC joined the (semi) professional Rugby League for the season 1936-37.

The Pathe news cameras were out when Newcastle Rugby League FC opened their home programme with a great fanfare. The match was attended by many dignitaries including the Lord Mayor of Newcastle, This first match, played against Huddersfield

Huddersfield Giants

Huddersfield Giants are a professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire who play in the European Super League competition. They play their home games at the Galpharm Stadium which is shared with Huddersfield Town F.C....

 on 7th Sept 1936, resulted in a 12-33 loss. A piece of film, only about a minute and a half duration, exists and the clip is described as, “M/S of the Lord Mayor of Newcastle walking along with other officials to open first rugby league game. M/S as he runs a flag up a pole, it says 'Newcastle Rugby League F. C.' M/S as the Newcastle team run out onto the pitch, various shots of the crowd as Huddersfield run out. Various shots of the match, Huddersfield win by 33 points to 12”
In their first season, 1936-37 Newcastle finished a lowly 29th out of 30 clubs, with only Featherstone Rovers

Featherstone Rovers

Featherstone Rovers are a semi-professional rugby league club, based in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. They currently play in the Championship. The Rovers are one of the last vestiges of "small town teams" that were once common in rugby league during the early twentieth century...

 below them.

In their second and last season, 1937-38 they again finished second bottom 28th and last out of 29 clubs, this time with Bramley

Bramley Buffaloes

Bramley Buffaloes is a rugby league club from the Bramley area of West Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. Previously known simply as Bramley RLFC, the club is a famous name in rugby league, having existed prior to the formation of the Northern Union in 1895...

 below them.

Newcastle Rugby Club left the league at the end of season 1937-38.

Trivia

An interesting, but unconfirmed, comment on the University of Sunderland website states "and in 1938, Newcastle moved South of the Tyne and played a season of matches at the White City Sports Stadium but did not rejoin the league after World War Two". TRhere is no apparent evidence or verification of this from any other source.

Stadium

Newcastle RLFC played at a stadium also used as a greyhound stadium. This was possibly Brough Park Stadium

Newcastle Diamonds

Newcastle Diamonds are a motorcycle speedway team who compete in the British Premier League. The club has a reputation of importing young foreign talent and have given starts to the British careers of six times World Champion Ivan Mauger, three times World Champion Ole Olsen, 1974 World Champion...

, which at the time was already home to both greyhound racing and Newcastle Diamonds speedway team.
According to "the Grounds of Rugby League"(Trevor Delaney,1991) Newcastle RLFC played at Brough Park in the 1936/37 season. For 1937/38 the team moved to the new White City Stadium in Gateshead.

Club League Record

The League positions for Newcastle for the 2 full years in which they played (semi) professional Rugby League are given in the following table :-

Season	Competition	Pos	Team Name	Pl	W	D	L	PW	PA	Diff	Pts	% Pts	No of teams in league	Notes	Ref
1936-37	RL	29	Newcastle	38	5	1	32	300	890	-590	11		30
1937-38	RL	28	Newcastle	36	2	4	30	206	750	-544	8		29

RL = Single Division; Pl = Games Played: W = Win; D = Draw; L = Lose; PF = Points For; PA = Points Against; Diff = Points Difference (+ or -); Pts = League Points

% Pts = A percentage system was used to determine league positions due to clubs playing varying number of fixtures and against different opponents

League points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.