Rugby league has a proud history in the North East – but does it have a viable future? After a tumultuous few years for Newcastle Thunder, the club are still alive and kicking, looking to rebuild in the third tier.
NEWCASTLE THUNDER chairman Keith Christie is under no illusions as he chats to Rugby League World about the current state of the club, his ambitions for the future and his opinions on the ever-changing direction of the sport.
Before we get into the meat of the matter, it’s important to take a dive into Newcastle’s past and quickly remind ourselves of their story over the last two-and-a-half decades.
Back in 1999, Gateshead Thunder entered Super League and finished in a promising sixth place. Following that campaign, a merger with the doomed Hull Sharks followed which led the way for Hull FC – a move which took Super League rugby away from the North East.
Local spirit prevailed and led to the formation of a brand-new Gateshead Thunder club. The new side entered the Northern Ford Premiership before dropping to National League Two in 2003.
Just over a decade later, Gateshead were taken over by rugby union’s Newcastle Falcons and Semore Kurdi who rebranded the rugby league side into Newcastle Thunder.
Championship rugby returned to the area in 2021, with Thunder moving to a full-time model a year later.
Newcastle reverted to a semi-pro model in 2023 – a season which saw relegation to League One, the departure of Kurdi and a real risk of extinction. However, with Kurdi taking the club’s debts with him, Newcastle were able to restart under a new ownership model, led by Keith Christie.
Newcastle’s first season following their tempestuous transition was one to forget, with Thunder finishing bottom of the league without a single point to their name.
While the club remain winless in 2025 (at the rime of writing), there is real optimism building following some encouraging performances – none more so than their 32-22 defeat in Cornwall in March and a 34-16 loss to Goole a month later.
“I’m positive with things to be completely honest,” said Christie. “Of the guys who played against Goole, I think we had one who wasn’t from the North East, the rest were. To put a performance out against some well-established players on a tough day – I was pretty proud of them.
“For me, it’s one step at a time. The coaches understand that, the rest of the staff understand that. It is hard to sell something to the general public that isn’t winning, but we have to go through this process for players to get better.
“But I’m comfortable with the way we’ve managed it. I’m very fortunate to have some good people around us as well, supporting us. It’s going well, I think.”
One of the biggest decisions Newcastle had to make in recent times, was finding an alternative venue to Kingston Park. The club did just that, finding a new home at Blaydon Rugby Club.
When asked about the change, Christie added: “It was a huge necessity, it had to happen for us to become financially viable. We’re probably one of the few clubs last year that actually turned a profit. Ironically enough.
“It is tough, you know. We can sometimes live hand to mouth, but we manage things very tightly and very strategically with regards to how much we spend. We don’t overspend, we don’t have a big backer, but we’re going to try and look at a commercial opportunity for people to invest next season.”
Christie admitted that his current role can be ‘draining’ but also added: “I’m fortunate enough to have a really good group of people around me who are capable.
“We’ve got a great guy, Chris Thorman (head coach), who has passion and continues to get the best out of these guys who could easily put their heads down. But they get on and they put their bodies on the line every week. I think that’s testament to the group of people we’ve got around us.”
The challenge for Christie is undoubtedly a tough one. Newcastle are a team outside of the heartlands that are trying to grow during an already difficult time for the sport.
When asked about the current state of rugby league, Christie said: “It’s a bit of a tough one, because I have probably very little input or capacity to dictate that. But from a personal level, we’ve got to take a little bit of ownership.
“You can’t be sitting around relying on the RFL to do deals, or Super League to hand the money down. I think there’s a mentality sometimes of, I’ll get this much or I’ll take this much. Or investments from owners. I’ve seen it many times with three years syndrome. Investing is great, it doesn’t work, and in year three they go out.
“People in our league are spending big money, but they’re relying on one person. In my opinion, we should make the game more collectively viable through several central sponsorships, more central sponsors being involved.
“Taking the administrative stuff off, there’s so much we’ve got to do just to get the boys on the pitch. And a lot of the clubs are running on volunteers or people that love the game.”
Talking about his own motivation for carrying on with Newcastle and trying to make the club grow, he added: “Motivation sits within the people who are involved in the game. It’s not financially driven because I’m not being paid. It’s to make sure that the sport and the kids in the area playing the sport have something to strive towards.
“There’s no quick tomorrow fix. You have to start at the beginning. And that journey takes time. It takes sweat. It takes blood. It takes tears. You’ve got to get things right commercially. You have to get things right in the community.
“Otherwise, you’re building something on sand. We’re kind of on this seesaw of, yeah, we’re getting beat, and we’re not bringing commercial incomes in, but we are developing players.
“We can get a couple of wins this season, and turn a few heads and just grow it, growing in capacity slowly. But you know, we’re doing it the hard way. It’s nothing I’m unfamiliar with and I’ll continue to do it as long as I feel I’m needed to do it.”
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 509 (June 2025)