Sports in Newcastle

Football - The Magpies

Newcastle United Football Club was the product of two local clubs that had their origins back in 1881 as offshoots of cricket clubs. East End and West End had a great rivalry until 1892 when East End was the dominant force. West got into some financial trouble and East took over the ground, St James Park. In a bid to gain entry into the Football League, the two teams joined forces, adopted the Black 'n' White stripes and called themselves Newcastle United. In 1893 they were elected to the Football League and in 1898 gained promotion to the top league. The rest, as they say, is history.

Newcastle United Pre-Season Friendlies:

Newcastle Utd. v Celtic

Newcastle Utd. v Juventus

Newcastle Utd v Sampdoria

Join us for the start of the new Premier League season:

Newcastle Utd v Aston Villa - 18th August

Newcastle Utd. v Wigan Athletic - 1st September

St James Park

Millennium Stadium, it's official yet rarely (never!!) called name, was completed in August 2000 and is an impressive sight. It is located just minutes walk from Central Station. There is a Metro stop right at the site and buses go frequently. It is well worth a look but tickets to a match are hard to come by.

Rugby Union - The Falcons

The Newcastle Falcons story dates back to 1877, when a group of old boys from Durham School met in a private house in Gosforth to discuss the formation of a new rugby club in the area. From there, the Gosforth Football Club was born, with its first game taking place in November of that year. Maintaining its links with Durham School, Gosforth played in the school's colours of green and white hoops, right through until the 1990s.

With the golden boot of Jonny Wilkinson gracing the side nowadays, as well as other world class players, The Falcons are a force in the Zurich Cup and gain excellent crowds to their home games.

Kingston Park

It was 1990 when the Falcons - under the name Newcastle Gosforth - first moved into their current home, Kingston Park. Located at Brunton Road, Kenton Bank Foot, it is easily reached by taking the Metro to Kingston Park station and then, following the signs, for about 10 minutes on foot.

Please check out our What's on in Newcastle section for details of cultural events.