Newcastle nestle in the heights of England as the country's most northern club. The club has produced some stars of the game, most notably World Cup winner Jonny Wilkinson. Another to stomp around the Newcastle turf was the larger-than-life giant of the sport, Doddie Weir. Both of these players were present in Newcastle's Premiership-winning season in 1997/98.

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The Falcons have failed to reach their 1997/98 heights in recent years. The club has often languished towards the bottom of the Premiership and have faced two stints in the Championship in 2012/13 and 2019/20. However, under Dean Richards Falcons made a surprise charge for the title when they finished 4th in 2017/18 with England international Mark Wilson, former Leicester winger Vereniki Goneva and Sinoti 'So Good They Named Him Twice' Sinoti causing havoc for opponents.

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However, recent years have seen a return to the bottom of the Premiership Table under the leadership of Dave Walder and Alex Codling. With relegation back for the 2024-25 season, who better to take over the reins than veteran Head Coach Steve 'King of the North' Diamond. 

 

Diamond ​​​​has completely overhauled the Falcons squad ahead of the new season, with 16 players leaving Kingston Park (and only 2 going on to find employment in the Premiership). In their place, Diamond has recruited hard-nosed, tough competitors such as former Sale Sharks flanker Cameron Neild, former Glasgow flanker Thomas Gordon and South African prop Luan de Bruin. This leaves only 35 senior players in the entire Falcons squad for this season.

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Can Newcastle pull off a miracle and avoid the relegation battle? Only time will tell. But one thing's for sure... Steve Diamond has been in this position before and will know what he needs to do to get there.