Newcastle Thunder release statement on 2024 playing status

The 2024 playing status of Newcastle Thunder is still up in the air however the club have now provided an update on their situation which provides clearer insight for fans.

Back in October, just one day before the biggest game in the sport in the Grand Final, Newcastle released a statement that they would not be competing int he 2024 season.

Thunder had been relegated from the Championship but confirmed that having been demoted to League One they’d made “the difficult decision not to participate in next season’s competition”.

The statement explained that the low levels of growth in the area partnered with the impact of the pandemic had ultimately meant the club wasn’t feasible to run.

Just two weeks after that though they made a major U-turn, announcing that following a supporters meeting they were fundraising in an attempt to return and therefore compete in the 2024 season.

That left the club outlining several goals, including: “The club need to raise a six figure sum to be able to compete in 2024. Around half of that amount has been secured via sponsorship, Value in Kind support and the RFL central funding

“The other half of the fundraising needs to come from additional sponsorship, match-days, events and a supporters membership scheme that will be unveiled in early November.”

It also confirmed that talks with the RFL had been ongoing, something that the RFL are doing with all Championship and League One clubs as they look to establish what the league structure will be for 2025 when the IMG gradings come into effect.

That brings us up to date to the point where Thunder released a statement yesterday confirming where they stand now and it’s positive news for fans.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, the club posted: “Update: Newcastle Thunder can confirm that we are still waiting for official confirmation from the RFL that we can compete in League One in 2024. We are hopeful we will get the green light very soon.”

It sounds like the club are expecting to play in 2024 and fulfil their fixtures for League One and the 1895 Cup which would be a huge boost.

They do however face the massive task of building a squad with plenty of Thunder’s players from 2023 having already signed elsewhere amidst the uncertainty of these past two months.

If Thunder do compete in League One then it would be a nine team division, the competition having lost both West Wales Raiders and London Skolars in the past year.