Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle developed around a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius.^[10] The settlement became known as Monkchester before taking on the name of a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son, Robert Curthose. It was one of the world's largest ship building and repair centres during the industrial revolution.^[11] Newcastle is historically part of the county of Northumberland but was governed as a county corporate after 1400.^{[12][13][14][15]} In 1974, Newcastle became part of Tyne and Wear. The local authority is Newcastle City Council, which is a constituent member of the North East Mayoral Combined Authority.

The city has a strong sporting tradition. Football club Newcastle United has been based at St James' Park since the club was established in 1892, although any traces of the original structure are now long gone as the stadium now holds more than 52,000 seated spectators, being England's seventh largest football stadium.^[257] The city also has non-League football clubs, Newcastle Benfield, West Allotment Celtic, Team Northumbria and Heaton Stannington.


There is a women's football team, Newcastle United Women's Football Club, founded in 1989. Newcastle United W.F.C. currently has 40 ladies aged between 16 and 29 years signed or associated with the club, and plays in the FA Women's Premier League (North).^[258]


The Newcastle Falcons are the only rugby union team in north-east England to have played in the Aviva Premiership. They play at Kingston Park Stadium in the northern suburb of Kingston Park. 1996 Pilkington Shield winners Medicals RFC are also based in Newcastle.


Newcastle Thunder (formerly Gateshead Thunder) are a professional rugby league club based in the city who now also play at Kingston Park Stadium. They currently play in the Kingstone Press League 1. Since 2015, the Super League Magic Weekend has been played annually in the city at St James' Park.


Newcastle has a horse racing course at Gosforth Park.^[259] The city is also home to the Newcastle Eagles basketball team who play their home games at the new Sport Central complex at Northumbria University.^[260] The Eagles are the most successful team in the history of the British Basketball League (BBL).^[261] The city's speedway team Newcastle Diamonds are based at Brough Park in Byker, a venue that is also home to greyhound racing. Newcastle also hosts the start of the annual Great North Run, the world's largest half-marathon^[262] in which participants race over the Tyne Bridge into Gateshead and then towards the finish line 13.1 miles (21.1 km) away on the coast at South Shields.^[263] Another athletic event is the 5.9-mile (9.5 km) Blaydon Race (a road race from Newcastle to Blaydon), which has taken place on 9 June annually since 1981, to commemorate the celebrated Blaydon Races horse racing.^[264]


The 2012 London Olympic committee selected Newcastle as one of the UK host venue cities,^[265][266] with the stadium St James' Park hosting 9 matches in both the men's and women's football.^[267]


The Newcastle Warriors were a professional ice hockey team that played the 1995–96 season in the British Hockey League. The Newcastle Vipers were also a professional ice hockey team in the British National League from 2002 and then the Elite Ice Hockey League between 2005 and 2011 (when the team folded).


Newcastle upon Tyne was one of the 11 host cities for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.^[268] St James' Park hosted three matches;