Newcastle Blue Star F.C. is a football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was established in 1930 and joined the Wearside League in 1973. In 1978, the club won the FA Vase. Having won promotion to the Northern Premier League Premier Division at the end of the 2008–09 season via the play-offs, off field troubles led to the club winding up having never taken its place in the league.[1] In 2018 the club was reborn from renaming club Hazlerigg Victory and bringing with it their players and management staff, playing games at Scotswood in the West End of the city. They currently play in the Northern League Division One, the ninth tier of the English football league system.
History
Formed in 1930 as Newcastle Blue Star,[2] the club was entered into the Newcastle Business Houses League two years later. The club would play in this league for six seasons before moving onto the North East Amateur League. Spells in the Tyneside Amateur League and Northern Combination would follow.
In 1973, under the name Blue Star Welfare, the club had advanced to the Wearside League. It was crowned champions during its first season in the league. It repeated the success in the 1975–76 season adding the championship to its name again. It also achieved victory in the FA Vase, beating Barton Rovers at Wembley 2–1.
By the 1979 season, the club was named simply Blue Star. The early 1980s was a successful time for the club. It won the Wearside League in three consecutive seasons. Around this time it also reached the First Round proper of the FA Cup, knocked out by York City, losing 2–0 at Bootham Crescent.
In 1992, a consortium placed a bid to buy cash-strapped Fourth Division side Maidstone United with the intention of moving it to the north-east and merging with Blue Star, thus giving Blue Star league football. The bid was turned down by Maidstone chairman Jim Thompson.
Northern League era
The club entered into the Northern League Division Two for the 1985–86 season, emphatically winning it. It won 36 out of 38 games, only dropping points in two games (one a draw, the other a loss). Also in that season, the club scored a very high 133 goals.[3] In 1986, the name was reverted to its original title of Newcastle Blue Star.
Newcastle Blue Star had moved up to the Northern League Division One and came very close to winning it in 1987–88. By the early 1990s, the club had a slump in the league, finishing generally in the lower half of the table. From 1994 until 1998, the club was known as RTM Newcastle, soon changing it back to Newcastle Blue Star.
The club was relegated to Division Two for the 1999–00 season, but bounced straight back up with a runners-up spot. Unable to regain the form of previous years, Newcastle spent three seasons in the lower regions of the table, the last of which was a bottom place finish and subsequent relegation.
In 2004–05, Newcastle Blue Star was promoted into the Northern League Division One after ending the season in third place. Under the management of Eric Tait, Blue Star had a fantastic return to Division One, winning it for the first time and also completing the double by winning the Northern League Cup. Unfortunately for the club, it was not promoted because their Wheatsheaf Ground did not reach league standards.
In September 2007, Tommy Cassidy was appointed manager, joining from Workington. As of March 2008, Workington were still claiming £10,000 compensation.[4]
On 8 March 2008, Newcastle Blue Star asked the FA if they could take the place of the relegated team in the league. The reason being that the costs of playing in this division were too high, and this could be due to the fact that they are the only Newcastle based team in the division, and at least 9 of the opposing teams are in the Manchester area, meaning the team have to pay for a coach to every away game, and paying costs for the visitors at a home game. The Northern League (the feeder division that Newcastle came from) had said that they would welcome the team back. This was confirmed on 26 March that Blue Star would be relegated in place of the bottom placed team in the league. However, on 4 April it was announced that the league allowed Blue Star to stay in the Northern Premier League as they had withdrawn their request.
On 26 March 2008, the club announced Paul Baker as the club's new manager. He succeeded Tommy Cassidy who left the club to pursue management at a higher level than the proposed drop back to Northern League offered.[5]
On Wednesday 9 April 2008, Newcastle Blue Star scored two goals in the first 47 seconds of their 3–0 win over Bamber Bridge. This is believed to be a world record.[6]
In the 2008–09 season, Newcastle Blue Star finished 3rd in the Northern Premier League Division One North but were promoted to the Northern Premier League Premier Division after a 4–1 victory over Curzon Ashton at Kingston Park in the Play-off final.
On Monday 11 May 2009, it was announced that the club was facing the possibility of folding after being hit with a demand to repay £65,000 of loans previously made by the Football Stadia Improvement Fund to improve the club's former Wheatsheaf Ground; this on the basis that the club was no longer playing there.[7] Although it was offered the option of repaying the debt in instalments, the club chose to cease operations in June 2009.[8]
2018 reformation
In 2018,[9] a local businessman saw fit to reform the club, with teams from U8's through to seniors. The current Newcastle Blue Star play at Scotswood, in the West End of the city. The club currently plays in the Northern Football Alliance, the seventh tier of non-league football in England (overall eleventh tier).
The club is located next door to the sports centre and boxing club, also known as Grainger Park. The clubhouse was officially opened in October 2018 by Lady Elsie Robson. The venue was named the Sir Bobby Robson Lounge.
In May 2023 and after winning the Northern Football Alliance, Blue Star were promoted back to the Northern League Division Two.
