Newcastle Eagles

The club's roots can be traced back to the founding of EPAB Sunderland in 1976. The club played in Washington at the Northumbria Centre under various monikers throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, managing a second place league finish in 1983, as well as two play-off victories at Wembley in 1981 & '83.^[2] In 1995, the owner Dave Elderkin moved the club to Newcastle, to be known as the Newcastle Comets.^[2] Soon afterwards the club was bought by Sir John Hall, then the chairman of Newcastle United, adding them to his Newcastle Sporting Group of the city's football, ice hockey and rugby teams. Hall's Sporting Club group was considered by most observers to be a relative failure and upon its dissolution, Ken Nottage and Paul Blake became the Eagles' new owners. The final name change, from the Comets to the Eagles, took place in 1996. Performances remained consistent with the club achieving regular top five league placings from 1998 onwards.

The 2005–06 season proved to be the most successful in their history so far when, under the guidance of player/coach Fabulous Flournoy, the club achieved a "clean sweep" of trophies, including the BBL Cup, BBL Trophy and Championship "double".

In addition, Flournoy picked up the BBL Coach of the Year and former Villanova Wildcat, Andrew Sullivan, was voted BBL Player of the Year. Flournoy, Sullivan and Andrew Bridge were also members of the bronze medal winning England team in the 2006 Commonwealth Games during March 2006.

At the start of the 2007–08 season it was announced that Nike and Northern Rock were to sponsor the Eagles, bringing in more money to the club. Also, the signing of Richard Midgley gave great hope that the eagles could challenge Guildford Heat to regain the BBL League title. However, after a bust up with player/coach, Fab Flournoy he soon left to join the Everton Tigers. This meant there was no point guard and this led to the signing of Bryan Defares who could not settle in England and he too left. Finally, at the third attempt, Steve Leven (former NBA prospect) was signed despite his bad boy reputation. After defeat in the BBL Cup, then later defeat in the BBL Trophy Final the Eagles were in danger of having a poor season. Fortunately, after a miraculous overtime win against Guildford Heat, they won the BBL League Title.

At the start of the 2008–09 season they were strengthened by the signing of Trey Moore from Cheshire Jets. After an indifferent start, they embarked on a 17 match winning run to become the first team for nearly two decades to retain the BBL title, finishing 8 points ahead of Everton Tigers. They also reached the semi-finals of the BBL Cup, losing narrowly to Everton Tigers on aggregate before gaining revenge by beating them home and away in the BBL Trophy semi-final. The Eagles beat Guildford Heat at The Spectrum in the Final. In the play-offs they narrowly avoided an upset after seeing off Cheshire Jets 88–83 before beating Plymouth Raiders to form a match against Everton Tigers once again. Despite 30 points from ex-Eagles Richard Midgley, the Eagles held on for a 97–94 win, therefore winning the treble to cap off their most successful season since the clean sweep.

In the 2009–10 season the Eagles again retained the BBL title, finishing 2 points ahead of Sheffield Sharks. The league title actually came down to the last game of the season with Sheffield Sharks losing their last game of the season 97–95 to Worthing Thunder thanks to Evaldas Zabas' basket 4 seconds from the end. This completed the double for the Eagles who had won the BBL Trophy by beating 111–95 in the Final at The Spectrum. In the BBL Cup Eagles lost 64–61 in the quarter-finals to Cheshire Jets and in the play-offs Everton Tigers beat the Eagles 190–158 on aggregate in the two legged semi-final.

At the start of the 2010–2011 season it was announced that the Esh Group, along with partners Northumbria University and Northumbrian Water would be the new main sponsors of the Eagles.^[3] In the BBL Cup the Eagles were beaten 204–182 on aggregate by the Mersey Tigers in the semi-finals. Eagles had won the first leg at home 97–90 but lost the second leg away 114–85. It was the Mersey Tigers who would beat the Eagles in the semi-finals of the BBL Trophy also. After a rare first leg draw (82–82) away from home, the Eagles went down 77–74 at home.

The club repeated the feat of 2005–06 by winning all of the trophies on offer in a season for a second time 2011–12. The previous season was the first time since 2003–04 that they had failed to win a trophy. They lost 7 league games, 3 less than in 2005–06, although this time around they were only required to play 30 games, 10 less than in 2005–06. They clinched the clean sweep with a victory over Leicester in the play-off final on 12 May. A hat-trick of sweeps was completed in the 2014–15 season.

In January 2019, the Eagles moved into their own purpose-built arena on the Scotswood Road.^[4] Success did not follow them there at first, as they crashed out of the BBL Trophy, BBL Cup and BBL Playoffs without reaching any finals, and finished 3rd in the BBL for the second consecutive season.

On the night of their first preseason game ahead of the 2019-20 British Basketball League season, the club was rocked by the announcement that head coach Fabulous Flournoy would leave the club after 17 years. Flournoy would join the Toronto Raptors, the then-defending NBA champions, as an assistant coach, reuniting with his friend and mentor Nick Nurse, who gave him his first professional contract with the Birmingham Bullets in 1996. Assistant coach Ian MacLeod was announced as his interim replacement as head coach.^[5] In a season cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, MacLeod was able to lead the Eagles to the 2020 BBL Trophy title, defeating NBL side Solent Kestrels, which had made an historic run as an invited team from outside the BBL by beating established BBL clubs London Lions and Bristol Flyers, as well as fellow NBL side Worthing Thunder.

In the following 2020-21 season, further success followed as the club defeated London in two tense finals to capture the Cup and Playoffs titles, recording their 6th and 7th titles in those competitions respectively, the most for any BBL club. The following season, however, saw the Eagles slump to 9th in the regular season and miss out on postseason basketball for the first time since 2000.

The 2022-23 season saw Great Britain coach Marc Steutel replace MacLeod as head coach.^[6] The team continued to struggle, but returned to the Playoffs. Results improved in the following 2023-24 season, as the team recorded a 6th place finish in the league and made the semi-finals in the Playoffs. Newcastle also made their first foray into European basketball since the club moved to the city, entering the European North Basketball League for the first time. A strong debut campaign followed, as the Eagles finished 3rd in their group and advanced to the playoffs, where they narrowly lost in a two-legged tie to eventual champions Bakken Bears of Denmark.^[7]

In the off-season following the 2023-24 BBL season, the league's operating company was stripped of its licence to organise the league by governing body British Basketball due to financial concerns.^[8] A consortium of the participating clubs was issued a 3-year interim licence to organise a new league, which was christened Super League Basketball, and replaced the BBL as the premier professional league in Britain.^[9]

• 1976-1978 - Northumbria Centre, Washington
• 1978-1991 - Crowtree Leisure Centre, Sunderland
• 1991-1995 - Northumbria Centre, Washington
• 1995-2010 - Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne
• 2010-2018 - Sport Central, Newcastle upon Tyne
• 2019-present - Vertu Motors Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne

Accurate as of 7 October 2014 (Includes BBL Championship games only)

• 3 pts scored – Russ Saunders 716
• Assists – Fabulous Flournoy – 1,528
• Blocked shots – Fabulous Flournoy – 320
• Defensive rebounds – Fabulous Flournoy – 1,497
• Field Goals scored – Charles Smith – 1,621
• Free Throws scored – Charles Smith – 761
• Games Played – Fabulous Flournoy – 393
• Offensive Rebounds – Darius Defoe – 894
• Personal Fouls – Fabulous Flournoy – 1,075
• Points – Charles Smith – 5,897
• Steals – Fabulous Flournoy – 605
• Total Rebounds – Fabulous Flournoy – 2,139
• Turnovers – Fabulous Flournoy – 910

• BBL Regular Season Winners: 2005–06, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15 7
• BBL Regular Season Runners Up: 1990–91, 2004–05, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2015–16, 2016–17 6
• WBBL Championship Runners Up: 2015–2016,

• BBL Championship Play Off Winners: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2020–21 7
• BBL Championship Play Off Runners Up: 1989–90, 1990–91, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2016–17 5
• WBBL Championship Play Off Winners: 2015–2016,

• BBL Trophy Winners: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2019-20 7
• BBL Trophy Runners Up: 2000–01, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2015–16 4

• BBL Cup Winners: 2005–06, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2020–21 6
• BBL Cup Runners Up: 2007–08, 2012–13, 2013–14 3
• English National Cup Winners: 1990–91 1
• English National Cup Runners Up: 1989–90 1

To appear in this section a player must have either:

– Set a club record or won an individual award as a professional player.
– Played at least one official international match for his senior national team at any time.

Stats correct up to and including 31 May 2024

• 5 TJ Walker, Guard, 2000–2007
• 10 Charles Smith, Forward, 2000–2016

• TJ Walker 2000–2007
• Lynard Stewart 2007–2010

• Chief Executive Officer - Sam Blake
• Managing Director - Paul Blake
• Chief Operating Officer - Susan Hunter
• Head coach – Marc Steutel
• Assistant coach – Gary Stronach
• Team Manager – Eric Wilson
• Club Doctor - Dr Graeme Wilkes
• Physiotherapist - Vicky Percy
• Sports Therapist - Katie Stienlet
• Strength & Conditioning Coach - Anthony Reed
• Development Manager - Ian MacLeod
• Sales & Communications Manager - Dan Black
• Business Strategy Consultant - David Broom
• Media Manager - Simon Rushworth
• Press Officer - Jeff King
• Digital Team - Dave Moore, Gary Forster, Abbie Orwin, Reece Alderson, Stu Dryburgh & Logan Forster
• Public Announcer - Howard Leighton
• Events & F&B Manager - Rachel Sweeney
• Arena Operations Supervisors - Neil Curry, Gerda Morkunaite & Kyle Stewart
• Primary Participation Specialist - Anthony Forrester
• Secondary Participation Specialist - Graham Heath
• Development Specialist - Chris Applewhite
• League Specialist - Martin Walton
• Officials Specialist - Matty Langley
• Administration Officers - Taylor Rendles & Laura Ridley
• Receptionists - Kelly Sibblies, Katie Tolic & Liam Bateman
• Arena Assistants - Les Harris & Leroy Sibblines
• Cleaning Technician - Dot Stubley
• Academy coach - Calvin George
• Academy coach - Chloe Gaynor
• Academy coach - Ellen Totten
• Academy coach - Marina Fernandez
• Community Coach - Joan Ducasin
• Community Coach - Adam Hall
• Community Coach - Frank Thomas
• Community Coach - Max Flint
• Community Coach - Carl Thompson
• Community Coach - Jacob Jonas
• Community Coach - Kristen Morten
• Community Coach - Mark Sowerby
• Community Coach - Jack Bertram
• Community Coach - Zak Whitlam
• Community Coach - Laura Ridley
• Community Coach - Mark Sowerby
• Community Coach - Zoe Willis

• Official Newcastle Eagles website
• Newcastle Eagles news from ChronicleLive