Newcastle Women cross Tyne to new home

Moving to Gateshead International Stadium will allow the team to play on a grass pitch

Newcastle United Women are moving to a stadium outside the city ahead of the upcoming season.

The club will play home games at Gateshead International Stadium, home of National League men's side Gateshead.

The women were previously based at Kingston Park, home of Newcastle Falcons rugby club, but the move to Gateshead will allow it to use a grass pitch which is a prerequisite to playing in the Women's Super League (WSL).

Newcastle's head of women's football, Su Cumming, said the change of grounds was the start of an "exciting new chapter" for the team.

"The club has achieved incredible growth and success in recent years and we are putting these important building blocks in place to continue our exciting journey," she said.

"We are, of course, sad to leave Kingston Park, where we have built so many memories both as a training base and home stadium."

Newcastle have risen through the leagues in recent seasons

The club achieved back-to-back promotions in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, which propelled the team into the Barclays Women's Championship.

The squad has its eyes on promotion again this year, but the installation of a grass pitch at Kingston Park was not possible.

"We respect the needs of Newcastle Falcons and we thank everyone at the club for their support, but this is the right time to make the move as we pursue a place in the WSL," said Cumming.

Gateshead Council leader Martin Gannon said the stadium "has a proud history of hosting top-class sporting events and with women's football now one of the fastest growing sports in the world, we're ready to build on that".

Issues regarding the stadium's lease arrangements have proved problematic in the past.

Last year, Gateshead were denied permission to compete in the National League play-offs because it had not been granted a 10-year licence from the council to stay at the stadium.

A decade-long lease is a requirement of participation in the English Football League.

Gateshead has since said a new agreement has been signed with the council which would allow it to compete for promotion in future.