The Northumberland Vikings are an

American Football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team based in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, they compete in the

BAFA National Leagues The BAFANL (BAFA National Leagues) are the primary American football domestic League competition in Great Britain. The League is run by the British American Football Association to coordinate contact football within England, Scotland and Wales. ...

NFC 1 Central, the second level of British American football. They play at Druid Park and were formed in 2014 as the Newcastle Vikings . The Vikings entered the League in 2015 and after early success and a promotion they went on to lose in 2017 Division 1 Play-offs, shortly afterwards they announced that they had merged with BAFA Division 2 side Northumberland Lightning ''(formed in 2012)''. The new Vikings adopted the Northumberland title but retained their original colours, logo and continued to operate from Newcastle with the Lightning vacating their base at

Ashington Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 27,864 at the 2011 Census. It was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is north of Newcastle upon Tyne, west of the A189 and bordered to the ...

to absorb into the Vikings setup in Newcastle.

History

The Vikings were founded in 2014. They completed their associate period, playing games against the

Yorkshire Rams The Yorkshire Academy Rams (previously the Yorkshire Rams) are an English American football club, based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. They are currently playing in BAFANL NFC 1 Central. History The club was founded in 1986 as the Wakefield Wasps ...

East Kilbride Pirates The East Kilbride Pirates are an amateur American Football team based in Glasgow, Scotland, who compete in the BAFA National Leagues Premier North, the highest level of British American football. The club although formed in East Kilbride current ...

and fellow associate team, the

Leeds Bobcats The Yorkshire Academy Bobcats are a British American football team based in Leeds, West Yorkshire who play in the BAFA National Leagues at Associate Level. The club was formed as the Leeds Bobcats in 2008 as a youth football team following ties ...

. In the summer of 2014, they announced a partnership with the nearby Northumbria University's American Football team, the Mustangs, which saw a number of Viking coaches join the Mustang staff. They were accepted into the league in 2015, and were placed in the newly formed BAFANL Division Two NFC North. The Vikings played divisional rivals the Glasgow Tigers in their first competitive match, coming away with a comprehensive 46-8 win. Following the 2017 season in which the Vikings were beaten in the Division 1 play-offs, they announced that the club had merged with Division 2 side the Northumberland Lightning and that the club would be known as the "Northumberland Vikings" from the start of the 2018 season.

Logos & Uniforms

Their logo is a stylised Norseman, inspired by that of their namesakes, the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

. The Vikings home jersey is primarily white with a black trim, and red numbers. Their away jersey is reversed, being primarily black with a white trim. Their game pants are black, and their socks are red. Their kits are currently manufactured by

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine given ...

Druid Park

The Vikings play their home games at Druid Park, known for being the home of

Gosforth RFC Gosforth Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team, currently playing in Durham/Northumberland 3 following the club's relegation from Durham/Northumberland 2 at the end of the 2019-20 season. The club was originally established in 1877, however ...

. The

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...

has a modern synthetic pitch, and a capacity of 2,500.

Academy

In 2014, the Vikings launched a schools programme which has attracted over 250 cadet level players, while five youth teams were either formed or joined the Vikings' satellite programme this year. The North Durham Knights, Darlington Steam, Cramlington Phoenix, Washington Predators and the Team Valley Cavaliers have all played at least one fixture internally and provided players for the Vikings BAFANL Youth team.Vikings to aim high in first BAFANL season
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Notes

External links

Newcastle Vikings website

Newcastle Vikings Facebook page

Newcastle Vikings Twitter account
{{British American Football BAFA National League teams 2014 establishments in England American football teams established in 2014 American football teams in England