Sunday's Magic Weekend showdown with Catalan Dragons won’t be Huddersfield’s first rugby league match up in Newcastle.
For the football-mad Geordie city boasted its own rugby league club between 1936 and 1938.
And their first-ever game was against Huddersfield on September 7, 1936.
The match took place amid much fanfare at the Brough Park Stadium, which still hosts greyhound racing and speedway. Pathe News cameras were present to capture Huddersfield’s 33-12 win on film.
Newcastle, who signed England internationals James Cumberbatch and Norman Foster, struggled in both their seasons.
In 1936-37, only Featherstone Rovers finished below them in a 30-team division, with Salford the champions.
The season after, when they played South of the River Tyne in Gateshead, they were 28th out of 29 (Bramley were bottom while Hunslet won the play-off final).
These days, Newcastle again has its own team after the relocation of Gateshead Thunder.
They play in Championship One and are based at Kingston Park, the home of top-flight rugby union club Newcastle Falcons.
Thunder will take on York City Knights at Kingston Park on Friday evening.
