Gateshead Thunder are based in Gateshead in Tyne and Wear. They are the only professional rugby league team that hails from the North East of England if the Yorkshire teams are excluded. Gatesheads increasing popularity has lead to a number of amateur teams (including Gateshead Storm) springing up in the area. Gateshead Thunder are based at the International Stadium which is usually referred to by fans as the Thunderdome. A rugby league team in Tyneside is not a new concept, there have been a number over the years that have all had varying degrees of success. Wallsend RFC were the first during the early years of the Northern Union, and a South Shields team joined at the turn of the century. In 1938 Newcastle moved south of the River Tyne and played a season of matches at the White City Sports Stadium, however the team did not join the league until after World War II. The International Stadium hosted the Charity Shield match and several full and junior internationals throughout the 80's and 90's. The Gateshead Mets were formed to play against the academy teams of professional clubs.

Gateshead were granted a franchise in 1999 that allowed them to play in the Super League. The team held a competition to find a new name and eventually the "Thunder" moniker was adopted. Gateshead Thunder went on to attract a large number of fans and finish in sixth place, just two points outside the play-offs zone. They had earned a reputation for themselves by beating both St Helens and Wigan during the season. Gateshead Thunder claimed to have lost £700,000 during their one year in existence so the board announced that they were going to merge the team with Hull Sharks. The new team was supposed to be called Hull FC and play all of the home games in Kingston-Upon-Hull. This was viewed by fans with some disdain as it appeared to simply be a takeover to allow Hull to remain in the league. Die hard fans set up the Thunder Storm campaign that fought this merger and although this was ultimately an unsuccessful move it proved to be exactly what was needed to prompt the formation of a new Gateshead Thunder team to be created. The team was accepted into the Northern Ford Premiership in 2000 and had the mission statement of earning a place in the Sper League in five years.

The new teams first match was a friednly game against the Sheffield Eagles. The first major official game played by Gateshead Thunder was in December 2000 when they lost 18-0 against Hull Kingston Rovers. The team eventually finished third bottom in the league with only minor successes against Hunslet and York. In 2002 Thunder went into administration after reporting major financial troubles and a string of defeats. A new club sponsor took over the team through a leisure organisation, but this third iteration of the team failed to place very highly and lost every game finishing bottom of the table. Eight games into the 2003 season Kicks Leisure withdrew their sponsorhsip and the team reproted debts in excess of £50,000. A panel of supporters took over the running of the team during an interim period. They persuaded the RFL to allow the team to enter National League Two. They sourced funds from a variety of places including the members club, lottery and matchday income and then created a series of fundraising events to fund any shortfall. This fourth iteration of the team started on a high with a victory against Workington Town. By the end of the 2003 season the team finished in the black with their debts paid off in full, however their performance on the field deteriorated. By 2005 the arrival of Dean Thomas as head coach at Gateshead saw things beginning to improve as the team went into the play-offs for the first time. Further investment from an Essex-based financier allowed the club to return to the status of a limited company with a board of directors. 2006 and 2007 have seen the teams fortunes continue to grow with games played against York City Knights at Newcastle.