Newcastle United F.C./import

Newcastle United is based in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in the North East of England, and currently plays in England's highest league, the FA Premier League.

History
The club was founded in 1881 as Stanley Football club, when the members of Stanley Cricket Club from Stanley Street in the Byker district of the city decided to occupy themselves during the winter by playing Football. A short time later, Stanley merged with another local side, Rosewood, and changed their name to Newcastle East End to avoid confusion with other clubs from the nearby town of Stanley in County Durham.

1882, saw East End leave Byker for a new ground at Chillingham Road in the neighbouring Heaton district. Meanwhile, across on the other side of the city, another club, Newcastle West End formed. Both East End and West End spent the next decade playing in the Northern League, where they built up a cross-town rivalry with one another.

In 1892, West End were struck by financial problems and contacted their local rivals to propose that East End take up the lease on West End's more favourable, centrally located St James' Park ground. Following a meeting at the home of East End's chairman, Joseph Bell, East End agreed to the proposal and the club moved, while West End folded with a number of their players and officials joining East End.

The move meant that the name 'East End' was now inappropriate and as the sole senior club in the city, they wanted to attract support throughout Newcastle, and so in December 1892, a meeting was held between the club and local football enthusiasts to decide upon a new name. After much discussion, a vote was taken on a shortlist of three names, with Newcastle United beating the other suggestions, Newcastle City and Newcastle Rangers.

However, despite the name change, the previous East-West rivalry was still present. Alienated East End fans stayed away, angered by the club's move away from Heaton, while West End supporters were furious that the 'enemy' were now playing at their ground. The result was that the club suffered financially at first, due to the lack of support. However, by the mid 1890s, the city was United behind the club.