'I signed for Rob Andrew at Newcastle when I stank of cow shit'

The back story and circumstances behind the signing of Super Rugby star, Tom Christie, would have been very different to when Rob Andrew started to splash Sir John Hall’s cash and assemble the team that would become Premiership champions within two years of professionalism.

Kiwi flanker Richard Arnold was the first to sign professional terms and then came Scotland forward, Pete Walton, who agreed to join the Falcons revolution fresh from the farm after the 1995 World Cup.

“It was the new age of professionalism and I doubt the circumstances around my signing would happen today. I’d been to a cattle farm on my way to an auction just south of Newcastle when my phone rang and it was Rob (Andrew) on the phone,” Walton wrote in his My Life in Rugby column in the Rugby Paper.

“He was asking if I’d come to meet him at St James’ Park to have a chat about signing for Newcastle and he wasn’t put off when I told him I stank of cow’s shit. I sat in Sir John Hall’s office and was offered a six-month deal with an option to extend if they could sort out my knackered knee, which they did.”

When Super Rugby winner Christie transfers from the Crusaders, he can look forward to joining a league with average crowds of around 15,000. But when Walton and then the likes of Alan Tait and John Bentley signed, Newcastle’s ascent to become 1998 Allied Dunbar Premiership champions began in the Second Division.

“I made my Falcons debut against Caldy. I remember it well. They had a dentist playing for them and he stitched my eye up when it was split open.

“From those humble beginnings we started to sign star after star and we got promoted the next year and then won the Premiership the year after that. It was an exciting journey to be on.”

Having won promotion at the first attempt, Newcastle claimed the Premiership title at the first time of asking in 1998, winning 19 of their 22 league games to pip Saracens by a point.

“We had some tough games along the way in that title-winning season – against Bath in the rain at Gateshead and Wasps away in midweek are two that spring to mind – but we got to the last game of the season down at Harlequins knowing that if we won, the title would be ours,” recalled the 24-times capped Scotland back-rower.

“I got man-of-the-match but never received my award because a pitch invasion meant the presentation couldn’t take place. It was great for Newcastle, great for the area and great for Sir John Hall that we won it. He’d invested so much money into it all and was very much part of it.”

A neck injury forced Walton to retire in 2000, but he remained at the club as a coach for the next eight years before getting the sack.

Being told he was no longer required was a devastating blow to the 56-year-old Northumbrian, who has had little direct involvement with the club since.

“I got the bullet and I struggled, it was almost like being in mourning because it was my club and I was one of the first signings they’d had. It hit me hard and took me a long time to get over it.”

However, he is now looking forward to rekindling that relationship, as a supporter of the Red Bulls, the new name given to PREM Rugby’s most northerly team.

“I am excited for the club, it has never had stability for a long time.

“They haven’t got a massive fanbase but they have a good fanbase, but I think it’ll get better.”

As well as attracting some of the world’s biggest names, like they did back in Sir John Hall’s day with million-pound man, Inga Tuigamala, Walton, who is one of the best practioners around in developing age-group players, hopes that Red Bull’s investment will help to stop the player drain away from the North East.

The list of Newcastle players who’ve felt the need to move elsewhere in order to further their careers is a long one, with last season’s captain, Callum Chick, and prolific try-scorer Adam Radwan, two of the more recent to jump ship.

“Not many locals really want to leave Newcastle and I think that’s a massive part of it. Kids have come through the academy and left but I think they will get them back in my eyes,” he said.

“We have always produced players in the North, and that’s the xciting thing.

“If you look at the two head coaches of the Midlands sides, Tigers and Saints, both are ex-Newcastle players, both local lads, one from Stockton (Geoff Parling) and one from Cumbria (Phil Dowson).”