About The Brown

The Brown’s history begins somewhere around the year 2000. At that time, there was only one Ultimate team in Newcastle, a team called “The Flaming Monkeys” at Northumbria University. The team was started by some friends studying at Northumbria University who had seen Ultimate being played while on a trip to the USA and they decided they would start their own team. Some of them were also working part-time (or maybe not working hard enough) as their boss referred to them as flaming monkeys for messing around so much, hence the team name.

The Monkeys used to practice on a Sunday morning in the sports hall at Northumbria University. The players themselves would happily admit that they had little appreciation for the rules, and no real idea of team tactics, but the most important thing is that they had fun. The team went to a few tournaments, and even launched a fledgling tournament called “Who’s the Daddy?” held in May 2002.

Around this time, some students at Newcastle University became aware of the Flaming Moneys, and occasionally came to some practices. The Flaming Monkeys then managed to enter into the famous Stan Calvert Cup, the annual sporting competition between Northumbria and Newcastle universities. The only problem was the Newcastle University didn’t have an Ultimate team, so one was hastily formed in order to compete. The match was held on a dismal outdoor pitch on a bitterly cold December night at Gateshead stadium in 2002. The Flaming Monkeys won, but the triumph was short-lived because the following summer, the Flaming Monkeys team all graduated from Northumbria and the team ceased to exist.

Luckily, that brief contact with Newcastle University sparked off the formation of a new team, the Newcastle University Ultimate team, “Too Many Pies”. The reason for this name is that the players considered themselves very unfit, probably as a result of eating too many you-know-whats. Team shirts and logos were designed, and the team started to flourish. Training sessions were originally in Exhibition Park at Newcastle (where the skater park now is), and then were moved to the field next to the lake. The team expanded with a strong presence at Freshers’ Week each year to recruit new students.

By around 2005, it had become clear that an open team was now needed in Newcastle. The original “Pies” were graduating, and therefore no longer able to play at the student tournaments. The decision was made to create an open team in Newcastle. At the time, it seemed like a big deal…. would the open team end up cherry-picking the best Pies players? How would the two teams relate to each other? Would the teams practice together? Would they be competitors with each other? Was Newcastle big enough to supply players for 2 teams? In the end, the correct decision was made: to create an open team that could recruit players from the Pies as they graduated and left university. The only problem was - what would this new team be called?

So, in the North Terrace pub one night, while reflecting on the difficulty of coming up with a new name, and staring vacantly at the bottles of Brown Ale on the table, the name was suggested… what about “The Brown”? It was a perfect fit - the name had a geographical identity, linked the team firmly to the North East, was a fun name, and a really great colour (well, not everyone thinks so, but at least you can always recognise us from a distance at a tournament).