Challenges, forfeits and questionable outfits: The 10 best Newcastle sports socials so far this year

With the first term of uni at Newcastle wrapped up and the second term just getting going, it’s been a long winter break without the beloved sports socials. To fill the void over the holidays, we asked this year’s social secretaries to share their favourite socials so far this year. From “pizza and pints night” to “anything pink”, these are our official top 10 Wednesdays.

1. Newcastle University Business School (NUBS) Netball: Tilly Lane, Grace Donnelly and Millie Vinton

NUBS Netball are known for being the best dressed on a Wednesday night. With socials from “dress as your type” to “space cowboys”, they definitely go big or go home (especially the silly fresh). The social secs running the show this year are Tilly Lane, Grace Donnelly and Millie Vinton, who told us their favourite social this year had to be their Breast Cancer Awareness social, where the theme was “anything pink”, their signature colour.

The route started with pres in Jesmond, where the team took part in a Kahoot featuring questions and funny stories from the club’s year so far. They then headed into town, stopping at Mushroom and Pumphrey’s before ending the night, of course, in Tup Tup Palace.

Tilly told us she was particularly proud of the girls on this social, as not only did all the freshers pull through as “fresh no fleshed”, but it was also “a great evening where we got to know each other a lot better”. On top of this, the team raised an impressive £505 for Breast Cancer Awareness.

Most Read

Why Elizabeth Smart’s mother Lois wasn’t in the Netflix documentary, and where she is now

These filthy videos of the identical twins who do OnlyFans together are actually too much

Jack Keating’s ex reveals adorable update about their little girl whilst he’s in the villa

Tilly said: “I was very proud of the girls, taking part in various challenges, raising and donating this amount of money.”

2. Netonomics: Annabel Lynn and Evie Richards

Netonomics, the Newcastle Economics Netball team, are big players on a Wednesday night, religiously hosting a social and heading into town. The two social secs, Annabel Lynn and Evie Richards, told us their favourite social this year was a joint social with the Classics Intramural Football team, themed “footballers and cheerleaders”.

Annabel said it was her favourite because everyone was on top form, with a big turnout of people taking on different challenges. They started off with piggyback races and competitive drinking challenges in Jesmond, before heading to WonderBar, Mushroom, Market Shaker and finishing in Soho. A highlight of the night was one of the Netonomics team hanging upside down from the Soho pole and almost falling down.

Annabel said she has loved her role as social sec so far this year, she “feels in her element getting to tell people what to do and making the silly fresh do things she had to do last year”. For Annabel, the best thing about organising socials is “forcing friendships with other social secs and being a friendly face the girls can go to on their Wednesday night in the Toon”.

3. Newcastle University Thai Boxing Club (NUTBC): Tom Jackson and Michael Hampson

NUTBC knows how to do a Wednesday night in the Toon right. The two social secs for 2025/26, Tom Jackson and Michael Hampson, told us their favourite social this year was “dress as your type”, a classic. Tom said it was one of the biggest turnouts, with everyone bringing out their best outfits. Rocking their tank tops and mini skirts, the team was ready to head into town.

The route started at Soho Jesmond, where there were plenty of red pints, challenges and forfeits for some of the most questionable outfits. From there, they jumped on the Metro to WonderBar for steins, before heading to Tropicana for £1 Jagerbombs, a highlight of many Wednesday socials. Whoever was left standing continued to Soho, where they boogied the night away in their mini skirts.

Tom said: “I have loved being social sec this year, it has given me the chance to meet new people and make people wear some questionable outfits and do some funny challenges.”

4. Newcastle University Running Club: Eleanor Stretch and Natalya Cannon

Newcastle’s Running Club have had massive turnouts at socials so far this year, whether that’s Wednesday nights out or more casual socials like their “pizza and pint night” which the social secs, Eleanor Stretch and Natalya Cannon, told us was their favourite.

The social consisted of a short run, finishing at The Lost Wanderer on Leazes Park Road. The turnout was incredible, with queues going down the road for pizza and the team filling up the pub.

Eleanor said it was her favourite social because “it gave everyone a chance to properly talk to each other and meet new people”. Although Run Club loves a night out, mixing in these more casual socials gives everyone a chance to be involved and brings the team closer together.

Eleanor said: “I’ve loved being social sec for NURC this year. Its been so fun organising themed nights out and meeting everyone and I can’t wait for what the new year brings.”

5. Classics XI Football Club: Connor Maguire

On their last social of the year, the Classics Intramural Football team’s social sec, Connor Maguire, hosted a Christmas themed pub golf.

Starting off strong with Secret Santa, each member of the team had to keep hold of, or wear, their gift for the whole night. With Christmas tutus, funky hats and an assortment of interesting objects in tow, the team took on the Toon in style.

Connor said the whole night was carnage, with everyone going big for the last social of the year. His highlight was when one team member stacked it outside the Philly Rob on his way into town, in front of the whole team.

They began along Osborne Road, before heading into town and ending their night at Soho Rooms.

Connor said: “My favourite thing about being social sec is organising a good night out for the team and being in charge of the all the challenges and forfeits.”

6. Newcastle University Women’s Cricket Club (NUWCC): Ella Mycroft

NUWCC know how to have an eventful Wednesday night, with Ella Mycroft leading the way this year as their social sec. Her favourite social this year has to be the NUWCC classic “chicken run” social. This consists of the social sec choosing a pub in Newcastle to wait in and teams of the rest of the girls trying to find them, “the chicken”. With a bar tab of over £15o, the team had to find Ella before she drank her way through the money.

This year, Ella decided to go to Tokyo. As it is not a usual Wednesday night stop, she hoped to make it harder for the team to find her. Once she was found, the team carried on their usual Wednesday night route from WonderBar to Tropicana, Flares and finally Soho.

Ella said her favourite thing about being social sec is “everyone getting to know each other and creating a fun night out for the girls”.

7. Newcastle Northern Angels: Milly Gosling and Zara Hardcastle

The Newcastle Northern Angels’ favourite social has to be their first social of the year, a “club t-shirt” theme. It was the first cheer social organised by the 2025/26 social secs, Milly Gosling and Zara Hardcastle, and almost 100 Northern Angels turned up, some experiencing Wednesday nights for the first time. The route started at a social sec’s house in Jesmond, before they took the Metro into town and did their usual chant against the other teams.

For their first social of the academic year, the Northern Angels have a tradition of going upside down on the Soho pole, giving some silly fresh the opportunity to show off their best tricks.

Milly said: “It was the first social I ran so I was very excited to meet all the freshers and watch them experience the classic Angels’ Wednesday night out in Newcastle.”

8. Newcastle University Swim: Flo Evans and Tom Porter

Newcastle University Swim Team are notorious for their big socials, with huge turnouts from freshers to fourth years. The social secs for 2025/26 are Flo Evans and Tom Porter. Despite a vast range of socials this year, including “back to school”, “families” and “Men in Black”, their all time favourite is the Olympic theme. Every year it has the biggest turnout, with the whole team divided into Olympic sports teams to compete against each other throughout the night.

The route started at a social sec’s house in Jesmond, where the team played different drinking games, including running relays and a boat race. With a few injuries along the way, the team was ready to take on the town. The first stop was WonderBar, then Tropicana, Flares and finally Soho – the usual route for NU Swim.

Flo said: “As social sec, I love being the person who gets to organise and bring together a fun Wednesday night, and seeing everyone get stuck in and enjoy themselves makes it all worth it.

“It is so much fun seeing everyone together every week and I love the friends I have made along the way.”

9. Newcastle Dance Club: Sylvia Ruckledge and Tom Wright

The Newcastle Dance Club social secs this year, Sylvia Ruckledge and Tom Wright, have brought the socials to another level, ensuring everyone goes full out each week. They said their favourite had to be their “bin day” social. This consisted of freshers decked out in bin bags and returners dressed as bin men.

The route began at Soho Jesmond, then WonderBar, and ended in Soho. They’re no strangers to a huge turnout on socials, and the “bin day” night was no different. Newcastle Dance clearly know how to take over a room, and you can often find them dancing on tables in WonderBar.

Sylvia said: “It is always better when both freshers and returners are in funny costumes, rather than cute fancy dress, as it makes it more entertaining and everyone doesn’t care how they look so it makes it a great night.”

10. Newcastle University Women’s Lacrosse Club (NUWLC): Genevieve Bright, Milly Batchelor, Hannah Brindle

 The best NUWLC social this year has been their “Ou est la poulet” theme. It included a pub crawl starting at Bar Blanc, during which the team were given different clues to help them find the social secs: Genevieve Bright, Milly Batchelor and Hannah Brindle.

The other stops along the way included Bier Keller, The Prince, Pop World, Hooters and Tropicana, before they finally tracked down the social secs at Mimo. After the girls were successfully found, the team continued their usual route through Pumphrey’s, Flares and Tup Tup.

Genevieve said: “Everyone enjoyed getting to know new people in the club from different years and teams and completing the different challenges together made it even more fun.”