 The first Newcastle based team to play in a national league, Newcastle KB United was formed in 1977, but didn't play until 1978 one year after the inception of the Philips Soccer League (NSL).Newcastle KB United was sponsored by Tooths Breweries (hence the KB tag) and took the NSL by storm by setting new crowd attendance records on a regular basis.They drew some famous names to play guest matches with them with Bobby Charlton playing a game for the club in 1978, Paul Reaney joining in 1980 and Craig Johnston played once in 1978 and again in 1982.