Trustees and Committee Members
Tony Underwood – Ambassador
Ex-England international Tony Underwood joined the Newcastle Rugby Foundation in 2022 and is dedicated to raising awareness of the organisation’s award-winning work and encouraging others to get involved.
Capped 27 times for England between 1992 and 1998, Underwood was also a two-time tourist with the British and Irish Lions, including their victorious 1997 trip to South Africa.
He made 29 appearances for the club in the Premiership, scoring 16 tries. Following his retirement from rugby he made a successful transition to become a professional airline pilot, culminating in his role as a captain with Emirates, operating the Airbus A380, the largest passenger aircraft in the world.
Tony is a co-founder of TU Consulting in leadership development, team building, environmental consulting, change management, public speaking and executive coaching.
Iain Ramage – Chair
Professionally, Iain is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor, Project Manager and member of the RICS. Iain retired from his role at Durham University leading the capital works team in the Estates & Facilities Department in December 2022. He now works part-time at East Durham College supporting their capital work projects delivery.
In the amateur rugby days, he played for Berwick in the Scottish Borders District league, Gosforth, Northumberland and the Scottish Exiles (was known as the Anglo Scots in his playing days) until a neck injury curtailed his playing days at 26 years old. He turned to refereeing in the Scottish Borders and over a 35 year refereeing career officiated in the Scottish leagues, European Cup, Challenge Cup and International matches, representing Scotland at two Rugby World Cups (1999 and 2003).
He became a Trustee of the Foundation in 2008 and has witnessed the growth of programmes, positive impact on the participants and community we serve.
Tracy Lynch – Vice Chair
Tracy has worked for Greggs for 30 years and has headed up the Foundation for 10 years a role she is immensely proud to hold. The Greggs Foundation’s purpose is to build a stronger, healthier communities, and support communities where Greggs trade. Greggs Foundation works with 150 businesses including Falcons Community, to help provide over 70,000 children with a free breakfast each school day, via its Breakfast club programme.
One of Tracy’s proudest achievements was helping to turn the Tackling Health programme, originally designed and delivered by Falcons Community, into a national programme delivered across all Premiership clubs to over 15,000 children. Tracy is vice chair and also chairs the people committee.
Mick Hogan – Trustee
Mick Hogan was Chair of the Newcastle Rugby Foundation from 2014- 2022, as well as being Executive Director at the Falcons and Chair at Newcastle Thunder. Although Mick is no longer Chair, he is still a trustee to the foundation. Currently, Mick runs his own Sports Consultancy – MMG Sports Ltd.
He is incredibly proud of the work we do at the Foundation and is determined to continue to have such a positive impact on as wide a group as possible throughout our region.
Stephen Savage – Trustee
Stephen has been on the foundation since 2016 He has worked in Newcastle all his career latterly as a Director for Newcastle City Council . He led a variety of services whilst helping to attract and deliver major events in the City including Tall Ships, Magic Weekend, 2012 Olympics, 2015 Rugby World Cup and 2019 Heineken Cup.
He is currently working at the City of Sunderland as Project Director and remains committed to the region. Stephen remains actively involved in delivering sport at grass roots level whilst attracting further major events to the region which deliver economic benefit.
Jeff Ball – Trustee
A trustee since 2021, Jeffrey chairs the Finance & Governance Committee. With both a rugby union and league background, most notably chair of Cramlington Rockets RLFC, a former national rugby league club of the year, he is a passionate supporter of the region’s third sector.
Director of RBC Brewin Dolphin’s Charity Team, he works with over 100 charities to invest their assets to support their beneficiaries, focusing on ESG, CSR and governance. He is also Founder of Rockets Community Foundation, Chair of the North East Charity Awards and a keen fundraiser for a number of charities.
Rob Vickers – Trustee
Front-row forward, Rob Vickers is among the top-five appearance makers in Newcastle Red Bulls’ professional history. The Barnsley-born scrummager packed down 262 times for the club over a period of 12 years before retiring from playing at the end of the 2017-18 season. That campaign saw him as a central figure in the side as Newcastle reached their first and so far only Premiership semi-final, with Vickers’ close range try-scoring ability helping the Falcons to a number of crucial victories.
A Durham University graduate who began his professional career playing hooker, Vickers successfully converted to loose-head prop for his last few seasons, becoming a firm fans’ favourite for his full-blooded playing style and earning international recognition for England Saxons. Always a supporter of the club’s community activities during his playing days, Vickers has maintained this association even in retirement and continues to spread the positive message.
Sunil Mehra – Trustee
Sunil has over 25 years of experience in commercial/residential real estate investment and development with other various business interests. He enjoys technology, entrepreneurship, and campaigning for worthy causes. As a member of our Board of Trustees, Sunil has supported the development of the Foundation especially in the technological space.
James Ponton – Trustee
James started his playing career with Percy Park before making the move to Tynedale. His professional career started at West Hartlepool, followed by Leeds Tykes. His coaching career began at Sedgeley Park where he was player coach, before moving to Newcastle. James joined the Falcons as an academy coach in January 2012, moving up to academy head coach and then head of academy in 2022.
Mike Stephenson – Trustee
Mike has been on the Board of Trustees since 2006. Father of Newcastle Red Bulls former players, Michael Stephenson, Mike has also been an instrumental in the success of Wooden Spoon Durham.
Jack Spoor – Trustee
Jack is an Associate Director at Robson Laidler and heads up their Business Advisory Service Line, which includes strategy facilitation and business coaching as well as virtual FD roles and financial forecasting and modelling.
Jack has 10 years of experience in the industry, five of which have been as a qualified Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA). He is an ex-treasurer of Novocastrians RFC, having spent five years on their executive committee, so he has a good understanding of the grassroots of the sport and the benefits to the wider community.
Lisa Hamilton-Murray – Trustee
Lisa joined the Newcastle Rugby Foundation Board of Trustees in 2024 and brings over 30 years of experience in the education sector. Currently serving as Deputy Principal at Newcastle College, she has played a pivotal role in curriculum planning, operational strategy, and quality improvement.
Throughout her career, Lisa has been dedicated to ensuring that vocational and technical education receives the recognition it deserves, championing initiatives that support student success. Her leadership experience spans across various senior management positions, and she is an active member of several educational and wellbeing boards. Lisa is particularly passionate about the potential of the North East region, both for its current students and for those of the future.
Her commitment to education and community development aligns perfectly with the Foundation’s mission to use rugby as a force for positive change, and she is excited to contribute her expertise to the Foundation’s ongoing success.
Kate Deakin – Marketing and Commercial Committee Member
Kate is the current Communications Manager for the Greggs Foundation and has over 20 years of experience in communications consultancy. Her early career was spent working for marketing agencies in both Newcastle and London, delivering PR campaigns for a broad spectrum of regional and national clients. Prior to joining the Greggs Foundation team, Kate spent 12 years a freelance PR consultant working with clients across a range of sectors, including business enterprise, property and food manufacturing. 2022 brought a shift of focus with a new foray into charity communications, helping to raise awareness of the positive impact of The Greggs Foundation on communities across the UK.
Always a fan of rugby as a spectator, Kate now gets to enjoy the highs and lows of the sport through her son and his friends as they enthusiastically move through the age groups of their local club.
Kate is a member of our Marketing and Commercial Committee.
Mary Walker – Sub Committee Member
Mary is an inspiring and engaging leader with over 20 years’ experience in leading large teams. She has extensive experience in the retail and voluntary sectors and has delivered several large change management projects. Mary is a CIPD qualified HRD practitioner with a real passion for people development, which has seen her make a huge influence in the Foundation’s enduring success, particularly the development of our CAST programme, working with volunteers and expanding their horizons.
Angela Alderson – Sub Committee Member
In Angela’s role as General Manager & Head of HR at Newcastle Red Bulls, she leads end-to-end HR operations and club-wide governance covering everything from recruitment and wellbeing to safeguarding, insurance and compliance – both from a legal perspective and in line with Premiership Rugby regulations. Angela has been a longstanding advocate of the work we do here at the Foundation and has continually supported our projects both in a club and community setting.
John Oates – Sub Committee Member
John Oates has worked for 25 years in the sports industry, developing people who make the difference in dynamic clubs, from professional clubs to community clubs. His company provide blended learning for individuals or teams (off the field) focussing on commercial development, community interaction, marketing and building a culture within the club. John sits proudly on our Marketing and Commercial Committee and strongly supports the wider growth of the Foundation.
