Newcastle Falcons today announced that Director of Rugby Dean Richards has agreed a new three year contract that will extend his tenure at the club till June 2018. Richards joined the club in 2012 and in his first season guided the club to promotion back in to the Aviva Premiership.
Over the past two seasons he has overseen a re-structuring of the club’s first team, academy, coaching and off-field resources. Season 2013-14 saw the Falcons achieve their aim of staying in the Aviva Premiership. The current season has seen the club already amass more points and tries than the previous campaign as well as a place in the European Challenge Cup quarter finals.
Speaking about the re-signing Newcastle Falcons Chairman Semore Kurdi said:
“We are very pleased that Dean has agreed to continue as Director of Rugby for the next three years. As the most successful Director of Rugby in Premiership history he brings tremendous experience, knowledge as well as a winning mentality to the club.
“He is central to the continued growth of Newcastle Falcons over what will be a very exciting period for the club game in England. What he understands better than anyone is how to balance the longer term planning with the need to put in the right performance on the next weekend’s game.
“His work in bringing through quality, young English qualified players is already starting to have an impact performance wise for the first team. Similarly the culture that he has instilled throughout the team and coaching staff is first class and is something will continue to develop and benefit Newcastle Falcons moving forward.”
Director of Rugby Dean Richards said:
“I’m delighted to have agreed this extension at the club. We are building a strong and sustainable club here at Newcastle and I’m particularly pleased at how the players, coaching staff and off-field staff have bought into our vision.
We have come a fair way over the past three years but there is still a great deal of work to do before we start to realise our potential. However I am confident that the club is in good shape and we will really start to see the benefits of a lot of good work over the next few seasons.
I have really enjoyed my time in the north east so far, so agreeing to stay and continue living in the region was an easy decision. We also have a fantastic, very knowledgeable and loyal supporter base here at the Falcons and it’s tremendous to see that number growing over the past twelve months.”