This week's fanzone feature profiles Gateshead fan Paul Clayton, 35.

Where are you from?
Originally from Chester-le-Street, but I now live in Gateshead

Which team do you support and why?
Gateshead Thunder. I've followed Thunder for the whole 10 years of their existence, I've always had an interest in Rugby League and can remember following the very successful Wigan and Widnes sides of the 80's. I also attended a few Bradford games in the 1990's and early 2000's a a very good friend of mine was massuse for them during that time.

How long have you supported them and can you remember your first game?
I've follwed Gateshead from their very first game, against Leeds Rhinos, in 1999, as I recall it was a very wet and windy Friday night.

What are your best and worst memories of supporting your team?
I'll start with my worst memories and they have to be 1999, as we had a club that was beginning to build roots cruelly taken away from us. These are on par with the various question marks over the clubs future, running out of money, the fans taking over the running of the club. For a Thunder fan there are many bad memories from our tumultuous beginnings.

Best memory has to be last season lifting the NL2 Trophy, I couldn't be there due to family holiday commitments, but the party afterwards was something else. Also for our position in this seasons Championship this has to rank amongst the good times.
 
How is this season going in your opinion?
We've come a long way in such a short space of time, we  were always going to find this season a steep learning curve and I feel that some of our players have struggled to adjust to the style of play in the Championship. On our day we can beat any team in the Championship, but all the teams are so closely matched results are very hard to call.

What are your hopes for the future for your club?
My immediate hopes are for us to stay up this year and continue the progression in to next year. Steve McCormack has signed a 2 year deal to coach us, so even if we do go down we're guaranteed a quality coach for next year and the year after.

Long term I want to see Thunder survive and return to the Super League, after all if everything had gone our way 10 years ago. Who's to say we still wouldn't be up there.....

What are your thoughts on the Super League licensing system?
The franchise system is with us and we have to live with it, however some sides who deserved a franchise didn't get one and some sides who didn't deserve a franchise got one.

Really it wasn't fair the way it was done, having said that it is very good to see the RFL issuing warnings to certain clubs, as promises that have been made clearly haven't been delivered. There is still a chance for all sides to reach the promised lands of Super League.

What do you see for the future of rugby league?
Providing the RFL can string a decent reoccurring International Tournament, the Four Nations is a move towards this - though it has been a long time coming, then it can only be good for the exposure of the game. In addition to that we do need the World Cup to occur frequently, i.e every 4 years, instead of how it has been handled in the past and in all honesty it looks like the RFL may have finally learned that lesson committing to World Cups in 2013 and 2019. More frequent friendly Internationals would also help improve the game in the developing nations like Russia, Czech Republic etc. and in my opinion some form of European Championship every 4 years will also help with the development of the game across Europe, just some further ideas for the RFL.

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