After six years without WFTDA European roller derby in the North East, Newcastle Roller Derby was proud to host EuroClash 2026 at the Walker Dome. It was a weekend that brought top level competition to our home venue and welcomed teams, officials, and fans from across Europe. After a 6-year wait, it took 6 solid months of work to bring EuroClash 2026 to life.
That’s six months of meetings, spreadsheets, Discord threads, WhatsApps, in-person planning sessions, and resource juggling: all powered entirely by a league of volunteers.
Because that’s what this weekend was; not just a tournament, but a full-league effort. Skaters, coaches, officials, crew, people giving evenings and weekends outside of work, outside of life, and alongside their own training.
Wrangling over 70 volunteers, many of whom also had to lace up and perform on track, is no small feat. It takes coordination, patience, and a level of commitment you don’t often see in sport.
And yet, look what we built together!
We took our home, the Walker Dome, and transformed it into a European stage. We worked with teams and officials to build a schedule, staffed every role it takes to run a tournament (track setup, door, merch, NSO support, announcements, tech), and made sure the essentials were covered, such venue logistics, safety, and the behind-the-scenes problem-solving that keeps everything moving. When real life hit – flight cancellations, late changes, last minute pivots – we adapted, regrouped, and kept the weekend on track.
You could see the work everywhere:
- Merch and programme design and delivery
- Branding and signage throughout the venue
- Tech setup and game day operations
- Social media coverage across the weekend
- Dozens of small details that made the event feel seamless
And we wanted it to belong here. We reached out to local businesses, community groups, and charities, and worked to make EuroClash feel like part of the North East, not just an event passing through.
EuroClash 2026 was a high-quality European competition, and it was also a reminder of what collaborative sport looks like when everyone shows up and every role matters.
We’re especially grateful to our sponsors, Clementine Services and Fifth Blocker Skates. Their support helped us deliver the standard of event we wanted for teams, officials, and fans.
And once the doors opened and the whistle blew, the derby matched the scale of the weekend.
On Track
With the WFTDA ranking freeze looming, EuroClash 2026 delivered high-stakes derby from the first whistle – tight scorelines, late swings, and game plans that went right down to the final jams.
The Bubble Battle: #12 and the last Championships inviteLomme Bad Bunnies and Göteborg fought for the coveted 12th spot, and the final invite to the European Championships.
#12 seed Lomme Bad Bunnies: a travel nightmare, then a fightbackFriday night brought last minute flight cancellations, leaving much of the Lomme squad stranded and forcing tournament officials to rebuild the schedule to keep everyone’s games within the cut off. Even with the fatigue and disruption, Lomme found a way to take the wins they needed, though not always by the margins that would have made the maths comfortable.
#13 seed Göteborg: chasing points under pressureGöteborg came into the weekend with a depleted jammer rotation and still pushed hard for every point available. With ratios and differentials in play, they were forced to balance smart derby with the reality of needing to run up margins against lower seeds. Every decision mattered.
When the dust settled, the bubble held: both teams finished the weekend in the same 12th and 13th positions they came in with. Elsewhere in the bracket, movement was harder to avoid. Bear City (#14) and Tiger Bay (#8) each dropped two places by the end of the tournament.
Newcastle’s hometown heroics
The host team, Newcastle’s Canny Belters, delivered the kind of weekend you dream about when you agree to host and skate at the same time.
They beat predicted differentials, took the games to teams around them, and came out of EuroClash having climbed two places to our highest, ever ranking: 17th in Europe.
Thank yous
- To the teams who travelled to Newcastle and brought exceptional sport to the track, thank you for trusting us with your weekend.
- To the officials, announcers, photographers, videographers, and tech crew who kept standards high, calls consistent, and the experience smooth for everyone in the venue and beyond.
- To our volunteers and league members, over 70 people covering countless shifts, often alongside their own training and game day responsibilities. You made this possible.
- To the Walker Dome staff and our local supporters, thank you for helping us welcome European roller derby to the North East.
What’s Next?
The best part is what this weekend has built for the future. As of April 2026, Newcastle Roller Derby is at our highest ever ranking: 17th in Europe. We might not be going to the playoffs this season, but we’ve built an incredible foundation for next season, and proven what we can deliver as a league both on and off track.
