The club played semi-professional rugby league for a total of two seasons, 1902–03 and 1903–04, joining direct from foundation.
At the end of the 1901–02 season, the County Leagues elected 18 teams to join the new Division 2 (7 from Lancashire and 10 from Yorkshire and new member South Shields) with the existing second competition scrapped.
Although there is virtually no evidence, it is suspected that South Shields Rugby League Club had failed to attract any reasonable attendances or generate sufficient income, due probably to apathy on behalf of the population.
A third South Shield FC emerged in 1936, also playing initially at Horsley Hill,[3] which by this time had become a greyhound stadium.
A jet filling station had been built on the car park at the junction of Horsley Hill Road and Westcott Avenue.