Dean Richards will step down as director of rugby at Newcastle Falcons at the end of this season, ending a 10-year stint at Kingston Park.

The 58-year-old guided the Falcons into the top four play-offs in 2017-18 and secured European Champions Cup rugby.

He will continue to work with the club in a part-time consultancy role.

Mark Laycock, Micky Ward and Scott MacLeod will retain their roles within the coaching staff and it is anticipated that former England back-row Mark Wilson will join the team.

Should this be Richards' final coaching post, it would mark the end of an eventful career in which he reached the pinnacle of club rugby union.

After retiring from playing as a number eight with Leicester and England, Richards took the coaching reins at Welford Road and was equally successful, winning four Premierships and two Heineken Cups.

Quins were revived under his tutelage, following a stint in France with Grenoble, as he brought them up from the Championship and turned them into title contenders with a losing final appearance in 2009.

The 'Bloodgate' scandal, which led to him and other Quins staff being banned, after Tom Williams popped a blood capsule in order to utilise a tactical blood injury replacement, put his career in hiatus.

However, he returned to the game with Newcastle and helped revitalise the club, and the careers of several internationals, such as Wilson, Jamie Blamire and Trevor Davison, who were all capped by England during his time at the helm.

The 2017-18 season was the club's best since they won the league in 1998, with a fourth-placed finish, a play-off place and Champions Cup qualification achieved.

While the club were relegated a season later, they were promoted at the first attempt, with Premiership rugby maintained since.