Existing as Gateshead Football Club is rarely easy. Whatever the opposite of a charmed life might be, that is undoubtedly the one they lead.
Yet, even by their own standards – with a distant history that has included a Football League ousting on geographical grounds, and a more recent one of losing on this very occasion only 12 months ago – the past few weeks have churned stomachs.
National League standings dictated that Gateshead should have met Solihull Moors in the playoffs to reach the EFL. But 48 hours before their playoff tie, Gateshead were stood down. Upward passage requires 10 years of secured tenure, and the local council could not offer that on the Heed’s borrowed athletics track of a home.
Amid that disappointment, the club and Rob Elliot, the interim (but surely soon-to-be permanent) manager, carried themselves with gargantuan dollops of class and dignity. Against that backdrop, only the stoniest of hearts would have remained unmoved by the wave of delight, one that would have rippled the Tyne, as Dajaune Brown converted the 16th, coolest and final penalty of an enthralling shootout. And with that kick, the FA Trophy was north-east bound.
“I just said to the boys: ‘It’s about moments and people,’” said Elliot. “‘You’ll forget that game in two days, but you’ll remember the people who are there with you.’ I’m immensely proud.”
It is those people who have collectively allowed Gateshead to constantly level eyes with adversity, chuckle, and bash it aside. This club barely existed five years ago. An unpaid four-figure tab at a local laundrette meant kit went unwashed. Wages? Regularly tardy.
Only minutes before the 12th hour arrived did a fan consortium prevent 2019 oblivion. Demotion followed. Elliot’s former Newcastle teammate Mike Williamson led Gateshead back into Step 1, and, when he joined MK Dons in late 2023, Elliot stepped in.
Playing budget? Small. Average gate? Small, too. But the club’s soul compensates, and then some. “It makes you realise that if you work hard to maximise your resources, you can be successful regardless,” said Elliot.
“The most pleasing thing for me was watching a group of young lads who love being together, love playing together, love giving everything for each other. That comes above results or tactical analysis. They got to perform on a platform they earned and deserved.”
Brown, an 18-year-old Derby loanee, is arguably the most exciting talent to play non-league football this season. As soon as August, he is expected to compete for Championship game time.
But back in May, a little portal into Brown’s bright future was most timely for Gateshead – the decisive strike, you see, was far from his first act of the afternoon.
First, when Joe Grayson chipped a diagonal ball forward with half-time approaching, few present expected Brown’s initial touch to be quite so regal, to open quite as much space as it did. Blink, and Brown was at the byline rolling a ball across for Regan Booty to tap in. Then, with an extra-time defeat close, Brown applied a simple finish of his own. Soon, his anointment as Gateshead’s hero was complete. “He’s got no ceiling,” said Elliot. “If I was a Premier League manager, I’d use him from the bench. He’s an absolute diamond.”
For Solihull this was the most painful case of footballing deja vu imaginable. As Gateshead climbed the steps to receive their silver, Moors’s crestfallen players could barely raise their heads.
Just six days prior, they had endured the same view of Bromley’s ascent, both of those stairs and into a higher division.
Their supporters spent Saturday morning making the same sun-soaked journey as they had last Sunday, before occupying the same Wembley corner.
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From the same technical area, with the same up-and-down restlessness, head coach Andy Whing had again walked down the tunnel to deliver an interval pep talk to a trailing team.
As against Bromley, Moors rallied, Mark Beck’s diving header equalising with 20 minutes left. As against, Bromley, they took the game to extra time – there Beck’s penalty had supporters dreaming of redemption. But, as against Bromley, they stuttered at the last. “We’ve failed both times, I’m not going to gloss over it,” said a dejected Whing. “Hopefully we continue to grow, and help the community grow. That’s the biggest thing for us.”
