Gateshead FC - Taking Over Tyneside

[Bullardinho]

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My aim for this story is simple.. make Gateshead Football Club the biggest team on Tyneside, so basically bigger than Newcastle Untied.

Whilst I was born and bred in a London suburb, I am actually a Newcastle Fan. People often ask me ‘Newcastle??’.. to which I always respond, ‘my family are from up that way’. In actual fact the majority of my family reside in Gateshead, a large town just outside the city of Newcastle. Like myself, each generation of my family has chosen to support ‘The Toon Army’, although Gateshead Football Club has always remained close to our hearts. In fact it was once a family tradition to go to the annual pre-season friendly between the two clubs each year.

I want to see if it’s possible to make this small professional club, who have never yet reached the dizzy heights of the Football League (just missing out through a play-off final in 2013-2014) all the way to the Premier League and beyond. Luckily the club has decent stadium, thanks to some large investment in the 1970’s, so the foundations are there and we also have a strong affiliation with Newcastle United as a feeder club, so I will be looking to loan their young talent whenever possible.

I will not be setting myself any restrictions or any kind of timeline to my goals, mainly due to the unpredictability of the lower leagues, as well as my inexperience down in the lower regions of the league system. I think 5 back-to-back league promotions is a bit of a tough ask, instead I will aim for a much more conservative 10 years to reach the Premier League and I hope at least a few people will enjoy the journey along the way. Anyway, lets have a look at club in a bit more detail..

Club Overview

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The club's overview itself is not looking too bad. The 'Tynesiders' are a fully professional side with decent finances and a club value of £1Million. The stadium is the second biggest in the league and more than big enough should we get promoted. Adequate training facilities are not ideal but again good enough for this level and the youth facilities could do with some improvement.


Club History

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To say the trophy cabinet was empty would be an understatement to say the least. I hope to change this over my tenure with the club, as well as taking them in the the Football league for the first time.

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[Bullardinho]

Manager Profile

Matthew Bullard

Born: July-1988
Favourite Team: Newcastle
Coaching Qualification: National A License
Experience: Semi-Professional - Gravesend & Northfleet (Now Ebbsfleet United)



Managerial Attributes

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I decided to pick my starting experience based upon the suggested level for Gateshead. Whilst I left the balance between Coaching and Mental attributes the same, I did adjust the stats slightly to give myself better Motivational mental attributes and higher Attacking, Tactical and Mental attributes.



Coaching Qualifications

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If the club is going to improve, I need to improve with it. As such my first request for the board was to be sent on a course to attain my Continental C Licence, luckily they agreed with my rationale and I start my course with immediate effect.
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[Bullardinho]

Team Overview

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Whilst the first team is of a decent standard for this level of football, it is definitely lacking strength in depth. I will be looking to bring in at least one CB, a RM and possibly another forward.


Key Players

Simon Ramsden

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Simon is definitely the best player at the club and can play in a number of positions. A great utility man with some very strong attributes at this level.


Matty Pattison

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Matty is a former Newcastle United man and has some decent experience, including caps at international level. I am a little disappointed with his attributes, despite my assistant believing he is our best midfielder.


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[AndySams10]

Good luck mate, enjoy stories like this. Will be keeping an eye out for it definitely.

 

[NC1878]

Can't wait for this story to get into full flow. I managed Gateshead on FM15 and it was one of my favourite saves ever. Matty Pattison played for me all the way up to Championship level and Rob Ramshaw was one of my best players, he scored long shots for fun!

 

[Bullardinho]

Good luck mate, enjoy stories like this. Will be keeping an eye out for it definitely.

Cheers mate. I enjoy reading similar stories myself so I am looking forward to getting into it as well!

Can't wait for this story to get into full flow. I managed Gateshead on FM15 and it was one of my favourite saves ever. Matty Pattison played for me all the way up to Championship level and Rob Ramshaw was one of my best players, he scored long shots for fun!

Cheers buddy. I have always had a little go at managing Gateshead each year but never fully committed to the save. I will keep that in mind, in fact my they are my 2 centre midfielders at the moment

 

[Bullardinho]

First Signing

El-Hadji Diouf

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I am delighted with our first signing. I have never had the best opinion of Diouf in the past but there is no doubt that on his day he can be a dangerous player and he is easily now one of the best players in the league.


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[Bullardinho]

Further Transfers

Alex Nimely - Free

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The ex-Man City reserve has the potential to develop into a decent forward, although he also has the attributes to make an impact in the first team straight away.


Ben Purrington - Loan

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Ben was brought in to add strength in depth to our left back position. If he can impress me during pre-season then he may well just earn himself a place in the first team.


Pelly Ruddock – Loan

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Pelly has some terrific physical attributes for this level, along with superb determination, work rate and team work. His technical attributes are not too bad either and I will be looking for him to play a big part in our first team.


Ivan Toney – Feeder Loan

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I am delighted with this deal, the first of our two loans from our feeder club Newcastle. Ivan will add a lot to our team up top and I will be expecting him to contribute with a fair few goals this season.



Lubomir Satka – Feeder Loan

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The second of our loan deals from Newcastle is another great deal for the club. Satka will again slot straight into our first team and I am sure he will add a great deal to our defence.
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[Bullardinho]

Friendly Results

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I decided to set up friendlies with some of the bigger teams available to help improve the bank balance. Whilst I was never expecting us to be winning any of these matches, I was pleasantly surprised with some of our performances. The match against Sunderland was a particular highlight, we defended very well and held a full strength Sunderland side to a draw. Unfortunately the difference in class between ourselves and our opponents throughout pre-season meant it was very difficult to learn much about our best tactics and how we would fair against our league opposition.


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[Yeti01]

Looking good mate - some of those players look like they will be awesome at Conference level!

 

[Disclaimer89]

so far so good! Looking forward to see how you progress.

 

[Bullardinho]

Looking good mate - some of those players look like they will be awesome at Conference level!

Cheers mate. I was shocked with some of the players that would have been interested in signing had we had the funds. Diouf has to go down as a coup for sure!

so far so good! Looking forward to see how you progress.

Cheers buddy. I am around 18 matches into the league campaign already so I will have a few updates coming up shortly.

 

[Bullardinho]

August

Results

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Our league campaign got off to a great start with a convincing 2-0 win against title favourites Tranmere, the brace from Toney on his debut also adding to what was an all-round great first official game in charge. Draws against Boreham Wood and Kidderminster were both disappointing but also a god testament to our ability to turn a game around, as we came from behind in both the earn a point. Even the loss to Guiseley was not all doom and gloom as we went down to 10 men within the first 5 minutes and trailed 2-0 at half time, we fought back valiantly to 2-2 with 6 minutes to go, unfortunately letting in a last minute winner. A good win against Southport with both Toney and Nimely combining with their partnership showing promising signs. Our superb win against Lincoln on the final day of the month was a good end to a very solid month, Nimely once again on the score sheet to make it 4 in 5, impressing early on.


League Table

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After a decent month we find ourselves sitting just inside the play-off places, if we can maintain this position come the end of the season I would be very happy, especially with the board expecting just a top half finish.


Player of the Month
El-Hadji Diouf

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This was a tough choice, Alex Nimley made a great start with his 4 goals, equally Ivan Toney also made a great start with 3 goals in his first 3 starts, but unfortunately he picked up an injury against Southport ruling him out for the rest of the month. Despite their great starts, El-Hadji was definitely the pick of the bunch, with 4 assists and a goal to his name, his team play has been terrific and he has really shown his class so far. ​

 

[soorusooru]

Ramsden and Pattison looks great. Also good start in the league. Glad to see my 2nd team in the VNL(Boreham Wood)

 

[Rednip]

Gateshead's my local club too mate! Work on Team Valley! Good luck with this hopefully be promoted to the football league at the first chance with them signings.

 

[Bullardinho]

September

Results

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With the injury to Ivan Toney, it meant there was an opportunity for Ryan Bowman to step into the first team and partner Nimely. He didn’t let me down, 3 goals in his first 3 starts for the club, helping us to two victories in the process. A convincing victory to begin the month against Bromley was our second 3-0 win in a row, followed up with a solid 1-0 win at Eastleigh. Despite Bowman’s early goal, we struggled to hold Wrexham off and the promotion candidates eventually took the lead in the dying minutes of the game. Another brace from Nimely wasn’t enough to overcome Welling United although in truth we should never have dropped points and the same could be said for the loss to Halifax, we dominated the game in both possession and attempts on goal, we just could not find the elusive net. Despite taking 3 points and Toney getting a superb hat-trick on his return to the first team, our win against Forest Green was not without its negatives, letting in two late goals and almost throwing away points.


League Table

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After another decent month results wise, we move just out of the play-off places. It’s not all bad though as we remain well in touch, just 4 points off of first place.


Player of the Month
Alex Nimely

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Another four goals and two assists means Alex is one of the top performers in the league so far this season. I just hope he and Ivan can stay fit, their partnership is growing each game and they could be crucial to our promotion push.


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[Bullardinho]

Gateshead's my local club too mate! Work on Team Valley! Good luck with this hopefully be promoted to the football league at the first chance with them signings.

Team Valley, so you are a proper local lad then! Cheers buddy, I am hoping we can get promoted first time, having Newcastle as affiliates will be a big help!

 

[Nffcgem91]

looking forward to reading and following this I did this on FM15 with gateshead good luck

 

[Bullardinho]

October

Results

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October was a great month, not only did we manage to maintain an unbeaten record in the league but we have secured a place in the FA Cup 1st Round. Ivan Toney continued his great start with a further 6 goals, now making him the clubs top scorer with 12 goals in 16 appearances in all competitions. A special mention also has to go to Ryan Bowman, Nimely started to find himself in a bit of a drought, and just when it seemed like we was about to drop points, Ryan came on in 3 matches in a row and scored the winning goal, including the last minute winner at Macclesfield.


League Table

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Even though our time at the top may only be temporary due to playing one match more, I am delighted that we are currently challenging for the one automatic promotion spot. I just hope that the wheels don't fall off and we can continue to push on for a minimum of a play-off place.


Player of the Month

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This is the first month that Ivan has managed to stay injury free all month and it showed in our results. The lad has been ripping teams apart since joining on loan, even when he isn't scoring, his contribution to to team is vital.

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[Bullardinho]

November

Results

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November was not such a great month for us results wise was we drop 7 points in the league and exit the FA Cup in far from flattering fashion. There aren't many positives to go over this month as Nimely picks up an injury and both Bowney and Toney both lose a little bit of their earlier form, that was until the final match against Chester which saw the entire team react well and save what could have been a terrible month, a huge contrast from October. One other positive was the new signing of ex-Rangers goalie Lee Robinson who came in on a free deal just before the Halifax match and so far has 2 clean sheets in as many matches.


League Table

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Our slightly disappointing showing in the league this month meant that we forfeited our space at the top and our loss to Wrexham meant that stepped even further ahead.


Player of the Month
El-Hadji Diouf

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In a month where not much went right for us, Diouf continued to show his class with some strong performances, 2 assists and 2 goals.


New Signing

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I am very happy that Lee decided to join us and he has already proved to be a great addition to the first team in his first two appearances for the club. I also believe he should have the ability to be our first team keeper for a good couple of seasons.​