Gateshead FC - Taking Over Tyneside

December

Results

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December was not as hectic as previous months with just the four fixtures. Our performances were once again disappointing in the league after 2 loses to struggling opposition, the loss to Kiddermister being particularly frustrating given that they were in 18th position at the time and struggling for form. Our progression into the next round of the FA Trophy was secured with a decent win against FC United and the positive result against fellow potential play-off candidates Barrow rescued what could have been another poor month in the league.


League Table

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We have dropped a few places after two losses in December but we have still managed to hang on to a play-off spot.


Player of the Month
Alex Nimley

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After almost 13 hours without a goal and being sidelined for a three weeks, Alex has really picked up his game and have been in a great run of form since returning back into the first team. He managed to grab 3 goals, 2 assists and a MoM award in just 3 appearances.

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January

New Signings

Peter Ramage

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Ex-Newcastle United man Peter Ramage is a superb addition to our defence. A player with his ability could have easily signed with a League One or even a Championship side and at 32 years old, he will still have a good couple of years in him yet.


Danny Hollands

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Former Chelsea youth player Danny Hollands joins us for the rest of the season on loan from Portsmouth. Danny is another player whose ability could easily see him play at a higher level but thankfully he has decided to join us and help push for promotion.


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January

Results

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All in all January has been a decent month, starting of with our second convincing league win against Barrow in a matter of weeks. Our other two league wins coming against rival opposition Woking and Grimsby who are both fighting for a play-off spot. Unfortunately we let ourselves down again against the teams at the bottom, the 3-1 loss to Altrincham and the draw to Torquay were both disappointing and unacceptable if we want to be taken seriously as title contenders.


League Table

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Despite a few slip ups we have managed to remain within a possible 6 points from 1st Place Wrexham, if they win their game in hand that is. We are into the final third of the season now and I am really hoping we can push on now and knock Wrexham off of top spot.


Player of the Month
El-Hadji Diouf

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Once again Diouf has shown his class with 3 MoM performances in January. Unfortunately he picked up an injury in our last fixture against Grimsby and could be our for up to 6 weeks.

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Love stories like this, good luck with it! I wont be surprised if you can get multiple promotions in a row with your facilities, squad, financial footing and pulling power for a club of the level of Gateshead!

El-Hadji Diouf and Ivan Toney are also an incredible signing for a Conference side!
 
th3king said:
Love stories like this, good luck with it! I wont be surprised if you can get multiple promotions in a row with your facilities, squad, financial footing and pulling power for a club of the level of Gateshead!

El-Hadji Diouf and Ivan Toney are also an incredible signing for a Conference side!
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Cheers buddy, I am hoping we can work our way up the leagues as soon as possible. I know mate, Diouf, Toney, Ramage and Satka have all been great signings for a club of our stature.
 
February

Results

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February was a very disappointing month for several reasons. Firstly our exit from the FA Trophy, which not only meant I did not meet my minimum expectations of reaching the 4th round, but it also caused us to play two 120 minute matches in the space of 4 days. This played a big part in our poor league performances this month due to fatigue and I think our three losses in the league has put a massive dent in our automatic promotion ambitions. A big effort is needed if we are to turn it around and ensure we achieve a play-off spot.


League Table

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We are now just one point away from dropping out of the promotion spots which we have occupied for virtually the entire season. We do have to face both Braintree and Forest Green in March, both of which we will have to win if we have any chance of a top 5 finish.


Player of the Month
None

This months results were particularly poor and for me each and every player let the team down. I will be hoping for improved performances from all of the squad next month.
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March

Results

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We had a better month in March with decent wins against both Braintree and Forest Green who are also fighting it our for the play-off spots, but unfortunately we also finished the month off with an appalling 3-1 defeat to 23rd place Lincoln. A game that saw us have 31 shots in total and lead the game 1-0 at half time, only to throw it away with the worst half of football we have played all season. We are still battling on but as always its consistency that has continued to be elusive.


League Table

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With just 5 matches to go, it is all on us now to ensure that we do not slip up. With Braintree at home and Woking away coming up in our final fixtures, winning them both will be crucial.


Player of the Month
El-Hadji Diouf
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Diouf is a key player in the squad and he showed that once again in March, making an instant impact upon his return from injury. He managed two 9+ match ratings and an average of 7.8 across the month.
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April

Results

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Our poor form continued into April with four more poor results, the only saving grace was that we share the spoils with both the teams around us in Woking and Braintree. Toney and Nimely both seem to have hit a baron spell simultaneously, just at a time when we really could do with their goals. With just the one remaining game left, let's see where those results have left us..


League Table

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It is still ours to lose as we some how remain inside the play-off spots and we also have a far superior goal difference. Our last match sees us play Chester who are rock bottom without a win in 8 matches, they also shipped 9 goals to 23rd place Welling the week before last.


New Contract

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Regardless of the outcome, the board have been happy with what they have seen this season and offered a further one year extension to my contract, hopefully we can gain promotion and a further extension will be offered next year.


Final game to follow..

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Last Match

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We may have secured the victory we needed but it wasn't without a few scares. Sitting 3-0 up and comfortable within the first 25 minutes, we held on for the rest of the half without too many issues. Chester came out with a point to prove in the second half and managed to grab two late goals as the game came to its closing stages, causing a few nervy moments before the whistle was finally blown.


Final League

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Vanarama National League
Play-Off Semi-Final

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Despite a less then convincing first leg which saw us go into the next needing a win, we did manage two away goals, something that could have been vital for our home leg. We threw everything we had at them in the second leg, but for the most part we were just unable to break them down. Luckily Ivan Toney came on from the bench with 15 minutes to go and chose the perfect time to end his goal scoring drought that had spanned 8 matches with a well timed run and a smart finish. At this point our place in the final was already ours but Pelly Ruddock took it upon himself to ensure the tie was wrapped up with a long range effort in extra time.


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Vanarama National League
Play-Off Final
Wembley - 38,822 Attendance

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We did it! We have won the play-offs and booked our spot in the Football League for the first time in the clubs history! Every player on the pitch was outstanding, and their performances set the foundation for what ended up being a convincing win and one that will live long in the memory for every Gateshead fan.


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Pre-Season

Friendly Results

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Once again I decided to set up a few friendlies against high reputation teams to help the club out financially. However this time I also decided that it would be best if we also threw in a couple of matches against easier opposition to help with morale and tactics. To be fair to the squad performed really well against the bigger opposition and did themselves proud against both Villa and Everton.


Transfers

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As you can see we have been very busy in the summer break trying to rebuild the squad and give the club the best chance of competing in League Two. Although not mentioned in the above, it was agreed between ourselves and Newcastle that both Ivan Toney and Lubomir Satka would extend their stay for another year. There are too many new players to go over individually so I have out picked a few players I believe are our key signings.


Key Signings

Freddie Woodman

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Samúel Kári Friðjónsson

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Danny Hollands

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Daniel Jones

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August

Results

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We had a disappointing but equally promising start to our new campaign, losses to Portsmouth in the League and Sheffield United in the Capital One Cup were both really tight affairs and could have easily gone our way if we had a little more luck on our side. Ivan Toney had started brightly but unfortunately he picked up and injury against Sheffield United which will see him side-lined for up to 2 months.
I did look like our luck was about to change, after a couple of very evenly fought games, we came out on top in both our next two league matches against Blackpool and AFC Wimbledon, with El-Hadji Diouf being awarded the Man of the Match award in both.
Despite Diouf’s continued good form and efforts, we were unable to pick up another win throughout the rest of the month, suffering defeats to Cambridge and Doncaster, the later sending us out of our second cup competition in the first month.


League Table

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A decent start to our first endeavour into the Football League. I am pleased with what I have seen so far, I am more then confident that we will avoid relegation and at the very minimum I would expect a reputable mid-table finish come the end of the season.


Player of the Month
El-Hadji Diouf
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Diouf has picked up where he left off last season. His physical attributes may be dwindling but he still has the mental and technical quality to make the difference in the higher league, scoring 3 goals and grabbing 2 assists, earning him 3 MoM awards in the process.

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I'll keep following your progress with my adopted home town team (work on Team Valley also).Although I wasn't too pleased you beat my team last season (FC United). Good luck pal. (oh and by the way, Gateshead were in the league up until 1960 when they were replaced by Peterborough ;))
 
Boosan said:
I'll keep following your progress with my adopted home town team (work on Team Valley also).Although I wasn't too pleased you beat my team last season (FC United). Good luck pal. (oh and by the way, Gateshead were in the league up until 1960 when they were replaced by Peterborough ;))
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Cheers buddy! Another one that works on Team Valley.. small world ay ;) Apologies for beating FC United haha! Yeah, I know Gateshead have quite a history, weren't they South Shields or Gateshead AFC at that point? I know they have had about 8 names since their original inception. I was going from Gateshead FC was founded in 1977. Cheers for following!
 
September


Results

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September was another month that on the balance of things was neither good nor bad, with a sequence of 2W–1D–2L for the second month in a row. Wins against Exeter and Wrexham were decent results and once again were largely down to the performances of Mr Diouf. Losses to Shrewsbury and Newport were both disappointing for a number of reasons, individual errors and lapses in concentration being the main issue. The draw against York was OK, although our lack of killer instinct meant that we couldn’t take advantage despite our far superior attempts on goal. An OK month but with Ivan Toney now back in first team training, I am hoping he can pick up some match fitness ASAP and add an injection of some much needed fire power.


League Table

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We now occupy a decent mid-table position and at this stage we could easily start to push our way up the league if we can just manage to put a string of 3 or 4 wins together.


Player of the Month
El-Hadji Diouf
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That man again, he has continued to impress and is currently the highest ranked player for average match ratings in the league. Unfortunately the amount of game time has started to take its toll on his fitness and I may have to look at reducing his amount of playing minutes.


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October

Results

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October was a terrific month as we managed to maintain an unbeaten run throughout, mainly down to our excellent defensive work. Also another key feature of our performances this month has been our possession play, with an average of 58.94% possession across the 6 matches. The wins against Hartlepool, Fleetwood and Crawley were all very pleasing, not only because we won with a clean sheet, but because the result never looked in danger, we kept the ball well, dominated the game and never gave our opposition a chance. The draws to Swindon and Dagenham were slightly disappointing but I was pleased with our spirit in the draw against Leyton Orient, as we fought back valiantly from 2-0 down to earn a credible point.


League Table

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Our unbeaten run has seen us claw our way into the play-off spots, although with only 3 points between 3rd and 12th, literally anything could still happen at this point.


Player of the Month
Freddie Woodman

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It was a difficult choice as several members of the team have performed well this month, but the stand out player has definitely been young on-loan goalkeeper Freddie Woodman. The lad has made some crucial saves and has done extremely well to get 4 clean sheets in 6 matches.



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November

Results

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We maintained our unbeaten run throughout the month of November and we have now gone 10 matches without a loss. Our defence has continued to perform well and our possession style of play has continued to be a big part of our game. The best result of the month was our 3-1 win to Notts County, Nabi grabbing a superb hat trick to secure a great win against a team that were placed above us in the league before kick off. My only complaint would be that we could have had a 100% record in November were it not for an 88th minute equaliser in the draw at Luton.


League Table

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We are starting open a slight gap between ourselves and the teams below us now whilst we continue to close down the top teams. I would love to be able to go into the new year occupying one of the automatic promotion places.


Player of the Month
Adil Nabi
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Again there were several candidates for our player of the month but Adil has really stepped up in the absence of Ivan Toney (who picked up another injury) and his 6 goals in 8 appearances over the past 2 months have been vital in our march up the table.



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December

Results

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December was an average month for us really, tinged with the disappointment of our exit from the FA Cup despite our total domination of Southend throughout our 2nd round tie. Our win against Portsmouth was a shock as they were playing well and had started to open up a gap at the top before this defeat. The most disappointing result of the month was the away defeat to Mansfield, had we of won we would have leapfrogged them on goal difference, as it is they now have a 6 point advantage over us.


League Table

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We still remain a few points within the play-off places and just two points off of the automatic promotion spots going into the new year, had I been offered that at the beginning of the season I would have snapped it up.


Player of the Month
None

Adil Nabi may have grabbed another 3 goals but all in all there were no stand out performances all month. The form of our team has dropped as a group and it is very difficult to single any player out for their performances.

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