Opposition Overview: Gateshead FC
Chris Millington’s Solihull Moors team are set to travel up north to the Gateshead International Stadium for their latest 2026/27 National League fixture against Lee Cattermole’s Gateshead side on Saturday afternoon. The Moors will be looking for their first three points in this game with a win against The Tynesiders.
Gateshead’s most recent competitive game saw them face recently relegated Harrogate Town away from home. This contest at the Marcy Fitness Stadium saw them narrowly lose 2 – 1 to the hosts, but they did take the lead through Peter Jameson just after the half-time break. Harrogate did then win it by completing the comeback through a crucial goal from Josh Hmami as well as an own goal from Gateshead’s Ashley Boatswain in the last minute of the second half.
As a club, Gateshead were originally founded back in 1930, when South Shields went out of business whilst playing in the old Third Division North. In the FA Cup, they were able to beat Liverpool in 1953 before losing to a Nat Lofthouse winning goal for the eventual finalists Bolton Wanderers in the end.
We now fast forward to 1977 when the current club were founded after Gateshead United, founded to replace South Shields, had been disbanded. Gateshead FC were then able to emerge as a phoenix club in the very same year.
Incredibly, after replacing the aforementioned Gateshead United in the Northern Premier League season ahead of the 1977/78 campaign. Years later, they did go on to win the league title in 1982/83 after accumulating a total of 100 points whilst also finding the back of the net as many as 114 times in total as a team as well.
After a two year stay in the Conference, they were relegated, but they were immediately promoted back up to the Conference after winning the league title yet again back in 1986.
They were then relegated again, this time after a more extended period of 8 years in 1998, when they made their return to the Northern Premier League. Then, after financial troubles, they were further relegated down to the Northern Premier League First Division.
Gateshead’s fate was sealed in 2006 when they were taken over by Graham Wood, a wealthy businessman born in the local area. They came in third place in the newly named UniBond Premier Division in 2008 whilst also being the joint top goalscorers in the top ten divisions of the English Football pyramid.
They subsequently made it all the way to promotion to the Conference North before then winning the play-off final to secure themselves a place in the Conference Premier in front of a crowd of 4,000. They were able to secure safety on goal difference alone.
In 2010, they became a full-time club and finished in 14th place as well as going all the way to the FA Trophy semi-final for the first time in the 2010/11 season.
Fast forward to the 2016/17 campaign, they ultimately had a disappointing campaign in the end, being knocked out early on from the FA Cup and the FA Trophy by the start of 2017.
The 2018/19 season came off the back of turmoil off the pitch. There had initially been a failed takeover, before a Hong Kong based businessman by the name of Dr Ranjan Varghese bought the club, with Michael Williams taking over as the club’s operations director.
Following a points deduction, they ended up down in 18th place after being sat in 9th. Varghese’s time at the club was a short one, with a fan-led consortium that was led by Neil Pinkerton and Trevor Clark taking charge of the stewardship of the club.
They were unfortunately still relegated to the National League North following what was a 10 year stay in the fifth tier. The 2020/21 campaign was voided thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Gateshead sat in 10th when the season was ended prematurely.
Then the following 2021/22 campaign was a historic one for The Heed, who were able to go against the odds to win promotion to the National League after a stay of three years in the sixth tier of English Football. In the end, they were able to win the title with a total of 94 points, winning 18 of their 21 home games whilst also scoring an incredible number of 99 goals over the course of the campaign.
In that season, Macaulay Langstaff was the top scorer with 28 goals in the league alone and was named the league’s player of the season, whilst two other Gateshead players at the time, Greg Olley and Cedwyn Scott, were both also in the team of the season. They lifted the title in front of a record league crowd of 4,129.
In 2022/23, they were able to avoid relegation in 14th place, even after what was initially having a poor start to the season. In the closing weeks and months of the campaign, they were able to amass 42 points from the final 24 games.
They did win the FA Trophy Semi-Final by beating Barnet on penalties in front of a 2,897 strong crowd at the Gateshead International Stadium, though they had been leading 3 – 0 in normal time. They were then narrowly beaten 1 – 0 in the Final at Wembley thanks to a closely fought 1 – 0 defeat in front of a 27,000-strong crowd against Halifax Town.
In 2024, they were able to make up for this defeat when in that year’s FA Trophy Final they were able to beat Solihull Moors on penalties at Wembley.
Last season, the 2025/26 campaign, Gateshead FC were able to finish in 18th place with as many as 50 points from 46 games, surviving relegation.
In the opposition dugout – Lee Cattermole
Lee Cattermole is the current First Team Head Coach of Gateshead Football Club, having been in charge since he was appointed by the North East-based club back on 16th June 2026 ahead of the start of the current 2026/27 campaign. This is his first role in senior club management.
He began his coaching career by taking charge as the Lead Coach of Middlesbrough’s Under 18s side back in January 2022. After leaving Boro on 10th February 2023, he went on to become a coach at League One club Bristol Rovers, with his main focus on development and set pieces.
Four days into his tenure, he became joint caretaker manager alongside David Horseman after the sacking of former boss Matt Taylor. He left following Inigo Calderon’s appointment on 26th December 2024.
Cattermole had an extensive playing career, doing so as a midfielder, during which he spent most of his career with Sunderland. Most of his time with the Black Cats was in the Premier League, with him also spending a single season in both the Championship and League One during his ten year tenure at the club between 2009 and 2019.
During his career, he also spent time with the likes of Middlesbrough (2005 - 2008), Wigan Athletic (2008 - 2009), and finally Dutch club VVV Venlo (2019 – 2020). He retired from the sport briefly after leaving the Eredivisie club.
Key Player – David Ferguson
David Ferguson is a highly experienced player who is Gateshead Captain and plays mainly as a left back. He joined the club back in 2025, and he has made 39 appearances for the club so far, as of the time of writing.
Earlier in his career, he has also represented the likes of Darlington (2012 & 2017), Sunderland (2012 - 2015), Boston United (Loan, 2014), Blackpool (2015 - 2016), Shildon (2016 - 2017), York City (2017 - 2020), and Hartlepool United (2020 - 2025). He also has 3 caps for the England C side that he got back in 2017.
Written by Adam Holt
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