35. International Stadium-Gateshead

Gateshead 3-0 Hebburn Town
FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round
29.10.11

Admission: Adults: £4 Children: £2 (cup match prices)
Programme: £2
Attendance: 1,198
Capacity: 11,800
Seated: 11,800
Covered: 7,000
Town: Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
Floodlights: Yes
Shop: Yes
Step: 5

The Northern League is not very well known for FA Cup success. It is usually sides from the midlands and south of the country that celebrate success due to more players wanting to be at clubs that can progress through the pyramid. However this season saw two Northern League sides, Ashington and Hebburn Town reach the last qualifying round. Ashington earned a trip to former Championship side Grimsby while Hebburn travelled 3 miles down the road to Tyne and Wear rivals Gateshead. Chances are that many Gateshead supporters had only heard of Hebburn because it is on the Yellow line of the Metro and would never have considered them to be rivals, this match surely must change that.

Gateshead NER were formed in 1899 and played in the Northern Alliance for 4 years. Gateshead Town were formed in 1905 and joined the North Eastern Counties League. The side disbanded before World War I. A new Gateshead Town was formed after the war but folded in 1924. In 1930 Football League Division Three North side South Shields moved to Gateshead and changed their name to that of the town. They competed at this level until 1958 before being placed in Division Four during re-orginisation. They then left the Football League in 1960. In 1962 they joined North Regional League which they won in 1964. In 1968 the side joined the Northern Premier League but left after two seasons. In 1971 they joined the Midland League but again left after two seasons. The first edition of Gateshead folded in1973. The first Gateshead side reached the Quater Finals of the FA Cup in 1953. They knocked out Crewe Alexandra, Bradford Park Avenue, Liverpool, Hull City and Plymouth Argyle before losing 1-0 at home to Bolton Wanderers. A new Gateshead Town only managed one season in the Northern Combination. Gateshead United managed three seasons in the Northern Premier League. Gateshead reformed in 1977 in the Northern Premier League. They won the league in 1983 and joined the Alliance Premier League. However they rejoined the Northern Premier League two years later and won the title for a second time. In 1986 the side joined the new Conference. Once more they rejoined the Northern Premier League after one season but were back in the Conference in 1990. In 1998 they were relegated back to the Northern Premier League. In 2003 the side were relegated to Division One but were promoted back after one season. Since then the side have climbed through the NPL Premier and Conference North to reach the Conference National where they are mounting a promotion challenge.

The International Stadium is on the south bank of the Tyne and about a 10 minute walk from Gateshead Stadium Metro Station. The stadium itself serves a number of sports including Athletics, Football and Rugby League. The turnstiles are located along the West Stand and upon entering you climb a staircase to the concourse. Here there are food vendors and, through a set of doors, the steps leading to the stand. The main stand holds around 3,500 covered seats. Should an away side bring less than 200 supporters they will be in the north west corner of this stand. Should the away side bring more than 200 supporters they will be housed in the opposite east stand which has recently had a cantilevier roof installed. The ends behind the goals are not used. The north end holds 1,750 open seats while the south end holds around 3,000 open seats.

No doubt everyone everywhere had written Hebburn off well before the match. Upon kick off Hebburn were clearly struggling against the professional Gateshead. However the Northern League side defended well and went into half time at goaless. However Gateshead upped their game in the second half and Jon Shaw put them in front 8 minutes in. 8 minutes later he added Gateshead's second. With twenty minutes to go Nathan Fisher added Gateshead's third to seal the win. The Heed Army stand at the back of the stand and create quite an atmosphere. Unfortunately, because the supporters were all kept in one stand this atmosphere could not spread and wasn't as great as it could be.

Looking at the programme I got the idea that it would usually be a lot longer. There was very little on Hebburn and the match and seemed to focus on recent matches and news. Personally I think £2 was a bit too expensive.

Gateshead Matchday Pictures:
https://picasaweb.google.com/117159223503887715169/Gateshead#