Thrown out of the play off. No replacement

Er,…why?
Are the team all illegal Brazilian footy stars….?

The council won't guarantee them the stadium for 10 years and that is a rule for EFL clubs. Basically being shafted by their own!.

Tenure of ground . See their website

Terrible that and even worse the team in 8th cant even replace them what a joke.

Have the Council no pride in their own town’s team?

Just a thought. But is the Stadium itself going to be there in 10 years time?
Is the site going to be redeveloped?

Well it's wrong on every level. And the team in 8th should move up into the playoffs simple. On the bright side of life little old Artlepool should go and sign all there players What players will want to play for a club that cannot be promoted next season or the seasons after. Some blame should go to the club because they knew back in November what was needed and again by the deadline 1st March. They cannot of told the players or supporters because surely the players would have lost interest aswell as the supporters.

Good point that. But would they have been where they are today if the players knew?

No I am certain they would have done nothing special. The crowds did increase a little during the second half of the season that wouldn't have happened / the players produced amazing results after Christmas and that wouldn't have happened either. Can see them losing a few hundred supporters and every player out of contract. It could be argued by the players still under contract that due to being mislead into signing for Gateshead all contracts are null and void.

Is a disgrace and hope they win their appeal….we should also be looking at any of their disillusioned midfielders who would benefit from a move

I find it a bit naughty but as the "match" versus Solihull is/was due next Tuesday there is no way there would be time for an appeal.

By all accounts the EFL/FA had been in discussion with Gateshead about this rule for a 10 year tenure for the past 18 months, so what has happened during this time frame?

The FA in particular need a complete change in their rules, silly instances of Clubs lower in the pyramid needing seating for a 1000 or so spectators when their average crowd is about 200!

They need a complete overhaul, not only in their rules but in their Officers.

Any results on this clearly illegal ground should be expunged

Funny all the posters on here in the past couple of weeks telling us how well run they are compared to Pools.

They're probably all Bar Codes - the overwhelming majority of football fans in Gateshead are and that's the Heed's problem.

To be fair though, it's a 25 minute walk from Gateshead town centre to St. James Park - exactly the same as the walk from the town centre to Gateshead International Stadium and a sight more scenic (with more pubs en route)!

Horrendous decision.

Must be Councillors who are Newcastle fans and don't give a Fcuk about Gateshead.

Probably kill the club now.
Like been said a perfect opportunity for Pools to sign there better players.

Gutted for them really.

What a kick in the teeth for Gateshead and their fans.
How could a council kick their football club in the bollocks like that. Newcastle should step in and offer ground share or even we or Sunderland maybe could, until the Gateshead council come to their senses.
Could our council do that to us I wonder.
Does anybody know the terms of our lease with regard to this situation.
This needs clearing up now before we are vulnerable to the same scenario.
It's always the fans who suffer.

So exactly how will the playoffs work with five teams?
Will someone get a free pass by leaving Gateshead’s place in?

Altrincham get a bye

Shows how tinpot this league is, looks like Gateshead council can’t guarantee lease as looking to flog the ground or running of it to a 3rd party who won’t necessarily want this anchor tenant or at least not for the current cost

“Does any body know the terms of our contract” Of course not, does any fans of clubs know the terms of the contracts of their clubs I doubt it.

7 1


That ain't Funny Johnjo

Council funding ain't what it used to be..Covid changed a lot..it's payback time.

Read the question again Mr J. It clearly states the word anybody. You have answered of course not. Somebody must know. Maybe we might get a council employee who is a Pools fanatic to leak the info. You know the old friend of a friend's cousin twenty three times removed told my next door neighbour's window cleaner etc etc etc.

I thought it was Solihull not Altrincham

As everyone has been so kind to Darlo this season i like to see it go to Pools,snowy.......

They changed it as Altrincham finished higher

Cheers for that good info Loyal

He might have a point though, have the players been kept in the dark?
If they have it could cause a massive problem in the future.
No good playing your socks off if the club has a major problem no one appears to be aware of till now.
That said it’s the Council’s actions that have created this problem.

Doesnt matter how well run you are if the council shafts you.

Aren't councils supposed to look after the interests of the local population?

How come any discussions were kept secret?

If this happened in Hartlepool would the Civic Centre now be surrounded by armed police?

Sympathy to the fans and players - they deserve better.

I think after the Coxhall debacle and the two guys that attempted to rip the club off and ended up on jail,that the lease on the ground is for 90 years and can only be used for football and community sporting activity. Hence the reason why the ground can not be sold for other uses like a housing estate.

If anyone is good at attaching stuff, you can Google the Gateshead efl decision then from the efl site there is a link to the independent appeal decision doc. Some of the answers from the Gateshead side isn't great, "the email went in our spam folder" kind of stuff, repeatedly not sticking to pretty long time limits etc. Looks like the Council want to sell the land.

Retail?

Yes maybe Gateshead have shafted them but apparently the board have known about this for 18mths and have kept it quiet and knew the consequences.

It's not clear but don't think so. Just says "given we know the Council are seeking to sell the site" they'd expect to see a clause tying new owners to the lease and the Council have said that should beok. So sounds more like Council don't want the responsibility (or just need to raise some cash). Feel sorry for the Gateshead fans but reading it it's 90% the clubs fault. They knew the score, were reminded, given plenty of time, didn't reply to contact or deadlines, then moaned how unfair it all is.

Gateshead Council just cleared it up! Sorry if link doesn't work, can never figure it out.

[https://www.gateshead.gov.uk/article/27784/Response-to-the-National-League-s-statement-regarding-Gateshead-FC
]

I agree with the EFL - that's not enough (and stuff your "seem to" you utter plonkers). It's just rubbish behaviour by Gateshead council. Of course there can't be a "break clause" in an agreement. An agreement is binding, otherwise - whats the point? Gateshead Council's fannying about has just cost the team and fans that tonked us 7-1 the play offs (that they've earned).

I hope the people of Gateshead remember this the next time the council elections are up.

Absolutely agree.
The point here is surely one of lack of transparency and just plain dishonesty imo.
When Gateshead FC were promoted to the National league supporters/players should have been made aware that there was a problem meeting EFL ground requirements should they get in a position to be promoted to the EFL.
That could have included they were working hard to try and resolve it with the EFL and Gateshead Council blah blah etc.
At least eveyone then would have known the score.
But no... it appears they kept it under wraps last season, and this season, until the shit hit the fan resulting in them being booted out of the playoffs.
Players and fans must be fuming and deserve everyone's sympathy.
But the people involved in the club ownership and day to day management do not.
An utter disgrace.
https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/gc-m ... 7ce942.pdf
The Council obviously want shot of the place and I imagine it must be costing them a fortune to maintain.
Its old and dilapidated.
Looks like the Council tried to cobble something together but it fell short of a guarantee the club would have the ground as tenants after 2029.
https://www.gateshead.gov.uk/article/27 ... teshead-FC
The club certainly got what they deserved.
Players and fans did not.

Made me realise that your ground is your biggest asset.
I dread to think what the consequences would be if that had happened here.

Some chairman are hell bent on ground ownership whilst giving there fans a decent team towards the bottom end of prioritys.

4000 hartlepudlians going to Jail for non payment of highest council tax in England.

Just seen a piece on You Tube with a Gateshead fan bemoaning their fate, but all the blame is being directed at the Council.
The Council share the blame for their actions I put he should be questioning the actions of the owners, but instead is making them out to victims too…..take the rose tinted glasses of sunshine because this looks like a joint cock up…the only victims are the fans and players.

There's huge apathy towards the football club around the town of Gateshead which doesn't help. Playing good attractive football, in Trophy Final, playoff positions but barely anyone actually bothers to go. I'd imagine there's probably a large number of local residents would be glad to see the back of the club and the stadium - that was definitely the case for Darlo, Sunderland, Boro who's grounds were smack bang in the middle of houses.

There previous owner from about 5 years ago had hopes of building a new 6000 ground.
It just seems NUFC is priority in a different big town.

I suspect the relocation of the grounds you quote, were more about ego’s of their owners.

Poor buggers

Trouble with Gateshead is despite being a different town, the local’s in general regard themselves as a suburb of Newcastle.

This (above) is a very good post. The Gateshead owners have been keeping secrets and "flying by the seats of their pants" it seems!

And then there's an important email that goes into spam. WTF.

The blame to me lies completely with the club board as they were given plenty of time to approach the council and tie up the loose ends they chose not to hence this decision. Pools should now seriously look at some of their better players during the summer. I feel very sorry for the manager and coaches who have done such a splendid job after taking charge half way through the season also for the supporters.

Their better players probably end up atMK Don's or South Shields!