Gateshead (football club, 1899)

South Shields

Attempts to create a club in the city of South Shields have been undertaken since 1889, several teams were organized that played in local tournaments ^{[1] [2]} . However, it is officially believed that the club was founded in 1899 by Jack Inskip under the name “South Shields Adelaide Athletic” ( Eng. South Shields Adelaide Athletic ). The name reflects the name of the street (Adelaide Street) in the city of South Shields , where the founder of the club lived ^[2] . In the early years of its existence, the team won a number of local youth tournaments: the South Shields Junior Alliance, the First Division of the South Shields Juvenile League, the Shields and Shields League & District League) and the Tyneside Junior League ^[1] . In 1905, South Shields became one of the founders of the Tyneside League and won the first season of this tournament ^[3] . In the 1906/07 season, the club again won the Tyneside League ^[3] , and in 1907 joined the Northern Football Alliance. The season 1907/08 South Shields finished in fourth place in the Northern Alliance ^[4] , after which the team was invited to the Northern Eastern League ^[5] . In the 1908/09 season, the team finished second in this tournament ^[5] .

In 1910, the club changed its name to South Shields, discarding the Adelaide Athletic specification, and became a limited company ^[2] . In 1912, the ex-player of the England national team Arthur Bridgett was appointed head coach of the club. In the 1912/13 season, the team finished second in the North East League ^[5] , after which they applied to join the Football League of England . The application did not receive a single voice of support ^[6] . In the 1913/14 and 1914/15 seasons, South Shields won the title of the Northern Eastern League, after each season again trying to join the Football League: in 1914, the club's application received one support vote ^[6] , and in 1915 11 votes, but Leicester Foss and Stoke scored 33 and 21 votes, respectively, and were re-elected to the Football League, and South Shields, who finished third in the vote, did not enter the tournament ^[6] . In those two championship seasons in the Northern Eastern League, the club lost only four matches and scored 293 goals in 76 games ^[5] .

During World War I , South Shields played in the Tyneside Combination, winning the tournament in the 1915/16 season, and in the Northern Victory League ^[1] .

After the resumption of nationwide tournaments after the end of the war, the Football League of England decided to expand. South Shields applied and received 28 votes, after which it was included in the Second Division of the Football League ^[6] . The team completed its first season in the Football League in 9th place of the Second Division. During the first seven seasons in the Second Division, the South Shields took places at the top of the standings, with the exception of the 1922/23 season , when the team took 13th place ^[7] . The team completed the 1927/28 season in the last 22nd place of the Second Division and was eliminated in the Third Northern Division of the Football League ^[7] .

The club began to experience financial problems, and in 1930 relocated to the nearby city of Gateshead , changing its name to Gateshead Association Football Club ^[8] .

Gateshead

Gateshead Club completed its first season with a new name in 9th place of the Third Northern Division. In the 1931/31 season, the team finished second in the league, gaining an equal number of points with the Lincoln City club, but missed the league title and promotion to the Second Division due to the worse ratio of goals scored and goals conceded ^[9] . Gateshead finished the 1936/37 season in the penultimate 21st place of the Third Division . The team applied for re-election, which was satisfied by receiving 34 votes ^[10] . After World War II, the team again took second place in their division: this happened in the 1949/50 season . In the 1950s, Gateshead performed relatively well in the FA Cup : in the 1951/52 season reached the fourth round, and in the 1952/53 season reached the quarter-finals, beating Liverpool , Hull City and Plymouth Argyle ”and losing to the future finalist of the Bolton Wanderers Cup in the quarterfinal with a score of 0: 1 ^{[7] [11]} . At that time, the team was played by the Callender brothers (Tom and Jack), who for two set the Football League record in the number of matches played by siblings for one club ^[12] .

In 1958, the Football League was restructured: instead of two regional zones of the Third Division, a single Third and a new Fourth Division of the Football League appeared . Since the 1957/58 season , Gateshead finished in 14th place, the team was transferred to the Fourth Division. In the 1959/60 season, the team was in 22nd place and, along with three other teams in the last four places, applied for re-election to the Football League. However, Gateshead received fewer votes than the rest of the Fourth Division and even less than Peterborough United , which was not part of the Football League. As a result, Gateshead left the Football League, and Peterborough United took his place in the Fourth Division ^[13] .

In 1960, Gateshead returned to the Northern County League (founded in place of the Northern Eastern League, where the club played from 1908 to 1915). In this tournament, Gateshead played with the club, which was founded in 1936 in South Shields six years after the original South Shields moved to Gateshead . In the 1960/61 season, the team took 4th place in the league and won the local league cup ^[14] . In 1961, the club tried unsuccessfully to return to the Football League with only three support votes, while the worst Hartlespool United Football League club received 32 votes and remained in the tournament ^[13] . A year later, Gateshead again applied for joining the Football League, but received only four votes, which was not enough ^[13] .

In 1962, Gateshead entered the North Regional League, where the reserve teams of the Football League clubs played mainly. The club’s 1963 application for re-election to the Football League gained only four votes and again ended in failure. In the 1963/64 season, the club won the Northern Regional League ^[9] , and at the end of the season again received only four support votes from the participants of the Football League ^[15] . This was followed by unsuccessful applications in 1965 (four votes) and in 1966 (one vote) ref name = DT3 />. In 1968, the club became one of the founders of the Northern Premier League. However, the end of the 1969/70 season in last place in the Northern Premier League, Gateshead dropped out to the Wearside League, replacing their reserve team there. In the 1970/71 season, Gateshead took second place in the Wireside League, after which he again tried to return to the Football League, but did not receive a single support vote. ^[16] In 1971, the club joined the Midland League, where it spent two seasons. In 1973, the club was disbanded.

Another South Shields club, founded in 1936, repeated the story of its predecessor, and also moved from South Shields to Gateshead and in 1974 became known as Gateshead United ^[17] . However, the club existed only until 1977, after which the new Gateshead club was founded.

• North Eastern League
  • Champion: 1913/14, 1914/15
  • League Cup Winner: 1960/61
• North Regional League
  • Champion: 1963/64
• Tyneside Combination
  • Champion: 1915/16
• Tyneside League
  • Champion: 1905/06, 1906/07
• Shields & Neighborhood League (Shields & District League)
  • Champion: 1904/05
• Durham Challenge Cup
  • Owner: 1910/11, 1913/14
• Black Cup
  • Owner: 1912/13, 1913/14 ^[1]
• Ingham Infirmary Cup
  • Owner: 1913/14 ^[1]

• Best performance in the FA Cup : quarter-finals, 1952/53 ^[7]
• Most matches: , 470 (1946-1958) ^[11]

• Gateshead FC Players
• Gateshead Coaches

• Club statistics on the Football Club History Database website
• Profile at 11v11.com
• The history of club football forms at HistoricalKits.co.uk