Gateshead Chairman Neil Pinkerton has revealed that the club expects for their situation regarding the ability to be promoted this year to be “positive”, following the club being barred from the play-offs last season. In an interview with Pinkerton, he also revealed his satisfaction at bringing Carl Magnay back to the club, building Gateshead to where it is today, and the long-term ambitions of the club. Daniel Wales reports.
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00:00Gateshead have enjoyed the most successful period in their recent history over the last
00:05few years, off the back of the club nearly going out of business altogether.
00:10The man who has overseen this transformation has been chairman Neil Pinkerton, who told
00:14Tyne and Wear TV that the club has the fans and the community to thank.
00:21The club's where it is now because we're all fans and the local community rallied around
00:25and continues to support the club, the rest of the board, do what they need to do and
00:31work as well as a team and we are trying to obviously progress further and further and
00:36that takes more and more and that's what we want to achieve, the AFL, which is ultimately
00:43where the club and the borough deserves to have a full time professional team.
00:49This week Gateshead appointed locally born Carl Magne as its new manager, someone who
00:54Pinkerton saw as the perfect fit to continue the club's progression towards its overall goals.
00:59We know all about Carl from a player coach over the years and it was an obvious choice
01:09for us to pursue and finally we've got over that hurdle and he's here now.
01:20Magne had been at Carlisle United alongside former Gateshead manager Mike Williamson,
01:25something which Pinkerton revealed gave him satisfaction in being able to bring Magne
01:29back to the international stadium.
01:31Yeah, we're all friends so we'll remain friends and continue to do so, so those conversations
01:39are easier when you know the people that you're dealing with and it was nice to finally get
01:45one back on Mike again.
01:48A question that has been on the lips of all Gateshead fans since the end of last season
01:52has been whether the club can be promoted this year following it being prevented from
01:57taking part in the National League play-offs due to the stadium lease not meeting EFL rules.
02:02Pinkerton hinted that things may well be resolved.
02:06We're hoping that there will be some positive news in the coming weeks, we can't say anything
02:12now really, apart from that we expect everything to be positive and you know we'll be, as long
02:19as we're up there, we'll be eligible to go and meet in the play-offs and to be promoted.
02:24With that in mind, Pinkerton ended with a thought to what Gateshead could achieve in
02:28the coming years if the club continues on its current trajectory, with a nod to other
02:33similar clubs in similar towns who have defied the odds to climb the football pyramid.
02:39You just have to look at your Crawleys, your Fleetwoods, and they've managed to get to League One.
02:45We are a town much bigger, yes we're saddled with the big hitters, but there is definitely
02:52scope there to sustain a football league club and why not in League One.