As I left Bedfordshire and headed up the A1 motorway on 17th January 2014, I didn’t realise I was making a journey that would change my life forever. Never had I moved away from home before, there isn’t much further you can get from Leighton Buzzard than Gateshead on an English map.
Two weeks previous I had been up to play against Gateshead for rock-bottom Hyde United, my last loan game of an enjoyable loan spell for the Lancashire club. Sampling the taste of the North East football on the Saturday afternoon, me and my friends crossing the Tyne Bridge and sampling the well renowned Newcastle nightlife on the evening. I liked everything about the day (well apart from Hyde getting battered 4-0) and the night but never in my wildest thoughts did I see me returning so soon after.
Gary Mills – the manager of Gateshead at the time – contacted my parent club Luton Town just after the Hyde game to see if I wanted to head to Tyneside for a one-month loan. A footballing philosophy that suited me and a manager that wanted me was a good combination so I decided to relocate the 243 miles from my little Bedfordshire town to the North East and see how things went, after all I was only going for a month.
Grimsby away on the 18th January was my first game. It wasn’t an overnight stay for the Gateshead lads but Gary told me that the club would put me up in The Forest Pines Hotel the night before and I could meet the lads there for pre-match the next day. Car packed, petrol tank filled up, my goodbyes to mum and dad. Off I trudged up the motorway to experience life away from home and life with Gateshead a club chasing a play-off place.
A comfortable nights sleep and it was match day, I met all the lads the following lunchtime as well as Gary and his assistant Darren Caskey. We had pre-match together, a welcoming bunch of lads, you are always nervous meeting new people and what they will think of you, a 22-year-old me was no different. We got on the coach, “Where shall I sit? I don’t want to be sat in anyone’s usual seat.” Two tables at the back and a spare seat on one of them. I sat down, the table adjacent was Ben Clark (captain), Phil Turnbull, James Curtis (most Gateshead appearences) and Craig Baxter. 4 experienced lads and straight away Phil was asking me questions about football and life, a great lad, I would go on to learn he loved a story and a question.
On our way to Blundell Park, Gary called me down the front of the coach and informed me I would be starting. I never ever thought I would be, I had only agreed to come the day before but what great faith it showed in me. A massive game at Grimsby, two teams going for a play-off place. What a game for your debut, talk about being chucked in the deep end, I loved every minute of it.
The game finished 2-2, we should have won it. With 8 minutes to go and us leading 2-1, I didn’t track there right-back Paul Bignot’s run and he got in behind me to score at the back post and level it up. I felt gutted, but I suppose a point away at a play-off rival is a good point. It should’ve been all three though.
Debut done. It was time to settle in to my new surroundings, a new house for the month. I moved in with Carl Magnay – bare in mind I hadn’t ever lived away – a washing machine looked like an Albert Einstein science equation, an oven with more numbers on than an Isaac Newton maths question. I didn’t have a clue how to work either but Carl was brilliant. He helped me settle in really well them first few weeks, something that made my first month as enjoyable as it could be.
Four days after the Grimsby draw was my home debut. I was to quickly learn how cold a January night on the banks of the River Tyne can be. Rain hammering down, hands almost scolded from the wind that seemed to blow in every direction. A 1-1 draw with Welling United, it wasn’t the start I was hoping for but nevertheless, I had settled in well.
You can treat loan moves in one of two ways. One – you go and embrace everything about it; the place you’re living, the surroundings, the people and you can do your best for the club who have taken you. Secondly – you can go and see it that you’re going to a smaller club than you are used to and you have been sent somewhere you really don’t want to be, it is a game of football and that is the only reason you are there. My first few days training was enjoyable but the thing I enjoyed the most about my introduction to Gateshead Football club – the changing room and the lads within it.
James Marwood, Jamie Chandler, Rob Ramshaw, Josh Walker, John Oster, James Curtis, Phil Turnbull, Ben Clark and my new house mate Carl Magnay. People like that is what made me enjoy my first few weeks so much, people like that would make me love playing for the club and make me love living in the North East. The first moment you walked into the changing room them people were on you. Your clothes selection was scrutinised regardless of what attire you had picked from the wardrobe that morning thinking it went together well. “Stevie Wonder been cutting your hair down south JJ?”. You can either sit there and take it as being the new lad or try and come back with a bit and hold your own. For me, I had to try and come back, I loved the banter, I loved that changing room. The people in that changing room are the reason we went on to do so well that season. Did we have the best players in the league that season? Probably not. Did we have the the best team spirit and togetherness? Without a doubt. I didn’t realise it at the time, I was playing football with the best set of lads you could ever meet, the best changing room you could be a part of, I didn’t realise we were going to go on and do as well as we did.
Following on from the home draw from Welling we didn’t have the greatest February winning one, drawing one and losing a couple. I had done well enough for Gary to ask if I wanted to stay for the rest of the season. It was one of the easiest decisions I have had to make in football. The first month I had loved, training was enjoyable, Gary had a brilliant way of playing and a team that could fulfil that philosophy. I was staying until the end of the season, the next few months would be pretty special.
March began and Gary had a meeting with all the players. “I think we need to win 8 out of the last 12 to get in Play-Offs, with this group of players, we can definitely achieve that.” As a set of lads we all knew that was a big ask, these games Gary thought we could win included several against teams who had long football league tenures and had not long been in the Conference. Lincoln City, Barnet Macclesfield, Cambridge and Aldershot all teams that were stood in our way them last 12 games. It was going to be tough, Gary believed we could do it. As a group of lads you have got to believe, if we could achieve it, then it was going to be with the changing room and group of lads we had within it.
Six games in March – 4 wins and 2 draws. We had got off to a great start in Gary’s quest for 8 wins. Replicate that for the final six games and according to Gary we would be in. April began, we started off with a couple of wins. A 5-0 demolishing at home to Tamworth and then a brilliant 1-0 win away at Hereford. A tough game down at Hereford, late on I managed to put a cross in for James Marwood to tap home. He was on fire James, scoring a few vital goals along the way to helping us try and secure a play-off place. We knew Hereford was a massive result, it gave us all a confidence that we could go and get in the play-offs. From then on we never looked back.
One of my most memorable games was the Tuesday after trekking down to Edgar Street to grab that 1-0 victory over Hereford. I headed home to visit my family for a few days in Bedfordshire after the Hereford win and met the lads on the Tuesday at Braintree. Braintree were not far behind us in the play-off race, they were managed by an up and coming Danny Cowley. Punching above there weight, a part-time team with a dingy little ground and the award for worst playing surface many years in a row. We were renowned for a passing style of play, total football. We had Marwood playing on his own upfront, at 5″10 you couldn’t really go direct to him. Braintree’s pitch which resembled more of a seaside beach with enough sand to rival the Sahara heaped on it was what we were working with. Team spirit got us a 0-0 that night. Adam Bartlett our goalkeeper pulled off an unbelievable penalty save to keep us level and grind out a draw. The highlight of that game though and something I still remember as clear as day – Josh Walker come on as a late sub for us. His first contribution something we still laugh about today. Adam Bartlett took a goal kick, Josh on no more than 10 seconds in the central midfield role tries to flick a header on to Marwood. Somehow though, he manages to heads it straight back to where it has come from, putting the Braintree striker clean through on goal. Time stood still. “Josh what the **** are you doing?” Their striker bares down on Bartlett in the goal. The lad scores Braintree go onto win and are right on our tails in the race for the Top 5. Bartlett saves it! We go back and defend the corner, you look round the team. What summed us up as group of lads and a team – a few people start having a chuckle at what Josh has just done, nobody still to this day knows how he managed it. Corner cleared, Josh getting battered in the changing room after the game from everyone. 0-0 away at Braintree, great result! What an awful place.
A draw at home to Southport and a win away to Macclesfield had all but confirmed that Gateshead would be in the Play Offs. A 2-0 victory over Cambridge on the last day of the season secured a play-off spot. A semi-final against Grimsby awaited, lets hope I had learnt how to track my man by now. I could assure one thing, if Paul Bignot was playing I wouldn’t be letting him run off me.
Thursday 1st May 2014. Grimsby Town Away. First Leg Play-Off.
A packed Blundell Park saw 5,234 witness a 1-1 draw. Colin Larkin put us ahead on seven minutes before Craig Disley equalised for The Mariners not long after. A fair result, it is always a difficult and hostile place to go is Grimsby. They are a big club, they probably thought they would go onto beat us in the return fixture at the Gateshead International Stadium. What a return leg it was going to be, it didn’t disappoint.
Sunday 4th May 2014. Grimsby Town Home. Second Leg Play-Off.
A day that is still thought about every single day. I woke up on the morning, if I am honest I’m not sure I slept much the night before anyway. Gateshead Football Club were 90 minutes away from playing at Wembley Stadium. I started on the bench, Gary was sticking with the team from the first-leg and I was happy and fine with that. When you are playing with your mates then you want them to do well, I was behind the lads starting and knew that at some point I would hopefully get on and try and contribute in some way.
Anticipation built before the game. It all felt different to a normal match day where normally we would get crowds of about 1000-1500. It was different! 8,144 packed inside the Gateshead International Stadium, a club-record crowd. The streets of Gateshead were empty, everyone had descended on NE10 to see if Gateshead could reach Wembley for the first time in their history. The ones who were not able to get a ticket for the sell-out game packed into the Gateshead pubs to watch the game on BT Sport.
A tentative start, neither side wanting to risk to much. The clock strikes 22 minutes – James Marwood chops back onto his right-foot from 22 yards. He looks up and fires a decent strike towards goal, one James McKeown in the Grimsby goal should comfortably hold. He doesn’t! The International Stadium erupts, the ball squirms through the gloves of McKeown like a knife through butter, he desperately scrambles towards his line as the ball slowly bounces once and then twice towards the goal line! MARWOOD SCORES!! Gateshead lead 1-0. He sprints over to the bench where it is every man for himself in celebration. 68 minutes to hold on, 1-0 is enough to see us to the home of football. A minute seemed like an hour, the half time whistle seemed to take days for the referee to blow.
Half time Gateshead 1-0 Grimsby Town.
The second-half underway. Nervous, nobody wanting to make a mistake. Every pass from a white Gateshead shirt frantically watched on by the record crowd hoping it reaches its destination. 55 minutes – Scott Neilson for Grimsby lunges in late on Craig Baxter. It is only a foul, maybe a yellow but that would be quite harsh. Referee calls Neilson over, hand goes to his back pocket. It’s RED! “Get in!” It is the first thought that comes into my head as I get my muscles warm on the touchline. It is ours to lose now! Down to 10 men, reality hits that it is still very much game on. Aswad Thomas cross from the left, Craig Disley arrives late into the box and BANG, it is 1-1. Grimsby have equalised with half an hour to go. Muscles warm, final sprints done. Jumper off first and then t-shirt, match shirt on. Number 7 off, Number 38 on. 23 minutes to try and make a difference – Come on JJ.
First touch, Grimsby right-back Sam Hatton right behind me (at least it wasn’t Paul Bignot), good touch away from him, second touch skip by him. SMASH, he takes me out. Yellow card. Anyone on a yellow card tries to be sensible thereafter, Play-Off Semi Finals can do funny things to people. Moments later, Carl Magnay gets away from Hatton. Right in front of the dugouts, SMASH! All the Gateshead players surround the referee. “He’s got to go ref, disgrace that”. Second yellow, and then a RED, Hatton is off too. Grimsby down to 9 men, 10 minutes left we can win this now, we have got too.
Grimsby camped in front of there goal. We’re probing, like a lion waiting patiently when to go for the kill. Left to right – right to left we pass it waiting for an opportunity. Magnay to me, me back to Magnay, first time to Oster. Oster looks up, drop of the shoulder 25 yards out left hand side of the pitch. On his right foot, good pass to Marwood on the right hand side of the box 4-5 yards to the right of the penalty spot. Time stands still again! “Right James, take a good touch and smash another one in”. First touch not great, bounces up. Second touch better, but he has only managed to chop it back on to his left foot. Third touch simply unstoppable! Head down – left foot. BOOM! The white Jako ball rising like a red arrow at an airshow, Mckeown diving helplessly. GOALLLLLLLLL! GATESHEAD 2-1! The crowd goes wild, Marwood mobbed as the lads celebrate. 6 minutes from Wembley, if we don’t get there now its our fault. No excuses!
We keep the ball well, the clock strikes 90 minutes. Fourth official board goes up. 7 minutes! It is weird how it felt for a few minutes that we had 9 players, Grimsby had eleven. Their blue and black shirts stroking the ball around, waiting and probing. I am not religious in the slightest. As the ball is 30 yards from our goal being caressed around by Paul Hurst side, I am praying to anyone above that we hold on. Some players you are thankful to have on your team in that situation. Ben Clark and James Curtis at the back clearing things and winning headers. Jamie Chandler in midfield alongside Phil Turnbull, one not going to give the ball away in Phil. The other can run all day and when you need the ball back Chan’ will get it for you. The combination bounce into action, Chandler wins the ball back in our half. Grimsby piling everyone forward in search of a leveller. Chandler nudges it to Turnbull. Ball out of his feet, he strides forward up the pitch. Grimsby are ravaged at the back, it is 4 against one. Chandler sprints forward, he’s closely followed by the ball-carrying Turnbull, Marwood to the right of him, me to the left. He makes the right decision then we can’t not score.
He keeps travelling 40 yards from goal now 30 yards out. He lifts his head, me and Chan’ screaming at him from the left to pass as the last Grimsby defender tries to confront him. He passes, it is coming our way. It is a little bit behind Chan, it is perfect for me. I have only got eyes for the ball from Phil, I see nothing else. The ball travels towards me. Take a good first touch and you are one-on-one with the goalkeeper just like I used to be a million times over in my garden as young boy. The ball is nearly at my foot, Phil has only passed it 5 yards, it seems like it has come via second-class post how long it seemed to take to get to me. One yard away the ball is from my left foot, “Who the hell is that?” I don’t see him, Mckeown has come rushing out of his net to try and intercept the pass from Phil to me. He is 25 yards out of his goal what is he doing! The ball brushes past his studs, it hits my left foot and bobbles a bit in front of me. 20 yards out, an open goal, I roll it in there and that is it, Grimsby can’t come back again. I set myself. It is on it’s way to the goal, the only remaining Grimsby defender for 50 yards tries to get back and keep it out. IT’S IN!! GATESHEAD 3-1. I don’t know what to do, I don’t normally score goals. Shirt lifted up, hands to my head I run off towards the corner flag. The lads running after me, I should probably turn round and celebrate with them but I haven’t a clue what do do. I have never been in a situation like this. PITCH INVASION, children pile onto the pitch, parents holding babies pile on, grandparents, great grandparents. It is carnage! Gateshead 3-1 Grimsby (Agg 4-2). GATESHEAD ARE GOING TO WEMBLEY!
I grew up 4.2 miles from Wembley, I used to cross over the North Circular everyday walking to school seeing the then Twin-Towers delightfully hogging the North London skyline. “I want to play there one day Mum!” Them the words of an 8 year old me as I wore my St Joseph’s uniform holding onto mum’s hand only thinking about kicking a ball about at break and lunchtime and not having a care in the world about Mrs Greene’s handwriting class.
Well 14 years after walking to school everyday with a dream of playing at the stadium my walk to school entailed, May 18th 2014 I finally fulfilled that dream.
Cambridge United v Gateshead. Skrill Promotion Play-Off Final 2014.
Sun shining, 8000 of the Heed Army descending down on the capital from the North East. One game away from the Football League. We arrived at Wembley, I had been there as a spectator many a time before but as I put my wash bag and football boots in front of my shirt in the overly spacious changing room and headed out to see the home of football from a playing perspective I couldn’t help think back to the boy from Cricklewood crossing the busy North Circular whose dream was always to play there. Whatever the result it was a dream come true. “Mum, Dad, I’ve done it!”. Despite scoring in the Semi-Final, I was again on the bench for the final. I had no problem with that, of course I wanted to be starting but Gary had stuck with the same team from the two previous games and I was happy with that, it was fair enough. We were the underdog, we knew that, we were the underdog in pretty much every game all season.
The lads started well, without sounding stupid, Wembley suited us. A pitch perfect for our footballing style, sun drenched and water drenched it was always going to be a cagey start from both teams and that was exactly how it was. Two evenly matched teams, us having the majority of possession them having the aerial threat of big Tom Elliott down the middle. A quiet first half – no real chances – at the break we went in level.
Second half began, again two even teams going toe-to-toe. 51 minutes, Cambridge corner from the right. A short corner, played into Harrison Dunk and then back to the taker Ryan Donaldson. A ball drifted over from Donaldson, arriving at the back post Liam Hughes. Unmarked and less than a yard out Hughes headed home. 12,000 of the amber and black army behind the goal ecstatic, we needed a response.
Sun drenched, with a t-shirt and a bib on I went to warm up. “Please put me on, gaffer!”. 58 minutes on the clock and with the score at 1-0, I was called back to the Wembley dugout and it was time to make my Wembley debut. Mum, Dad and all my family watching on I had 32 minutes to try and help the lads. Try and create something!
71 minutes – heartbreak. The ever reliable Ben Clark got caught 1 v 1 with Donaldson and brought him down. 30 yards from goal the former Gateshead man Donaldson stood over it. It would have to be a good strike to beat Adam Bartlett from there, it was just that. A spectacular dipping free-kick over the ball and just out of the reach of Bartlett it nestled into the bottom right hand corner. Cambridge 2-0! A goal to grace any game, it had to be a former Gateshead player to get it. 20 minutes to save our season, to try and turn the game round and get Gateshead into the football league for the first time since there 1960 expulsion.
80 minutes – Oster receives the ball, plays it wide left to me. First time through to Marwood. Head up he picks out Liam Hatch at the back post, Hatch heads it towards the Cambridge goal. ‘Keeper parries, the evergreen Jack Lester on hand to nod home from 3 yards out. Cambridge 2-1 Gateshead! GAME ON!! The Gateshead fans’ delirious, tops off in the sunshine. 10 minutes to get an equaliser, Cambridge on the ropes.
85 mins – Cambridge camped in and we are passing the ball round the Gary Mills way. The Heed Army doing there best to suck it into the net, me hoping I was the one to level it up and score just like I had dreamed the night before in the St Albans Hotel. Magnay out to me, good first touch. I stand a cross up at the back post. I didn’t try to pick anyone out, just put it in there and hope big James Curtis or Liam Hatch might be on the end of it. The ball floats in, my head comes up. Liam Hatch at the back post is waiting. Cambridge ‘keeper rooted to his line. The ball arrives on Hatchy’s head, 8 yards out. He is good in the air Liam Hatch, all he needs to do is get it on target, he has got a chance to put us level. Hatchy gets a good connection, it is travelling towards the goal, the Gateshead fans leave there seats. It skims the post and goes wide, that is it. That is the chance that was going to pull us level.
A couple of half chances follow but none as clear cut as Liam’s. Heartbreaking, gut wrenching! The final whistle blows – Cambridge United 2-1 Gateshead. The 54 year exile from the football league continued, we had fallen at the final hurdle. 4 months of hard work and a corner and a free-kick had undone us. Gutted!
A 5 month loan spell come to the end at Wembley. A 5 months that changed my life forever. Despite having another year on my Luton Town contract, them months on Tyneside and the people and players I met, I decided that I wanted to return to the North East the following season. I’ve been lucky enough to travel to some nice places in both England and around the world but there is something very special about Gateshead and the North East. A passion for football something like I have never seen before, a friendliness of people that exceeds any other place I have been. Six seasons on – Gateshead is now the place I call home – it is the place I see my long term future and Gateshead Football Club is the reason for that. When I arrived at Forest Pines Hotel in January 2014, I thought I was going to Gateshead for a month. The changing room I walked into is the best changing room I have ever been a part of, James Marwood, Jamie Chandler, Carl Magnay, Rob Ramshaw my best friends in the North East now from that team. Ben Clark the best person I have ever come across in football, he is back at Gateshead now in a community coaching role. Without these people and the terrific supporters of the club my time would probably have been over after a month! Gateshead Football Club changed my life, the 2013-2014 season to me will never be topped. The Wembley defeat still haunts me everyday, so near yet so far. What a place, what a club! It has been a long month..
JJ O'Donnell 