Following their takeover by a group of supporters, Gateshead have been relegated to the National League North next season, although they escaped being demoted to the third tier They will return to the Council-owned athletics stadium which is their normal home and will continue to be a full-time professional outfit: The Heed
Speaking about controversial owner Ranjan Varghese and controversial finance director Joseph Cala, who had assumed day-to-day running of the club, National League chief executive Michael Tattersall said: 'They basically ran the place into the ground. They had sacked the manager and sacked all the staff … They were not paying football creditors and they didn't pay the National League the fines that had been imposed on them … They had no ground, no manager, no staff. In fact, by the end, there was nothing left.'
'Now the bad guys are gone and the good guys are back. I think the club can make a good go of it in National North.'
This is, of course, one of those grounds where an athletics track separates you from the field of play.
One consequence is that Oxford City will move back to the National League South, denying us a relatively short away trip. However, their ground was not easy to locate.