We will be playing The Heed next season

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.

The 'non-league Beckham' is staying

Delighted with the news this morning that Jack Edwards is staying with the Brakes. He puts in a real shift and shows great skill.

Here is his interview with Windmill Wonderland: Jack Edwards

Attendances up in the National League

The National League has broken the two million mark in total attendance across the three divisions for the first time in the competition's history. The total average attendance increased by 8.8 per cent from last year.

The top division's average attendance fell by 3.3 per cent but National South saw a 45 per cent increase while National North was up by 11.9 per cent. Of course, such figures are affected by the teams in the division in any one season.

Champions Leyton Orient had the largest average attendance of 5,445, compared to 4,337 last season. Wrexham were second with just over 5,000, while relegated Chesterfield were third with 4,503.

In the National League North former Football League side Stockport County claimed the top average of 4,001, up by 15 per cent on last season. York City, another former League club, took second spot with 2,528. Newly promoted Hereford, a reformed league club, were third following their promotion with 2,367.

Torquay United were top in the National League South with 2,508 followed by Woking with 1,898 and Dulwich Hamlet with 1,842. Three other clubs, including Billericay Town, had four figure averages.

The average attendance at Leamington was 669, boosted by former league clubs with big away followings.

The pride of Warwickshire

It's ours again

It was the icing on the cake of a successful season when Leamington beat Nuneaton Borough 4-1 at St.Andrews tonight to win the historic Birmingham Senior Cup for the seventh time. Several hundred Brakes fans turned up, substantially outnumbering the Nuneaton massive.

It was very much a game of two halves with the score 0-0 at half time. In the first half Leamington had most of the possession but had difficulty in penetrating the two back lines of four. Nuneaton players fell over at every opportunity to disrupt the rhythm of the game and they succeeded. The game plan was evidently to take it to penalties. There were a couple of moments when Nuneaton looked as if they could score, but they failed to take their opportunities

Brakes upped their tempo in the second half and Colby Bishop, who won the man of the match award, opened the scoring on 51 minutes with a well taken goal. Nuneaton equalised, but Brakes were back on top after a couple of minutes through an own goal created by Obeng. Bishop scored the third. Ahmed Obeng had been playing well all game and when he scored the fourth goal, he leapt into the crowd to embrace relatives, receiving the obligatory yellow card.

Brakes were a bit careless in the closing minutes and the old five was not achieved, but soon the game was over to chants of 'Tony Breeden, on the wing, on the wing'. Breeden nearly knocked himself out with the lid of the trophy.

Congratulations to Sally Ellis, our programme editor, on her well-deserved volunteer's award.

Brakes finish 13th

Leamington finished a creditable 13th with 54 points in the National League North after a 1-1 draw at Darlington this afternoon. This is the best finish since the club was resurrected in 2000.

Leamington managed to contain the home side until just before half time when they went ahead. Bishop equalised in the second half. Breeden made a number of good saves throughout the game: how much we owe him.

Congratulations to the 20 or so Brakes fans who made the long trip.

Next season only two clubs go down as the pyramid is reorganised so we should still be in tier two when (hopefully) our new stadium nears completion.

Praise is due to the board, the manager, the players and all the volunteers who keep the club going. Paul Holleran has his critics, and I have sometimes had reservations about our style of play, but his contacts enable us to bring in great loan players.

And we have a cup final to look forward to.

Bishop's move

A Colby Bishop hat trick saw Leamington beat Nuneaton Borough 3-0 at the Phillips 66 Community Stadium in the final home game of the season watched by 623 and two dogs. Leamington remain 14th on the same number of points as Southport (53).

Brakes showed early intent when a free kick was headed off the post. An excellent cross from Connor Taylor enabled Bishop to make it 1-0. Almost immediately after the resumption, Bishop forged through to make it 2-0. Some entertainment was provided by Nuneaton's No.9, Luke Barlone, aka the incredible hulk, constantly falling over.

After the break, Leamington rained in shots on the Nuneaton goal but Cameron Belford made two excellent saves. Twenty minutes in Bishop made it 3-0. There were calls for the 'old five', but it was not to be.

Bishop and Jack Edwards were substituted and Nuneaton used their two substitutes. Tony Breeden had to make a good save to prevent a consolation. In time added on Brakes hit the underside of the bar.

The referee kept his cards in his pocket.

Annual general meeting

The attendance was fairly modest. One interesting revelation was that the average turnover of a club in the National League North is now just over £700,000 a year and the average playing budget is £268,000. This reflects the fact that there are a number of former Football League clubs in the division. However, a number of clubs have much smaller turnovers and playing budgets.

The recently released accounts of one club for 2017/18 show a turnover of £294k and a player budget of £190k. Advertising and sponsorship was the biggest income stream at £90k while match receipts amounted to £77k. A donation of £10k was received for the transfer to Swansea City. A £18k contribution was received from the National League from Premier League distributions and their own sponsorships.

The meeting followed the win over Ashton which should have secured another year in the National League North. Relegation would mean a loss of £70k in revenue. In the long run, the situation is not sustainable which is why we need to move to a new ground.

Individual directors bought £25k of shares to cover a projected £18k end year loss. They are not wealthy individuals and I would like to endorse the vote of thanks passed at the meeting.