Gateshead
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Gateshead
FOOTBALL CLUB
Gateshead FC has enjoyed a promising start t their season this
time around and will be looking to build on that over the coming
months. Football Focus Magazine recently caught up with Club
Representative Dominic Scurr to find out more about the club.
Involvement The Role
He told us, “I’ve been involved at
the club as an employee for two years
but was an active follower of the club
prior to joining in an official capacity.
As a football fan from the Tyneside
area, I was always aware of Gateshead
and would look out for their results but
it was probably not until the 2008/09
season when I really started actively
looking out for them.
That season saw Gateshead promoted
back to the Conference but also a certain
side across the river relegated to the
Championship, making Gateshead, a
winning side full of local players, a great
and affordable option.
Although you are physically quite far
away from the players at the International
Stadium, you feel a much closer personal
connection with players at non-league
level than you do in the upper tiers of the
English game today. There’s a greater
sense of pride and enjoyment when you
see your friends and colleagues succeed
and do well compared to a mixed group
of players from around the world getting
paid huge sums of money.” “When the side succeeds and wins
a game - it’s very rewarding to be the
person who breaks news of their success
to the wider public and media and see
how they react. Obviously, it can be
challenging when the team aren’t doing
so well but I wouldn’t say that is the
most challenging as poor results are
simply the nature of the beast.
The most challenging aspect of
my role would be the day to day work
separate from a matchday. As the only
full-time employee in my department, a
lot of work often falls on my head during
the week and managing that can prove
quite challenging.”
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“The general mood in camp is pretty
positive at the moment. Given how
down things were during the summer,
to now have a positive thinking manager
and young players willing to work hard
for the club is very refreshing. It gives a
real sense of pride to see the team doing
so well.
After such an uncertain summer in
which we didn’t have any players and
the future of the club itself was in doubt,
to now be challenging around the play-
off places in the National League is quite
remarkable and a huge testament to the
coaching staff and players who have
surprised everyone so far.
As a club, we just want to keep up
the good work and see where it takes
us. It will be difficult as we’re currently
surpassing expectations so it’s just a
matter of continuing to push on and
progress as much as we can.”
Youth
“Youth football is a very important
aspect of our club. Our first team
currently has three starting players who
have come through our youth system.
Given our modest budget, we now rely
more on young players to come into the
side and play than we have in previous
seasons. We have a manager who is
passionate about youth football given
his background in the game and is more
than willing to give youth a change as
and when he can.”