What Wembley means for Gateshead fans

Gateshead FC will return to Wembley this weekend giving themselves another shot at cup glory against Solihull Moors. 

 The club at the minute despite having a fantastic season on the pitch and making progress as a club unfortunately were not given the chance to play in their scheduled play-off game against Solihull Moors due to the Gateshead International Stadium being touted on the market by the council essentially meaning they could not guarantee tenure. 

On the pitch Gateshead have been nothing short of fantastic, making excellent progress over the season which saw them lose their manager Mike Williamson. That did not deter them, however, as they finished sixth, their highest league finish since 2014.  

Gateshead fans would have loved the chance to go to Wembley in successive weeks with the playoff final and the FA Trophy final being within a week of each other. On Saturday they get their chance at redemption for the FA Trophy they nearly won last season but narrowly lost 1-0 to Halifax Town. This moment is massive for the players/coaching staff despite the mess of the pitch this group can give the fans a day/weekend to remember in the club’s history.   

For Solihull Moors, they suffered their own heartbreak last week when they lost to Bromley on penalties a few days ago and will look to not to suffer more heartbreak in a week. The one thing the Solihull fans can feel better about is that they lost on the pitch and not on the political pitch. 

Both clubs will be looking to turn Wembley into a place of joy rather than a place of despair. The Heed lost narrowly last time out, only time will tell to see if they have learnt from last year and if they can conquer their Wembley demons.