Following the appointment of Alun Armstrong as manager, we have been asked by the Gateshead FC Supporters’ Society to hold an open evening to meet Alun and the wider football team.
I am delighted to say that Alun and I, along with club staff, player representatives and other club directors will be in attendance for an event at Gateshead Bowling Club (opposite Gateshead Civic Centre) on Thursday, July 3rd from 7:30pm.
I have no doubt that it will be a very busy evening, and we will try our best to answer every question openly and honestly. In the meantime, here is an update on what we have been working on over the last few weeks.
FIFA
Work continues with FIFA, but we have come a long way over the last two weeks and all requirements should be sorted to lift their registration ban in time for the first team’s return to training.
This has not delayed any discussions that need to be made in preparing our squad for the upcoming season. Discussions are ongoing with both contracted and out of contract players, as well as new targets required to strengthen the team.
Football Ops Update
Kit
- Player training kit, staff training & travel kit has been delivered.
- Player travel kit is due next week.
- Playing kit is due in the first week of July.
- Replica kit is due the following week.
This is a marked improvement on previous seasons, and our thanks go out to our Technical Kit & Online Retail Partner, HOPE + GLORY.
Football
- Pre-season fixtures were all agreed and booked by June 9th. In previous seasons, our full pre-season fixture list was not released until June 20th or later.
Back Office
- All relevant club policies have been updated such as safeguarding, equality, inclusion and diversity, anti-bullying, social media etc. These will be posted on our club website.
- Preparations are underway for a club induction presentation to be presented to the players as they return to training in the first week of July. This will be delivered to both existing and new players and will set out the way we want to work going forward, putting the community back at the heart of the club.
Ladies
- Jamie Buchanan and Ben Sayers have been appointed as the new management team.
- Player open sessions are to commence June 24th.
- We are due to meet with Gateshead College regarding the tie up with their U19s playing under the Gateshead FC badge.
Junior Academy
- I was delighted to attend the Junior Academy’s End of Season presentation and recognise the fantastic work carried out with the club’s future talent.
- Open sessions for new players have been completed and coaches are now finalising their squads.
Miscellaneous
Work is ongoing and we are looking at small improvements to the way that training is carried out, particularly with player health and fitness in mind.
We have started to develop the grass training facilities at Gateshead International Stadium in order to give the players the best possible surface to work from.
We are also working on our commercial operations in order to maximise income to support the club’s budget, and we have a variety of opportunities available to support the club, including match programme advertising, match sponsorships, pitch boards, and more.
If any sponsorship opportunities are of interest to you, or you know of any businesses that would be interested in working alongside the club, then please get in touch.
Finally, I’d like to thank Charlotte, Therese and Sophie for voluntarily running a sale of old stock at Gateshead International Stadium over the last few weekends, which has raised well over £3,000.
All remaining stock will be donated to local charities and children’s clubs as we make space for new stock.
