Interview taken from issue 283 of HeedLines, sold at Easter Monday’s fixture at home to Scunthorpe United.
Ben Clark is loving every minute of Gateshead’s resurgence.
The club legend made his return to the game when Rob Elliot put out the call to bring him in as a first-team coach in February, with Elliot seeing Clark as a vital cog in the battle to keep Gateshead in the National League this season.
Having acted as caretaker manager on Tyneside on more than one occasion, most recently after Elliot’s departure in October 2024, the role offered a new challenge for someone who already has nothing to prove to the Heed Army.
Things could not have gone more to plan since Clarky’s appointment, with the 16-game defeat streak quickly banished with back-to-back wins over Halifax Town and Truro City, and both players and coaching staff have not looked back since.
Wins over York City and Yeovil Town took Gateshead out of the relegation zone just over a week ago, with a five-point gap from 19th place to 21st place created through The Heed’s hard work on and off the pitch.
In hindsight, the call from Elliot to Clark on an innocuous Sunday earlier in the season could hardly have been more important.
“Just before Rob was going to come back, he called me on a Sunday and told me he was thinking about going back in,” said Clark.
“It was just feelers at first and seeing whether I was interested, but he asked if I would fancy going in with him and I told him I would love to, it just felt right.
“It was in part due to my relationship with Rob beforehand, and seeing what a good manager he is, but ultimately it was the coaching side of the role.
“I think that’s probably where I excel more than the management side of it. Every time previously, it was always just to do it as a caretaker role, and I’ve never wanted it full time.
“I like being on the training pitch and working with the players, but the management side of it was something I wasn’t really interested in, it’s more the coaching for me.
“I’ve been in the game a long time and I’ve worked with some great coaches over the years, and now I see how being on the training pitch and seeing the fruits of your work on a weekend is such a bonus.
“I’m getting to work with good people in the building and with players who you can really help, and seeing that development through the week is something I’ve really loved.
“I’ve loved every aspect of it to be honest – even the travel!
“I’m grateful to Rob and all of the staff for bringing me in, and I think I’ve added value to the group so long may that continue.”
Clark’s impact, alongside the work of Elliot and the rest of his coaching staff, in addition to a real sense of belief amongst the playing squad, is all coming together to potentially pull off what would be one of the most remarkable relegation escapes in National League history if all goes to plan.
It’s worth reminding you that with 29 games played, Gateshead were 11 points away from safety at the bottom of the National League table, having lost 16 games in a row in all competitions.
Read that again – no wins, no draws and no points from the beginning of November to the middle of February.
Including that duck-breaking victory at Halifax, Gateshead have lost just two from 12 in the league and have won seven, more than doubling their points tally in that time from 19 to 43 after the win over Yeovil Town.
Clark feels the attitude of the players and staff has been key to that revival.
“The main part of our success has been the humbleness of the whole group,” he said.
“Rob has really instilled that in everybody.
“From working with the community and the foundation before taking on this role, the personal side of things is big for me, and Rob demands that humbleness.
“Two things that I think North East people can relate to, is being a good person first and foremost, and working hard every single day.
“That’s all that you can ask for, and other things will come as a byproduct of that.
“We’re a small knit group of staff – the off-field staff work really hard and we have a good camaraderie between us and the players, and that’s the culture that the manager wants.
“It was hard when we were losing games and we lacked confidence, but the gaffer always said you have to believe, and now I think we’re seeing that belief.
“Getting that first win was so important – the players had gone a long time without winning a game, and it becomes more difficult.
“Getting the first win and showing what we can do when we’re at it was huge, but that’s down to the players.
“They’ve had to dig deep and find ways of winning, but they’re a pleasure to work with for me and the coaching staff and there are good characters and leaders in the group.
“We can put out a style and system but they’ve got to go and do it, and they’ve done that.
“With each game I think we’re getting better and better.
“We’ve found ways of winning and we’ve been more difficult to play against, but we’re striving to get better.
“We’re going to demand better, and until the end of the season we’re still going to keep going.”
Gateshead are not quite out of the danger zone yet – and Clark knows it.
Standards have to remain as high as possible if The Heed are to pull off their miracle escape come April 25th, but the position they have put themselves in already is beyond what many thought they were capable of when Elliot returned to Tyneside at the turn of the year.
Now, Gateshead go into games with real belief behind them and with a feeling that they can take on whoever is before them.
Today’s test against play-off contending Scunthorpe United will be far from easy, but Clark knows that the group have proved what they can do already.
“The players have set the bar so high,” he said.
“We’ve seen the levels that they can get to, so it’s about personal pride because they can’t cheat us or themselves now – they’ve seen what they can do and they’ve competed against the best teams in the league.
“It sounds a bit boring, but we can’t get carried away with ourselves.
“The most important thing is the next day and next training session – we’re locked in really and we as coaching staff all demand that standards can’t drop.”
