Gateshead survived what was an extremely trying and difficult season by the skin of their teeth as they finish just a few points clear of the danger zone. They were forced to play on ground all around their region in the second half of the season and will just hope to have a more mundane and decent season next year. Things looked to be on the up in the summer after Ian Bogie lead the Heed to their highest ever finish since winning promotion a few years ago, just missing on the play-offs. Yet, losing Jon Shaw, the 35-goal man was a grievous blow and in hindsight James Brown was hardly the man to fill his gap. The former Hartlepool man got an injury in the summer and Liam Hatch had to start as the main striker. Gateshead were up and running at the start though, nearly beating Luton away from home on the opening day of the season and claiming a resounding win over Mansfield soon after that. The Heed lost none of the first six games and looked a genuinely good team with Josh Gillies orchestrating things in midfield and Ben Clark and James Curtis ever so reliable at the back. However, a poor run in September knocked them off a bit and they went eight games without a win, dropping into mid-table. Most of these games were draws in which Gateshead deserved to win but the confidence of this good side started to sink worryingly and the boost of two wins on the trot worn off quickly again as they won a single point from their next four games. The last of these games was a miserable 3:0 loss at Cambridge and the management to cut loose with Bogie after that loss. It looked a slightly harsh decision on a man who won two promotions with the club in just the last five seasons and was definitely capable of addressing the slump. Yet, youth coach and former Sunderland player Anth Smith was put in charge for the rest of the season. He won his first two games in charge but it was a very disjointed and fractured first few weeks for him in charge as the club barely played in January due to a series of postponements. The state of the pitch at Gateshead was so bad that no football was possibly going to be played there for the rest of the season and thus the team had to play mostly in Hartlepool for the rest of the season. The lack of action for almost a month had a bad impact on the players who lost five games on the spin going to the latter stages of February. Suddenly the Heed were in deep trouble at the wrong end of the table and just a few points clear of the drop zone. Smith was using the team to play to their strengths but things were just not working for them. Yet, an unexpected 4:0 win away at Macclesfield stopped the rot and lifted the mood with high-flying Kidderminster beaten as well. There was still lack of consistency in the brittle squad and a brilliant 5:1 win over Luton was followed just two days later by a dreadful 2:0 defeat at home to direct rivals Nuneaton. The last few games of the campaign were nail-biting but a 2:0 win over Ebbsfleet on the last day of the season was eventually enough to get the team over the line and lift the pressure at the end of a torturous campaign.
