Gateshead have launched an appeal against National League suspension they had served against them at the end of the 2018/19 season.
The punishment includes also includes the refusal of a licence for the 2019-20 season – which means they could be faced with a double relegation – and they have been fined £3,500 and given a nine point deduction for the season just gone, making them drop from 9th to 17th in the final table.
The Tyne and Wear club are currently finalising a supporter-led takeover, led by Neil Pinkerton and Trevor Clark, who have now purchased the shareholding of Gateshead from Ranjan Varghese.
The rules that were broken/breached whilst in the ownership of Varghese left the National League no choice but to take action against them, with the club having failed to pay players/staff wages and getting kicked out of their stadium.
Now that a supporter-led consortium has officially taken control of the club, with former Rochdale board members in Chris Dunphy and Bill Goodwin part of the six shareholders, they have submitted a written appeal according to the Sunderland Echo which has now been received by the Football Association.
The Echo states that the new Board have agreed a five year lease with Gateshead Council who own the stadium, and are currently working through the debts built up.
Any appeal will need to be heard fast by the FA otherwise it will cause drastic changes for tiers five, six and seven of the English football pyramid. The National League AGM is due to take place on June 8th 2019, when the league pledged to confirm the 68 clubs that would form their three divisions for the 2019-20 season, with the Northern Premier League also waiting for confirmation on Gateshead.
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