Gateshead

There are few more tangled tales in English football than that of the various Gateshead and South Shields clubs. Pools first encountered South Shields Adelaide in the 1908/09 North-Eastern League season. The Mariners (with or without the Adelaide suffix) were regular opponents in the non-league days, and acquaintances were renewed in 1928 when South Shields joined the Football League. Then things got a little complicated. The South Shields club moved to Gateshead in 1929, and played under that name for the remainder of its stay in the Football League, and continued as Gateshead until the club’s closure in 1973.

Meanwhile, another South Shields FC had begun life in 1936 and had been happily competing in various local leagues ever since. Incredibly, history then repeated itself when this South Shields club also headed west to become Gateshead United FC. This latest attempt at a Gateshead football club didn’t survive long, folding in 1977. At around the same time, yet another South Shields FC and yet another Gateshead FC began life, and both clubs are still operating today… for now!