70 years ago - and Britain was slowly emerging from national trauma and wreckage of World War II. It was 1953. There would be a new Queen on the throne, Everest was to be conquered by a British expedition, and the hardship of post-war rationing was coming to an end.
It was a golden age for football and Newcastle United, in particular, who lifted the coveted FA Cup in 1951 and '52 - and would do so again in 1955. But on this day seven decades ago, it was Gateshead who for once eclipsed their illustrious Magpies neighbours in the headline stakes, and created their own little piece of Cup history.
Gateshead were a football league club in 1953, plying their trade in the old Third Division North but, as ever, existing in the sizeable shadow of Newcastle United on the other side of the River Tyne. Before the war, Gateshead had come up against the likes of Sheffield Wednesday, Notts County, and even modern-day giants Manchester City in the FA Cup - with varying degrees of success.
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Later, in 1951-52, the FA Cup campaign had seen the Tynesiders dispose of the likes of Stockport and Ipswich Town before losing 2-0 to West Bromwich Albion at St James’ Park in front of nearly 40,000 fans. But it was the following season which would see Cup fever descend on the town as Gateshead stormed past a string of illustrious opponents.
Players such as the Callender brothers, Johnny Ingham and George Wilbert - today all names on the edge of living memory - would make headlines as the crowds flocked to Redheugh Park. A low-key 2-0 home win against Crewe Alexandra set the ball rolling, before two Johnny Ingham goals saw Gateshead edge past Bradford Park Avenue 2-1 in a hard-fought away victory.
Next up, Liverpool: If in 1953 they weren’t yet the power they would come to be, they still arrived on Tyneside as big favourites. One Gateshead effort was disallowed before an 84th-minute Ian Winter headed goal sent 15,000 Heed fans wild with joy.
The next round saw 3,000 Gateshead fans travel to Hull City as their team earned a magnificent 2-1 victory. Then yet another away tie saw thousands of Geordies making the arduous return trip to Plymouth Argyle where the Tynesiders triumphed 1-0.
Gateshead, of the Third Division North, joined Bolton, Arsenal, Blackpool, Aston Villa, Everton, Birmingham and Spurs in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. This was major sporting news. If in 2023 the Premier League reigns supreme, the '50s were a time when the FA Cup was still king and the competition enjoyed a far higher profile than it does today.
Gateshead were drawn against Bolton Wanderers, one of English football's most famous clubs at the time. The game would take place on February 28, 1953. The local press reported how around 5,000 Bolton fans "armed with rattles, favours, mascots and optimism," arrived by train, bus and car, and made their way to Redheugh Park "hoping to put to an end Gateshead's spectacular progress".
The game had sparked huge interest on Tyneside and a bumper crowd of more than 17,000 squeezed into the now-vanished ground in Gateshead's Teams area. The Tynesiders battled bravely but finally succumbed in the second half to a team full of internationals spearheaded by England centre-forward Nat Lofthouse who settled the game with a single headed goal. "We were lucky," the Lancashire club's vice-chairman later told reporters.
Bolton Wanderers would go on that season to lose 4-3 to Blackpool in the famous ‘Matthews final’. Gateshead’s FA Cup dream was over but 70 years ago, a piece of North East football history was created.
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