Gateshead manager Rob Elliot gearing up for 'crazy' game against rivals Hartlepool United
Gateshead manager Rob Elliot is gearing up for a "crazy" game as his side bid to end a run of 13 successive defeats against rivals Hartlepool United on Tuesday.
Having endured a turbulent end to last season that saw them miss out on the National League play-offs on the final day of the campaign despite being second and three points behind the league leaders after beating Pools on Boxing Day 2024, Gateshead find themselves in a the midst of a desperate battle for survival ahead of Tuesday's short trip to Victoria Park.
In the wake of the collapse of takeover negotiations led by former Sunderland frontman Victor Anichebe, Gateshead appeared to lurch from crisis to crisis throughout a turbulent summer, from skipper Greg Olley's remarkably forthright interview at the end of the season to the resignation of manager Carl Magnay.
In amongst all the chaos, the Heed lost a whole host of their star players and were forced to rebuild their squad almost from scratch with a significantly reduced budget under new boss Alun Armstrong.
As a result, Gateshead fans came into the 2025/26 campaign with diminished expectations but even the most sceptical of Heed supporters would have struggled to foresee their side slumping to the bottom of the National League table following a run of 13 straight defeats.
Even so, there is a sense that hope has returned to the Gateshead International Stadium in recent weeks, with popular former boss Rob Elliot, who oversaw one of the most successful spells in the club's recent history, replacing Armstrong earlier this month. In a desperate bid to avoid the drop, Gateshead have welcomed a raft of new signings in the wake of Elliot's arrival, including experienced frontman Mark Beck, who came close to signing for Pools in the summer of 2024, Solihull Moors defender Brad Nicholson, Louis Storey, who returns to the club having previously helped them win both the National League North and FA Trophy titles, Altrincham's Keaton Ward as well as powerful Walsall forward Levi Amantchi.
While it's true that Gateshead have lost both of their first two matches under Elliot, who had been out of work since March 2025 following a difficult spell with Crawley, there were signs of significant improvements during Saturday's 2-0 defeat against title-chasing Rochdale.
One of the challenges for Elliot's side on Tuesday evening will be dealing with a bumper crowd at Victoria Park, with well over 5,000 fans watching as Pools beat Altrincham at the weekend in their first home game since American businessman and investor Landon Smith completed his takeover of the club.
"The first 20 minutes of the game are going to be crazy and I can't see there being much football played to be honest, but we will see," Elliot said.
"It will be a challenge for these boys to go into that atmosphere and it will be a real challenge for us to go into a very different type of game. We will have to show a different mentality, we have to be brave.
"It’s about if we can be brave. Can we be brave enough to keep our shape? Can we be brave enough to play under pressure in that environment and atmosphere?
"We are concentrating on us for now and I think results will come in the next three to four weeks once we get settled and into the structure we want with new signings through the door. Whether that’s too late for us to stay in the league, I don’t know - but as I’ve said before I’m not focused on that at the moment.
"It’s more about what this club is, it’s about what this club means to people and getting this club connected and moving in the right direction once again."