Gateshead Fail to Pay September Wages as Funding Pulled

Gateshead International Stadium, home of Gateshead FC, pictured in August 2025 | Photo: John Lord / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0

Gateshead have not paid their players and staff for September. That is the headline from Tyneside, and it lands on a club already bottom of the National League and in the middle of a bad run on the pitch.

The Heed have lost their last five games, conceding 16 goals and scoring just once in that spell. Off the field, things have been moving faster than the results.

The funding withdrawal

Earlier this week, Mark Nellist resigned from the board of directors and withdrew his funding support. He said the club was not heading in the direction he had hoped for. For a club in its fifth season in the National League since promotion, the loss of that backing has had an immediate effect, and the unpaid September wages are the visible result.

Nellist's departure was described as sudden by the club itself. Interim chairman Graham Wood has been the one answering for it since.

What the interim chairman says

Wood has said the club has been fully focused on finding new investment since Nellist's decision. In his words, significant progress has been made over the past 24 hours, and he is hopeful an announcement can be made in the next day or so.

He also said Nellist has agreed to make his shares available for a nominal sum, a move intended to help those efforts along. Nothing has been confirmed about who might take them on, so the details are still to come.

A game to play on Saturday

None of this changes the fixture list. Lee Cattermole's side face Worthing at home on Saturday, with a squad that has not been paid and a table that shows them in last place. It is hard to think of a more difficult week to prepare for a match.

The next few days will show whether Wood's optimism holds up. Unpaid wages in the National League are never a small matter, and supporters will be watching for a statement before the weekend.

Club context: Gateshead are bottom of the National League, beaten in their last five games with 16 goals conceded and one scored. Manager: Lee Cattermole. Next match: Worthing (home), Saturday. Interim chairman: Graham Wood. Source: BBC Sport.