Kenton Richardson wants Gateshead to prove the doubters wrong and spearhead the club's promotion push

The new National League season begins this weekend, with every opening game live on DAZN, and it marks a reboot for Gateshead. 

The North-east club are under new management for 2025-26 after the familiar name of former Ipswich and Middlesbrough striker Alun Armstrong replaced the departed Carl Magnay as boss over the summer. 

His task will be to try and help the club go one better than they did last season, where Tynesiders spent the majority of the campaign in the top seven only to slip out of the play-off places on the final day. 



New skipper Kenton Richardson was part of that team, and in his four seasons at the club, he has experienced his share of ups and downs. However, there's always been improvement, and the defender is determined to see that continue in 2025-26. 

"There have been a lot of setbacks since I've been at this club," he said in an exclusive chat with DAZN News.

"You look at the year we did really well,  got into the play-offs, and then we weren't allowed to play in it. Obviously, that was a disappointment.

"Then to go again and be in the play-offs all year, and then the back end of the season, probably from January onwards as a group of players, we hold ourselves accountable.

"It wasn't good enough, but behind the scenes, which has obviously been touched on quite a lot surrounding Gateshead, it wasn't a great place off the field. Obviously, that amplified performances on it. If we weren't good enough, it really amplified that.

"For us, it's putting that down as an anomaly. That doesn't happen again. We take responsibility for that.

"We're looking ahead towards the season, and we want to put that right. (Every year, we're really looking for improvement. Every year I've been here, there's been an improvement in the league position and winning trophies.

"That's what we're looking to do again. A byproduct of the improvement is proving people wrong as well, proving doubters wrong." 

Gateshead

As fate would have it, Gateshead begin their campaign in the same way that ended last season, with a home game against Southend United. Back in May, the clash proved pivotal as their failure to take three points on the day saw the Essex side sneak above Richardson's team and book their place in the play-offs - going on to lose to Oldham in the Wembley final. 

So, is this piece of footballing serendipity a signal for Gateshead to bury those ghosts of the previous campaign? 

"You could say that, yes," Richardson says with a smile.  

"Obviously, it was a nil-nil game and a game we had to win. But they're a good side.

"Obviously, they got to the play-off final last year. They've got a lot of good individual players. 

"We're going to play everyone at some point, but it was kind of written in the stars that we'd play Southend in our first game. We're looking forward to it.

"It's just another game, but it's a game against good opposition that I think we'll be right up there this year.

"We want to lay a marker down for the first game of the season." 

Whatever the outcome on Saturday, it will be a special occasion for Richardson nonetheless as he wears the armband for the first time in an official capacity after being named club captain. 

It's an honour for a player who has been born and bred in the area - you just have to mention Sunderland's Premier League promotion, and you get a grin as wide as the Tyne - and he believes he's got what it takes to be a successful skipper. 
 

"It's a very proud moment. I was vice-captain last year, and I was out for a long period of time with injury.

"It's a tough act to follow in Greg (Olley), because obviously Greg was one of my best mates. Really good captain, fantastic player and a fantastic person.

"And obviously what he's done at this football club, that's something that I'm looking to emulate. I've got a lot of love for all the lads, the staff.

"We've got a good relationship with the fans, and I think those relationships as a captain are paramount, really. You need those to be a club captain of a football club. 

"Ultimately, I'm buzzing and I'm really proud to have been named when the gaffer gave me a ring in the summer and said he wanted me to be captain, I was over the moon."

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