I’m delighted to see my old club with their Heeds up again, says Jon

Former Gateshead star Jon Mellish has revealed his delight over the club’s upturn in fortunes.

The young defender was a key member of the Heed squad that made light of offfield distractions to challenge for the National League playoffs during the 2018/19 season.

Despite the controversial ownership of Dr Ranjan Varghese and Joseph Cala taking the club to the brink, the Heed took their brave battle to the last weekend of the season before their weakened squad succumbed to defeats against Harrogate Town and Barrow.

Mellish’s form during the season earned him a move to League Two club Carlisle United, and he watched from afar as his former club were relegated into the National League North due to financial irregularities, before being rescued by a supporter-led consortium.

He made his first return to the International Stadium on Tuesday night when his current and former employers met in a behind-closed-doors friendly.

And ahead of the game, Mellish described his happiness at seeing Gateshead back on solid foundations.

He said: “It’s great to see Gateshead on the up again because we obviously went through a tough time in my last season at the club.

“A lot of hard work went into that season despite everything going on behind the scenes.

“It wasn’t great what happened after the season finished but the work of the supporters dwarves what is going on now because they worked hard to save their club.

“The players and staff are a big part of the community and that probably started because of what went on during that season.

“Obviously it was disappointing that they didn’t get back up in the play-offs - but hopefully they can get up this season.”

Tuesday’s game saw Mellish take his place in a muchchanged United squad.

The addition of former

Gateshead goalkeeper Paul Farman on Monday took the tally of new signings made by Cumbrians manager Chris Beech into double figures.

“We’ve obviously made a number of signings over the last few weeks but they have all added quality to the squad,” he said.

Gateshead have another pre-season friendly against Hartlepool United on September 26 (3pm).