I loved my time at Heed spell could
FORMER TOON DEFENDER WILLIAMSON LOVING LIFE ON OTHER SIDE OF TYNE
Regional football editor FROM Newcastle’s Iron Mike to Gateshead’s unlikely alchemist, Mike Williamson is once again overturning the odds on Tyneside.
At St James’ Park Williamson was the likeable defender with a lower league CV signed by Chris Hughton to get Newcastle over the line but who ended up playing 150 games for – in his words – “one of the biggest clubs in the world”. Outlasting internationals and big-money signings, Williamson turned around preconceptions and managerial reservations to spend six years with United.
Now at Gateshead, a club with one of the Conference’s smallest budgets, just 14 players and offthe-field worries, he is part of a coaching team leading a small band of brothers in the most unlikely promotion charge in the club’s history. Iron Mike certainly has stamina.
It has been a quite incredible ride for Williamson, who opted to return to the North East solely out of love for the region.
Retirement was on his mind after an injury-hit three years at Wolves and Oxford – until a phone call from Steve Watson changed his mind.
Walking his dog on Tynemouth beach, he’s happy to reflect on his time at Newcastle, while also looking forward to a season finale at Gateshead which could be the most special period of his entire career.
“It’s been one of the most enjoyable periods of my career,” he said. “Steve laid out of the opportunities and the task ahead: he said it was going to be tough, we’ve got one of the smallest squads and budgets, but I think what we’ve got is capable of doing something.
“Inside the camp we believe we’ve got a good squad and I came in and played and trained with them and thought ‘Yes, we’re right here.’
“For me it was about bringing a bit of experience into the camp but the main thing was just playing games again: I’ve had a couple of years where I’ve just not played much so I’m really enjoying that side of it.
“And now we’re getting into the back end of the season and we’re still in the mix for the play-offs. There’s a lot of big teams paying big money, but we’ve held our own in those matches.
“If we managed to go up I think it would be the biggest achievement of my career, to be honest. The season I finished fifth with Newcastle and the season we got promotion with Newcastle was fantastic and I went up with Wycombe as well but this would be the biggest over-achievement of my career.
“We’re pushing and we’re giving it a go so I’ll end the season with pride regardless.”
The Tynesiders came within one game of the Football League in 2014 but this campaign, against the backdrop of fan discontent at the controversial stewardship of Dr Ranjan Varghese and his financial adviser Joseph Cala , has been totally different.
They have sold all of their most experienced players, and on Saturday cost restrictions saw just 14 senior men set off for Aldershot on the same day as the game.
Yet Gateshead prevailed to move back into the play-offs under boss Ben Clark. Williamson, in his first role as a coach, is ably supporting him.
“We’ve lost our top scorer in Luke Armstrong and then Luke Molyneux, who was doing really well for us. Then Scott Boden, our next top goalscorer, left as well. We’re down to the bare bones, but we’re still going which is amazing.
“I’m really enjoying the coaching. When Ben asked me it was a no-brainer.
“We haven’t had to change too much but the things we have implemented have been really effective. It’s still our opportunity to get into the play-offs and that would be an incredible achievement considering everything.” The same could be said for his time at Newcastle, where he came into a team battling for promotion and played a key part in the fifth-placed season, a European campaign and successive battles against relegation. He convinced many – including former boss Alan Pardew – that he