soccer

Is this English football's greatest ever escape?

Yahoo Sports

After 13 straight league losses and with the club 11 points from safety, Gateshead produced a miraculous run to stay in the National League.

On Valentine's Day, few Gateshead fans would have been feeling their love for their team after another miserable afternoon. The home defeat to Brackley was a 16th successive loss in all competitions stretching back to 1 November, and a 13th in the league. Bottom of the National League, they were toast.

Finished. Relegation certainties. Regional football beckoned.

They were 11 points adrift - albeit with three games in hand - but were on a winless league run stretching back to 30 September. Anyone predicting the bottom four at the end of the season would have written Gateshead down in permanent marker pen. Now as the National League's regular season comes to an end on Saturday, the Tyneside club's fate is already known.

Why? Because they pulled off one of the greatest ever relegation escapes, safety assured with two games to spare. "It's an incredible achievement," manager Rob Elliot told BBC Sport.

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