Ross Wilson new signing boost & Newcastle United warning signs after 1-1 draw at Gateshead
Gateshead 1-1 Newcastle United: New signing Sean Steur caught the eye in an otherwise underwhelming pre-season display from Eddie Howe’s side.
Newcastle United got their public pre-season schedule underway with a 1-1 draw at Gateshead on Saturday afternoon.
The Heed took the lead through Luke Supyk before a Ben Williams own goal from Lewis Hall’s low cross drew Newcastle level in the closing stages.
Next up for Newcastle is a trip to Championship side Bristol City on Wednesday (7:30pm kick-off).
Newcastle went into Saturday’s match on the back of a 3-0 behind-closed-doors win at Darlington at The KNOX last weekend.
While Eddie Howe’s side controlled the game as expected with Sean Neave, Harvey Barnes and Fabian Schar all coming close to scoring in the first half, they were unable to find a breakthrough.
And Gateshead punished Newcastle’s lack of ruthlessness by scoring with their first shot of the game. A set-piece deflected into the path of Luke Supyk to tuck the ball under Nick Pope.
The Magpies’ blushes were spared in the closing stages as Lewis Hall controlled Jacob Ramsey’s smart pass into the box and saw his low cross deflect in off Ben Williams to make it 1-1 in the closing stages.
Newcastle team news
Howe named a strong starting line-up featuring the likes of Nick Pope, Lewis Hall, Harvey Barnes, Jacob Murphy, Joe Willock and Jacob Ramsey as well as new signing Sean Steur and the returning Fabian Schar after seven months out injured. Alex Murphy, Leo Shahar and Sean Neave completed the starting line-up.
Joelinton remained sidelined following the injury that kept him out in the closing weeks of the 2025/26 season, along with Tino Livramento and Lewis Miley. William Osula and Sven Botman both played in the behind-closed-doors friendly against Darlington last week but were rested for the Gateshead match.
New signings Bazoumana Toure and Aladji Bamba weren’t part of the squad and all of Newcastle’s players who featured at the World Cup remained absent. So there was no Bruno Guimaraes, Dan Burn, Anthony Elanga, Nick Woltemade, Malick Thiaw or Yoane Wissa for the match.
NUFC injury boost
Schar getting back on the pitch after an extended spell on the sidelines was a welcome sight from a Newcastle perspective.
The 34-year-old looked like a player still on the road to recovery after a serious injury and clumsily conceded a free-kick that led to Gateshead’s goal.
A bit of pre-season rust is to be expected, but the 60 minutes he had on the pitch will no doubt serve him well ahead of his ninth and potentially final season with the club.
Sean Steur watch
Of all of Newcastle’s players, the one to keep an eye on was 18-year-old midfielder Steur, who had recently arrived from Ajax for £23million. Despite his age, he is expected to play a regular role in Newcastle’s first-team plans this coming season and has plenty of hype surrounding him and his potential.
Without wanting to read too much into a pre-season friendly against a non-league side, the teenager took no time to demonstrate his quality, confidence and willingness to get on the ball.
He only misplaced two forward-thinking passes, and the one time he looked like being caught on the ball, he was able to win a free-kick for the Magpies. Steur also showed the other side of his game and battled well to win the ball back when needed.
That extra week of pre-season with Ajax prior to his move looks to have served him well in terms of his match sharpness. All in all, an early audition passed for the youngster.
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Ross Wilson watches on
With sporting director Ross Wilson in attendance, he could feel somewhat pleased to see his summer signing show positive signs of settling into the side quickly.
But at the same time, the match also highlighted several glaring gaps in the squad that he must address. Some of those gaps will be filled once the injured and World Cup players return, but the lack of depth in the full-back positions and a bench whose outfield contingent was entirely made up of Under-21 players.
It’s worth noting that, as things stand, Newcastle still have five spaces left to fill to get their Premier League squad up to the allotted 25-man limit. And with less than a month until the season starts, Wilson will know better than anyone that the hard work simply must continue.
NUFC’s tough summer continues
It’s been another difficult summer for Newcastle with two major departures, top targets hijacked and a squad looking notably weaker than the one that finished 12th in the Premier League last season.
Added to that the ongoing noise surrounding captain Bruno Guimaraes’ future at the club, there is hardly a positive atmosphere or feeling among supporters at the moment.
‘It’s only pre-season’ is a phrase said on an annual basis, but Saturday’s match was an opportunity for Newcastle to instil some good feeling in what has been a chastening summer so far.
Credit to Gateshead for making a game of it in front of 7,195 supporters, which will no doubt help them ahead of the new National League season.
But for Newcastle, whether it’s a friendly or not, an underwhelming draw against a local non-league side will do little to raise spirits heading into the new season.
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