Steve Watson named new York City manager after quitting Gateshead

The former Newcastle United player resigned from his position at the Heed after 15 months at the club, in which he has guided them to the fringes of the National League play-offs.

Watson, and assistant manager Micky Cummins, will take over at York, who sit 16th in the National League North table.

The Minstermen, who will be moving into a new stadium at the end of the season as they look to earn promotion back to the top-tier of non-league football, parted company with former Hartlepool United coach Sam Collins at the weekend

Watson was appointed Gateshead manager in October 2017 as his first senior management role in football with former Gateshead midfielder and under-19s coach Cummins being named as his assistant a month later.

He helped the Tynesiders reach an equal club best semi-final finish in the FA Trophy in his first season in charge.

And despite a turbulent summer at the International Stadium, the pair stood by the club and built a new squad from scratch under a limited budget in a short period of time, and defied the pre-season odds with an impressive opening half to the season which saw the side in and around the play-off places from the very start.

After three straight defeats, the Tynesiders currently sit just one point outside the top seven on 46 points with 17 games remaining.

A club statement said: "Gateshead Football Club would like to sincerely thank Watson and Cummins for their fantastic work over their 15-month tenure in charge at the International Stadium.

"The move to York also ends Cummins' eight-year spell at Gateshead, the longest single spell at any club in his career.

"Gateshead Reserves' coach and former captain Ben Clark will be taking charge of first-team training in preparation for next Saturday's National League match at Salford City."