Gateshead hand one-year deal to former Chelsea and Crewe Alexandra midfielder
Gateshead have continued adding to their squad ahead of Tuesday’s game at FC Halifax Town.
Gateshead manager Rob Elliot has backed the ‘calibre and experience of new signing Charlie Colkett to be massive for his side in their bid for success this season.
The versatile midfielder has penned a one-year deal at the International Stadium and went straight into the squad for Tuesday night’s visit to FC Halifax Town. Gateshead have been long-term admirers of Colkett and finally brought an end to their pursuit of the midfielder when the two parties came to an agreement over a deal early last week.The 27-year-old came through the academy system at Chelsea and spent time on loan with the likes of Bristol Rovers, Swindon Town and Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem before making a permanent move to Swedish club Ostersunds, where he worked under former Brighton and Chelsea manager Graham Potter.
Colkett returned to England in 2022 and had spells with Cheltenham Town and Crewe Alexandra before leaving the latter at the end of last season following a short loan stint playing alongside former Heed striker Macaulay Langstaff at League Two side Notts County. He will now form part of a Gateshead squad looking to push for a National League play-off place at very least this season and his new manager is relishing the opportunity to work with his latest signing.
He told The Echo: “He’s been on the radar from a while but we haven’t been able to get there because of the squad and everything else. He came and trained with us on Friday ahead of the Woking game and it seems like he’s settled in really well. It’s nice to get it sorted and we just felt last year we had Boots (Regan Booty) and Ed (Francis), who could play as a number four, but we didn’t have two options in there this year.
“Charlie can play anywhere in midfield, similar to Boots, but with the length of the season, the number of games, we felt we had to improve that side of it to give ourselves good depth in there. A player of Charlie’s calibre and his experience is going to be massive for us. He’s had a tough couple of years, he’s not played a lot of football so hopefully he can come into this environment, enjoy himself and we can all move forward together with him adding to the group here.”
Colkett could make his home debut on Saturday lunchtime when Gateshead host Yeovil Town (12.30pm).