Gateshead came into existence after Gateshead United went into liquidation in 1977 and the club joined the Northern Premier league, playing at the Gateshead International Stadium. In 1983, the club were NPL champions finishing 16 points ahead of Mossley and were promoted to the Alliance Premier League, but two years later finished 21st and were relegated back to the NPL.
In 1986, Gateshead won the Northern Premier League title again, by two points from Marine, but finished bottom of the Conference (formerly APL) and were relegated back to the NPL. In 1990, Gateshead finished 2nd to Colne Dynamoes by a massive 26 points, but it was Gateshead that won promotion to the Conference as Colne’s ground, Holt House, did not meet the ground criteria of the Conference.
Gateshead remained in the Conference until 1998 when they finished 21st and they were relegated, one more, to the Northern Premier League. Their best season in this period was 1995/96 when they finished 5th.
Gateshead remained in the NPL until 2008 when they finished 3rd and then beat Buxton 2-0 in the play-off final after beating Eastwood Town in the semi-final. This meant promotion to Conference North and the following season, they finished 2nd and qualified for the play-offs where they beat AFC Telford 1-0 in the final after defeating Southport in the semi-final.
Gateshead were back in Conference National and last season, 2014/14, they finished 3rd to qualify for the play-offs, their best finish ever. In the play-offs, they defeated Grimsby Town in the semi-finals but lost 2-1 to Cambridge United in the final at Wembley.
Barnet and Gateshead first met in November 1983 at Gateshead when the Bees won 3-2 in an Alliance Premier League game, with goals from John Margerrison, Steve Mahoney and Stewart Atkins. In the return at Underhill the following April, Gateshead won 1-0.
The following season, in the renamed Gola League, the two clubs drew 1-1 at Underhill, Dave Pearce scoring, while Barnet won 2-0 at Gateshead with both goals from Mahoney. In 1986/87,
Barnet did the double over the 'heed' winning 5-1 away with goals from Margerrison, Mahoney (2) and Keith Alexander (2). In the return at Underhill, Barnet won 3-1 with goals from Steve Cox, Nicky Evans and Dave Sanson.
In the 1990/91 season, Barnet won the now renamed GM Vauxhall Conference to win promotion to the Football League. Roger Willis scored the Bees' goal in the 1-1 draw at home to Gateshead, but the Bees won 3-1 in March at Gateshead with goals from Kenny Lowe, Nicky Evans and Gary Bull.
Early last season, Barnet won 2-1 at Gateshead in the Conference with goals from Keanu Marsh-Brown and Jake Hyde. Gateshead won the return 1-0 at the Hive.
Earlier this season, Barnet won 2-0 at Gateshead with goals from Curtis Weston and Luisma Villa.
Liam Hatch joined Barnet from Gravesend & Northfleet (now Ebbsfleet) in the summer of 2003 and played a big part in helping the Bees win promotion to the Football League in 2005. A real fans' favourite at Underhill, Liam made over 200 first team appearances for the Bees and scored 29 goals before joining Peterborough in 2008 for £150,000.
In 2012, he joined Gateshead from Darlington and he has scored 15 goals in 69 appearances for the heed.
Kenny Lowe played a big part in Barnet's promotion to the Football League in 1991 and subsequent promotion To Division 2 (now League One) two years later. He joined the Bees from barrow in 1990 and made 107 first team appearances for the Bees scoring 7 goals before joining Stoke City in 1993. He joined Gateshead from Darlington in 1996 and later managed then as well.
Peter Guthrie joined Barnet from Tottenham for £60,000 in 1989, a huge fee for a non-league club. Guthrie made only 25 appearances for the Bees before moving to Bournemouth in 1990. Guthrie had a short spell with Gateshead in the 1993/94 season before moving to Whitley Bay.
Nicky Deverdics joined Barnet from Gretna in 2008 and made 51 appearances for the Bees scoring twice before moving to Blyth Spartans in 2010. Early in his career he joined Gateshead from Newcastle United in 2006 but left the same year to join Bedlington Terriers
John Oster signed for Gateshead this season after being released at the end of last season by Barnet. Oster made 28 appearances for the Bees scoring twice. He has scored 2 goals in 37 appearances for Gateshead.