{"id":27228,"date":"2025-01-16T14:15:13","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T14:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gateshead-fc.com\/?p=27228"},"modified":"2025-01-16T14:15:13","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T14:15:13","slug":"programme-feature-kenton-richardson-on-his-injury-comeback-promotion-ambitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gateshead-fc.com\/programme-feature-kenton-richardson-on-his-injury-comeback-promotion-ambitions\/","title":{"rendered":"PROGRAMME FEATURE | Kenton Richardson on his injury comeback & promotion ambitions"},"content":{"rendered":"

This feature is taken from issue 248 of our match day programme HeedLines, produced for the fixture against Braintree Town on Saturday, January 11.<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s fair to say the 2024\/25 season has thrown a few obstacles in Kenton Richardson’s path.<\/h1>\n

The defender committed himself to Gateshead until 2026 with a new deal in the summer, having played a key role in his side\u2019s FA Trophy win and league finish inside the play-off places last term.<\/p>\n

Richardson started all of The Heed\u2019s opening six games of the season as they went unbeaten to top the National League table at the end of August – though for him, the month ended in frustration with an injury-enforced withdrawal at half time in the sixth game against Eastleigh.<\/p>\n

Four months of rehab and hard work away from the pitch followed, with our New Year\u2019s Day trip to York City seeing Richardson return to the squad for the first time since August 31.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was tough – I get a lot more nervous watching than I do when I\u2019m playing,\u201d <\/em>he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and Greg [Olley] watched the Dagenham game at my house and we were both as nervous as each other!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI had a streaming pass, so I was watching all of the away games from home, and obviously the boys have done fantastically.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI got injured in the sixth game of the season, so for us to still be in a title race to this date shows how well the lads have done.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cOtherwise, I was just doing my rehab – anything that I could do to keep myself fit really.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t run at first so I was going to the gym, using the bike and sticking to the programme that Frazer [Bell] had set me.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI started going on walks on a weekend just to get back into moving again after my op, I had two weeks where I was just resting.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBless her, my Mrs looked after me no end when I was in the house after my op – I think I had two weeks of just getting waited on hand and foot, which was nice!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

Though Gateshead\u2019s league position \u2013 firmly in the play-off places ahead of kick off today \u2013 remains familiar, there has been much change to Richardson\u2019s immediate surroundings on Tyneside having returned to action.<\/p>\n

Not least of which has been in the managerial dugout, seeing the 25-year-old re-united with his former team-mate, coach and mentor in Carl Magnay, who now leads Richardson and company\u2019s planned promotion charge.<\/p>\n

The pair\u2019s association stretches back to Richardson\u2019s days as a youth player \u2013 seeing him clean Magnay\u2019s boots while the former was rising through the ranks at Hartlepool United.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did that when I was a scholar!\u201d <\/em>he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve played with Carl at Hartlepool, Spennymoor and Gateshead, so I\u2019ve known him a long time.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHe has more or less been like a mentor throughout my career, having learned different bits from playing alongside him and through him passing on his experience to me.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s grown into a friendship over the years, but there\u2019s also a line from coach to player.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI do class him as a friend, but that respect is massively there as manager, and I love working under him.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

\u201cHis transition into management has been seamless, he knows the game and understands it very well, and I think his detail on and off the pitch is second to none.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a fantastic manager, and he is someone who is excellent in terms of man management – he puts the person first and the player after that.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe all respect him for that, and it makes us all want to run through brick walls for him and do everything we can, because we all want him to succeed with us.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe all want to push for the title, and I think the gaffer is definitely the man for that.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Change hasn\u2019t only come on the management side though, with the January window seeing some of Richardson\u2019s team-mates depart Tyneside for new ventures.<\/p>\n

Fellow FA Trophy winner Callum Whelan\u2019s move to Carlisle United – alongside Owen Oseni\u2019s transfer to St Mirren – brought financial boosts to the club at the expense of losing two key players, while Ben Radcliffe\u2019s loan expiration saw him depart having never actually played alongside Richardson due to the latter\u2019s injury lay-off.<\/p>\n

Though January departures have become something the dressing room have had to get used to in recent years, as the defender acknowledges, it always invokes some sadness on more fronts than one.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re losing friends as well as good team-mates, so it is quite sad,\u201d <\/em>he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we always knew it was going to happen – since I\u2019ve been at this football club we\u2019ve done really well, and players moving higher is an effect of that.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe all expect that coming into the January window, so you just have to try and be positive.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe boys who have moved higher have fully deserved it, but as players we now just have to go into every session and game with a positive mindset.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cPlayers getting moves is helping the club financially by bringing money into the club if you look at things that way, but as a squad we\u2019ve got our sights set on promotion and it\u2019s wasted energy if you\u2019re using anything other than positivity in order to keep going.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe fully believe we\u2019re right up there for a reason, and we\u2019ll carry on trying to stay there.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

In the immediate future then, Richardson\u2019s focus is firmly on doing whatever he can to help Gateshead stay in the promotion race.<\/p>\n

Even the one automatic promotion spot in the division is not out of reach for The Heed, who sit four points behind leaders York City at the time of writing, having narrowly lost out to The Minstermen on New Year\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

Now back in contention after returning in last weekend\u2019s game against Boston United, Richardson can have a direct impact on his side\u2019s chances.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a nice milestone, being back out there having had four months out,\u201d <\/em>he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel fit and strong so it\u2019s just about getting that match sharpness back into me.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to put the team first though, and it would definitely be selfish for me to think that I\u2019m going to come straight back into a team that has been doing so well.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe lads who have been playing have done a fantastic job and got us right up there – we\u2019re in a title race, essentially.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cFor me it\u2019s just about doing anything extra I can to improve myself, and to get myself back in contention.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIf our target is promotion then our home form has to be right up there, that\u2019s a staple of any promotion side, and we\u2019ll definitely look to carry that on in the New Year.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This feature is taken from issue 248 of our match day programme HeedLines, produced for the fixture <\/p>\n Read More »<\/a>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":24804,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,19,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news-media","category-club-news","category-first-team"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPROGRAMME FEATURE | Kenton Richardson on his injury comeback & promotion ambitions - Gateshead FC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gateshead-fc.com\/programme-feature-kenton-richardson-on-his-injury-comeback-promotion-ambitions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PROGRAMME FEATURE | Kenton Richardson on his injury comeback & promotion ambitions - 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