Labour council mismanagement has been blamed for a football club being barred from the national league play-offs.

       Fan fury erupted after Gateshead FC were told they are ineligible for promotion as they have been unable to secure a 10-year lease on their stadium, which is owned by the council.

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       Gateshead finished sixth in the National League table and were due to play Solihull Moors in a play-off match on Tuesday.

       But the Club needed to have secured a "10-year security of tenure" at Gateshead International Stadium by 1 March.

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       However, the council is currently seeking a new operator to run the stadium as it attempts to balance its budget.

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       On Saturday, the English Football League (EFL) announced Gateshead was ineligible for promotion.

       The Labour-run council said it was continuing to support the football club in "finding a solution to their current situation".

       Supporters are calling for the English Football League (EFL) to reconsider its decision.

       The EFL described the situation as "avoidable" and it was "disappointing that appropriate solutions" had not been put in place by the club.

       Mickey The Heed, co-host of the Heed Army podcast, said he was "enraged" by the decision and cried after hearing the news.

       "No-one said we would win the play-offs but we wanted to give it a shot," he said.

       "It's the players I feel sorry for."

       Gateshead fan Ian Cheetham said the team had been penalised for a rule that was "arbitrary and disproportionate".

       "We urge [the EFL] to reconsider this decision and allow Gateshead to compete in the play-offs without being hindered by regulations that do not take into account the exceptional efforts of the team," he told the BBC.

       Gateshead will still play Solihull Moors in the FA Trophy final at Wembley on 11 May.

       The council said the stadium would remain in its hands but that any terms between the club and said operator would need to be renegotiated.

       Council leader Martin Gannon said: "It's not that the stadium is up for sale.

       "The provision that seems to be causing all the dispute is that we've written that the football club will have the right to renegotiate terms with the new operator.”

       He added: "They can't negotiate with the council if we're not operating the stadium. That wording was agreed with the National League.

       "We've given them a licence, if they get promoted they will get a licence from Gateshead Council for the continued use of the stadium."

       In the run-up to May's local council elections, other parties have been quick to criticise.

       Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith said: "The Labour run council is just as responsible for this sorry saga as anyone else.

       "Fans have clearly been let down by Gateshead council, who should have seen this coming and made the proper arrangements in time.

       "Labour should hang their heads in shame for denying this club an opportunity they haven't had since 1960."

       Guy Renner-Thompson, Conservative candidate for North East Mayor and Northumberland Council said: "Labour-run Gateshead Council have stopped the club having any chance of promotion to the football league. This is the same Labour Party Kim McGuinness is asking people to vote for on May 2nd. Be in no doubt that Kim McGuinness and the Labour Party do not have the future of the club at heart.

       "Labour will try and lay the blame on the Government instead of their own incompetence. Yet in Conservative controlled neighbouring Northumberland we've built new leisure centres which are booming, including Berwick in which has a much smaller population than Gateshead."

       Ron Beadle, leader of Gateshead Liberal Democrats, said: "You’ve got to ask why are the fans only finding out about this now?"

       Rachel Cabral, Green Party candidate for Bridges ward, said she wanted the new operator to be a "not for profit partner" that could reinvest money into leisure services.

       The Gateshead Conservatives said: "Labour's continued failure to manage leisure facilities for local people has resulted in a clear own goal that could have easily been avoided."

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       Gateshead Council agreed a 10-year lease with the football club but included a break clause in the agreement that would allow the new operator to negotiate terms with the club.

       "Unfortunately, this does not seem to be enough for the English Football League," Michael Lamb, service director at Gateshead Council added.

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