Former Lincoln City man Max Melbourne has left Gateshead after the Heed produced a dramatic comeback to avoid relegation to regional football.
The ex-Imp struggled for gametime in the second half of the season, and he will be left without a club when his contract expires.
Gateshead released their retained list while not having a manager, following the departure of Rob Elliot, who has subsequently joined Carlisle United.
Regular senior football seems to have alluded the 27-year-old to date, with just 134 matches in almost a decade in the game. After coming through the ranks at West Bromwich Albion, captaining their U18s alongside consistent football in Premier League 2, Melbourne had two stints in Scotland. After a handful of appearances in the top-flight with Ross County, he scored his first senior goal in a Scottish Challenge Cup tie at Partick Thistle.
Interest from the Imps first arose late in the summer transfer window in 2019, and we eventually secured the left-back on loan from the Baggies on deadline day. While only playing six minutes of League One football in the first half of the season, Melbourne was introduced as a substitute in wins over Burton Albion and Tranmere Rovers. He made his move to Lincolnshire permanent in January.
He was one of four players signed on 10th January 2019, joining Tyreece John-Jules, Tayo Edun and Conor Coventry to join the Imps. Of course, Max had spent the first half of the year at Lincoln, but his campaign drastically improved in the new year. He made five successive starts at left-back early in 2019, though four of those games ended in narrow defeats. Melbourne was back in the starting line-up for the 3-2 victory over Burton, the final game before lockdown.
While Lincoln surged towards the play-offs the following campaign, the 27-year-old spent the second half of the season out on loan at Walsall. He had managed just 136 minutes of League One football at the Imps, instead playing 20 times in the West Midlands. 21/22 was much of the same in Lincolnshire, as he struggled for gametime in another temporary move to Stevenage. There was one real high in what turned out to be Melbourne’s final match for the Imps, scoring a dramatic stoppage-time winner at Plymouth Argyle. At the end of the campaign, he was released and subsequently joined Morecambe.
Gateshead In Limbo Following Managerial Departure
It’s an interesting time for a club to release their retained list, though a handful of EFL clubs have had the same misfortune of letting players go without having a managerial figurehead to influence the decision. Gateshead looked doomed for relegation to the National League North earlier this year, losing a staggering 16 straight matches to plummet to the bottom of the fifth-tier.
The north-east outfit had brought Elliot back to try and change their fortunes. He had led the club to a top-seven finish in 2024, only to be denied participation in the play-off due to failing to meet certain EFL criteria. His second spell at the club presented a completely different task: to try and somehow keep Gateshead from an inevitable relegation.
Miraculously, he achieved that feat. Despite being 11 points adrift and on 19 points after 29 games, they hit the magic 50-point marker with a game to spare. However, Elliot has moved on to Carlisle United. The Heed, much like Melbourne, now face an uncertain future.
