regarded as a major surprise given the dwindling support for major athletics events in the region." This loss was mitigated somewhat by the European Athletic Association's decision to award Gateshead the 2013 European Team Championships, the successor to the Europa Cup. In doing so, Gateshead became the only stadium to host the European Team Championships on three occasions. The championships were held on 22–23 June 2013 amid very wet and windy conditions. On the first day of competition, Mo Farah ran a 50.89 second final lap in winning the men's 5000m to help the home team into third place on 181 points, behind Russia (194 points) and Germany (195 points). Despite a strong start, the Great Britain team were unable to make up the deficit on the second day of competition and finished in third place overall on 338 points, behind runners-up Germany (347.5 points) and the champions Russia (354.5 points). Due to redevelopment of Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the British Grand Prix Diamond League fixture was set to return to Gateshead in 2020 for the first time in 10 years. The meeting was originally scheduled to take place on 16 August but was rescheduled to 12 September and then cancelled, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Tenants Gateshead Football Club The stadium was briefly used by former Football League members Gateshead A.F.C. after leaving Redheugh Park in 1973, but the club went bust later in the year. The following year South Shields football club relocated to Gateshead and were renamed Gateshead United; they played at the Gateshead Stadium from 1974 to 1977 when it folded and Gateshead F.C. was formed. Gateshead F.C. have been tenants since their formation in 1977. In May 2008 Gateshead hosted Buxton in a promotion play-off and won 2–0 in front of 1,402 spectators, the largest crowd to watch the club at the ground in 14 years. That record was broken a year later when 4,121 saw Gateshead defeat Telford United 2–0 on 9 May 2009 to win promotion to the Conference Premier league. The current record attendance for a competitive fixture stands at 8,144, set on 4 May 2014 when Gateshead played host to Grimsby Town in the second leg of the Conference Premier play-off semi-final. Gateshead won 3-1 to progress to the final at Wembley Stadium where they were beaten 2-1 by Cambridge United. The defeat