Grimsby Town have confirmed that attacking midfielder Stephen Wearne has left the club in order to join National League strugglers Gateshead on a permanent deal.
The 22-year-old joined the Mariners last summer after being released by Sunderland and went on to make 12 appearances for the club, with his only goal coming against Crewe Alexandra in the first round of the Carabao Cup.
After struggling for minutes in North East Lincolnshire, Wearne returned to Torquay United on loan following a previous loan spell at the club from Sunderland and has gone on to make 25 appearances for Gary Johnson’s side over both loan spells, scoring three goals for the club in total.
Wearne joins a Gateshead side who sit 21st in the National League table and in the thick of a relegation battle, with the club currently lying three points adrift from Dorking Wanderers in 20th.
Away from the league, Gateshead are also one game away from a potential trip to Wembley as they prepare to host Barnet in the semi-finals of the FA Trophy, which Wearne will be cup-tied for as he played for Torquay United in the previous rounds of the competition.
Introducing our new #️⃣4️⃣4️⃣ 🫡
Welcome to Tyneside, @StephenWearne10! 👋#WorClub ⚪️⚫️
— Gateshead FC (@GatesheadFC) March 24, 2023
Speaking to the club’s website after Gateshead confirmed the signing of the 22-year-old attacker, assistant manager Ian Watson has explained that the club tried to sign Wearne on a couple of occasions and mentions that the capture of Wearne can give his side more of a cutting edge going forward as the club approaches the final 11 games of the season with their National League status on the line.
“We’re really pleased to get (Stephen) Wearney in,” said assistant manager Ian Watson. “He’s someone who we’ve liked for a long time.
“We’ve tried to bring him in on two or three occasions over the last ten months, but things haven’t fallen where he was able to come in.
“It’s a massive signing for us and at a really important time as well. He gives more of a cutting edge at the other end of the pitch, he’s good in one-on-one situations, he finds spaces, he’s intelligent and he’s technically good.
“We’re hoping that he’s going to bring a new dimension to our game, it’s a massive signing for us and we’re really pleased to get it done.”
As well as that, Grimsby Town manager Paul Hurst told the club’s official website that they had an offer for Wearne to move to the National League side and that he decided it would be in his best interest if he joined Gateshead permanently so he could play more games on a more consistent basis.
Hurst added: “Stevie (Wearne) had the opportunity to join Gateshead and, having spoken to him, he’s keen to try get some games between now and the end of the season so we have agreed to that.
“It hasn’t quite worked out for him here and he obviously had a loan spell at Torquay where he did quite well and then came back.
“He’s found game time hard to come by since then, partly down to the formation that we have had, but Stevie has equipped himself well while he has been with us. He’s a nice lad who is popular with the group and we wish him well for the future.
“I’m sure there is a player there, we will certainly be watching with interest and hope that he can go on to have a good and long career.”
We can confirm that midfielder Stephen Wearne has left the Club to join Gateshead on a permanent deal.
Everyone at the Mariners would like to thank Stephen for his efforts while with the Club and wish him well for the future.#GTFC
— Grimsby Town F.C. (@officialgtfc) March 24, 2023
Writers View
Writing this piece as a Grimsby Town fan, a part of me thinks I wanted to see more as to what Stephen Wearne had to offer but If I’m going to be honest, he was always going to struggle to break into the team.
Wearne is still young however and time is very much on his side and I think with this move, it makes so much sense as he will get to play regular first-team football as well as being closer to home.
For Gateshead at the moment, someone like Wearne could be the difference between the club surviving or being relegated from the National League but with this signing, it shows they are not going down without a fight.
