Lee Cattermole spent his playing days as one of the most combative midfielders in English football. Now he is channelling that intensity into a new challenge, having been appointed first-team manager of National League side Gateshead in June 2026 on a two-year deal - his first senior role in management.
The 38-year-old arrives with serious top-flight pedigree. A product of the Middlesbrough academy, Cattermole became the club's youngest-ever captain before going on to make 272 Premier League appearances for Boro, Wigan Athletic and Sunderland, where he skippered the Black Cats for three seasons. Along the way he worked under managers such as Gareth Southgate, Martin O'Neill and Steve Bruce - an education he will now lean on from the technical area at the Gateshead International Stadium.
His route into coaching has been deliberate rather than rushed. After winding down his playing career at Dutch club VVV-Venlo in 2020, Cattermole earned his UEFA A licence and took coaching roles at Middlesbrough's academy, Bristol Rovers, Burnley and with the Northern Irish FA's under-17s. He was reportedly in the frame for the Hartlepool United job earlier in the year before Gateshead came calling, stepping in to replace Rob Elliot, who left the club to take charge of Carlisle United. Cattermole has been measured about expectations, stressing that his vision for a side that finished 18th last season will take time to build.
Tellingly, Gateshead have form for handing ex-Premier League players their managerial debuts. Former Newcastle defender Mike Williamson launched his coaching career on Tyneside in 2019 before working his way up the divisions, and ex-Newcastle goalkeeper Rob Elliot did likewise before his recent move into the EFL. Cattermole is simply the latest top-flight name to use the club as a springboard.
He is also part of a wider trend of Premier League veterans rolling up their sleeves in the non-league game- and learning the trade the hard way.
The most prominent example is Robbie Savage. The former Leicester, Birmingham and Derby midfielder, who racked up 346 Premier League appearances and 39 Wales caps, helped resurrect the phoenix club Macclesfield FC, guiding the Silkmen up the pyramid before taking over at National League Forest Green Rovers in July 2025. Savage has spoken passionately about wanting to build an aggressive, attacking team and about why more ex-professionals should serve their apprenticeship in the lower tiers rather than expecting jobs higher up. His first full season at Forest Green ended in play-off heartbreak, with the Gloucestershire club beaten in the National League eliminator as they chase a return to the EFL.
He has company in the National League. Lee Clark, a 200-plus Premier League appearance-maker for Newcastle, Sunderland and Fulham, took charge at Hartlepool United in the summer of 2026 , the very job Cattermole had been linked with — and immediately set about rebuilding a squad hit by a wave of departures. Elsewhere in non-league, former Manchester City free-kick specialist Kevin Horlock, an 82-time Premier League player, has long since cut his coaching teeth in the dugout away from the spotlight. Jermaine Defoe is also managing Woking.
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