GATESHEAD will lodge an appeal to have their suspension from the National League overturned after a protracted sale of the club finally went through.

After a week of negotiations Neil Pinkerton's takeover has been given the go-ahead and confirmed by a statement released by the Tyneside club.

The 36-year-old is in joint ownership with rival bidder and local businessman Trevor Clark and will have the backing of the fans.

And now Pinkerton and Clark will look to overturn the FA’s suspension from the National League and the deadline for that by the end of today.

A club statement read: "A consortium, headed by Neil Pinkerton and Trevor Clark, have undertaken and completed the necessary legal paperwork to purchase the club from Dr Ranjan Varghese.

"This is subject to ratification from the relevant authorities. Rest assured that all deadlines to the National League and the FA will be met, to ensure compliance and, to hopefully overturn the sanctions which were rightly imposed on the club.

"It is imperative that we safeguard our 10-year affinity at the top of the Non-League pyramid for at least the 2019/20 season.

"We appreciate there will be many questions and not necessarily an abundance of answers in the coming days.

"However, rest assured that fellow fans have every right to be as excited as we are.

"We head into a new era, with not only a club we can call our own, but one that has the stability and integrity it has been missing over the past year.

"There are relationships and bridges to be built, but with the correct people at the helm, we will do it.

"Transparency and honesty is key to what is, foremost, a community asset.

"We look forward to drawing a line under the past and hope to have some exciting announcements in the coming days.”