Callum Johnson has made the decision to retire from professional football.
The 29-year-old calls time on his career having made 11 appearances for Gateshead since joining the club in the summer of 2025, racking up a total of almost 300 senior appearances across the Football League, National League and Scottish Premiership since 2017.
"This isn’t an announcement I ever imagined making at 29 years old," said Johnson.
"However, those who know me or have followed my journey will know I have suffered from 14 muscle injuries over the last two and a half seasons. Although we eventually discovered the cause of the constant muscle injuries, my body is no longer able to continue playing.
"To all of the fans of every club I have played for, whether I was playing 40 games a season in my prime or in recent years doing everything possible to get back fit and showing glimpses on the pitch of what I was capable of, thank you for your support.
"To all the players I have shared the dressing room with, I’ve met some top professionals, learnt so much throughout my career and made friendships that will last a lifetime, best of luck with the rest of your careers.
"Thank you to the managers and staff who put their trust in me, I always did everything I could to repay your belief in me on the pitch."
All at Gateshead FC would like to thank Callum for his contributions during his time on Tyneside, and wish him the best of luck in retirement and for the future.
#WorClub ⚪️⚫️
But he had a slow start…
Seen Rich Hughes get a lot of hate recently. Just remember these are his first choice players, not Le Roux and Kosznovszky.
It’s not just about fees it’s about wages too. Mattsson would have been the whole midfield budget and more. #Pompey
@PompeyNewsNow@PFCF44@reluctantnicko Keeping Swanson is too important, wouldn’t surprise me if he’d back himself to leave for another Champ club though
@andyplaysvinyl The Coalition have been pointing this out for years. Unless we make massive sales (and reinvest well with the money) our ceiling will always be bottom 3 in the championship.
If we do go down what would be the point of trying to get promoted again …when it will just be the same lack of competitive budget and another season of struggle.
#Pompey
I’ve heard the IDF have been operating in these empty buildings, if the Ayatollah could reduce these to rubble for 3 new buildings that would be great.
@Pompey In defence of the Eisners, we might be spending 8 of their 10 years here in league 1
But they’ve improved the academy… oh wait
They built a shiny new north stand… oh wait
They expanded our revenue streams so we’re sustainable… oh wait
They’ve kept the club debt free… oh wait
Time for Mous to go? #Pompey
Strange decisions all season:
Playing Swift DM and Adams AM
Playing Chaplin RM half the season
Making Doyle set piece coach over Prodomo
Josh Knight
Ditching high pressing for possession football
Eisners are the architects btw, they need to go too.