Manager Gary Mills took the side from 19th to third place and 10,000 fans will head to the Conference Premier play-off final
Mills' side will finally emerge from the long shadows cast by their near neighbours at Newcastle United if they win at Wembley.
When they play at Wembley against Cambridge United in the Conference Premier final Gateshead aim to return to the Football League for the first time since they dropped out in 1960 after failing to gain re-election.
Victory would arguably represent Mills' biggest triumph since he won a European Cup playing for Nottingham Forest in 1980. Languishing in 19th place when Mills and his assistant, Darren Caskey, took charge in September, Gateshead finished third and arrive at the national stadium for the first time in their 84-year history on a 14-game unbeaten run.
Known locally as "The Heed", Gateshead hope to have around 10,000 at fans at Wembley with many travelling down the A1 in a convoy of 30 coaches.
Alan Pardew trusts they will return celebrating promotion to League Two. Newcastle's manager is particularly delighted for Caskey, who played under him at Reading. "He had the biggest bum of any player I've had – he made even Steven Taylor look slim – but he was a fantastic technician.
"You get some tricky pitches in non-league football but he and Gary Mills have always tried to get Gateshead playing good football."