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THE first managerial club of the legendary Brian Clough, Hartlepool United have spent almost their entire history in the bottom two Divisions of the Football League, but are on the up and were promoted to Division Two in 2002-03...

The Club and The Ground

THE history of Hartlepool United is long, and not especially distinguished. Just three promotions since entering the Football League, never getting past the 4th Round of the FA Cup, and holding a couple of unwanted records are not exactly designed to attract the fans. Nevertheless, there have always been a faithful few and several seasons of relative success have seen attendances at the Vic swelling.

The ground, Victoria Park, was greatly improved in the mid 1990's, with the construction of two new stands at one end and one side of the ground. The Cyril Knowles Stand is the newer of the two side stands. It is a small, single-tier covered all-seated stand, raised above the ground level. The other side, the Camerons Brewery Stand, has covered seating to the rear and open terrace to the front. This stand does not run the full length of the pitch and has an odd mix of orange and green seating, that clashes with the club colours. Both ends are small covered affairs. The newer end is the small Expamet Town End, a covered terrace, for home fans. The other end, the Rink End stand, is a small covered, all-seated stand, which houses away supporters.

The wind whipping the North Sea goes right through you, so wrap up well unless there is a heat wave. Hatters fans are in the Rink End Stand at one end of the ground, where up to 720 can be seated. Unfortunately, there are a few supporting pillars in this stand, which may hinder your view, especially if there is a large away following. However, on the plus side, only a few away supporters can really make some noise from this stand. Also look out for the biggest meat & potato pies you have ever seen being served within the ground, they are huge! 

Ground Guide courtesy of the excellent Internet Football Ground Guide.

History - Hartlepool United Football Club

THE history of Hartlepool United is long, and not especially distinguished. Just three promotions since entering the Football League, never getting past the 4th Round of the FA Cup, and holding a couple of unwanted records are not exactly designed to attract the fans. Nevertheless, there have always been a faithful few and several seasons of relative success have seen attendances at the Vic swelling.

Hartlepool has always been noted as a Rugby town; Hartlepool Rovers were once one of the highest-regarded sides in the country, and West Hartlepool were in the top flight of domestic rugby not so long ago. Football has had a foothold for a long time though, and in 1905 the amateurs of West Hartlepool came to national prominence by winning the FA Amateur Cup - forerunner of today's FA Vase, and at that time second only to the FA Cup itself in terms of prestige. With the amateur game in good health, and the professional game growing in popularity across the country, it was only a matter of time before the suggestion of a professional club came up.

The opportunity arose thanks in part to the decline of West Hartlepool Rugby Club. They went bust, and various interested parties got together to take over their stadium - the Victoria Ground - and launch the Hartlepools United Football Athletic Company in 1908. Named to try and encourage fans from the two boroughs of Hartlepool and West Hartlepool to unite and support the new team, the club joined the professional North-Eastern League. The amateurs of West Hartlepool lost a number of their players to the new club, but continued on for another couple of seasons - during which time they lost an FA Cup tie to their professional counterparts - before folding and leaving Hartlepools United as the undisputed kings of the game in the town.

Early applications to join the Football League were made, but the proximity of Newcastle, Middlesborough and Sunderland didn't help the club, and none were successful. The club remained in the North-Eastern league until after the First World War, and prayed for a run in the FA Cup - to raise their profile nationally prior to any further applications.

An opportunity to achieve their ambition of entering the Football League was not far away though. In 1920, the decision was made to form a Division 3; this was almost entirely composed of teams from the Southern League, with the only Northern team being Grimsby, who were relegated from Division 2. The decision was made to set up a Northern counterpart for the following season, and one of the applications was from Hartlepools United. A good performance in defeat against Swansea of Division 3 in the FA Cup helped their case, and so Pools lined up in the new division as founder members of Division 3 (North) in 1921.

Hartlepool's first game in League football was away to Wrexham, and saw Pools record a win; that season they ended up a creditable 4th in the table, some way behind the champions Stockport, but a highly encouraging performance. However, with only one side promoted in the days of the regionalised Divisions, it was not enough to even get near Division 2 - and in fact this was to prove the club's highest placing for some years. A 15th placed finish (out of 20) followed the next season, and the following year saw the club finish next to bottom and face re-election for the first time. Fortunately, there were no other teams seeking election, and the club continued in the League.

The 1920s continued with Pools more often than not being at the wrong end of the table - although there was one finish of 6th place - but it wasn't until 1929 they had to seek re-election again, finishing top of the ballot - but Ashington, who had finished bottom, weren't so fortunate and made way to York City. An improvement followed to 8th, but the next season saw Hartlepool avoid re-election on goal difference as Nelson went out of the League.

The rest of the 1930s saw Pools progress to mid-table obscurity, and then to consecutive top 10 finishes before needing once again to apply for re-election in the last pre-war season. Once again, they had not finished bottom and topped the poll for the League place.

On the resumption of the League programme after the war, Pools had a new manager in place: Fred Westgarth. After somewhat humble beginnings, Westgarth turned Hartlepool's United into a team that won respect across the country for their cup exploits, took them as close as they have ever got to the exalted heights of Division 2 (now Division 1), and left the Pools fans with many happy memories and some names that have passed into Poolie Folklore - Frank Stamper, Watty Moore, Jackie Newton, Ken Johnson, George Luke, Leo Harden...

Pools avoided re-election, and gradually started to improve - finishing 9th in 1952 before another couple of mediocre seasons, and then in 1955 finishing 5th, ten points behind champions Barnsley - their best season since entering the league. The FA Cup 4th Round was also reached, for the first time in the club's history. Better was to follow, with 4th place the following year and then 2nd - runners-up to Derby by 4 points after leading the table for much of the season. Sadly, Fred Westgarth didn't live to see it - he had been taken ill earlier in the season, and died that February. It's arguable that had he survived, the club would have gone up. He did, however, have the satisfaction of seeing his side take part in one of the all-time classic FA Cup ties; more than 17,000 crammed into the Victoria Ground in January 1957 to see Pools take on Manchester United. At the time they were the champions of England, about to win the title for the second consecutive year, and the Busby Babes were in their pomp - tragically to be cut off in their prime in Munich a few months later. Manchester United won the tie - but only after a titanic struggle that saw them win 4-3 in a match that Sir Matt Busby later described in his autobiography as the most exciting he'd seen.

Much was expected of Pools in the next season, but everything turned sour; with the end of regionalisation, far from challenging for a place in Division 2, Pools finished well down the League and found themselves facing life in Division 4 - the new basement Division.

Division 4 was something Pools fans were to become very acquainted with, only spending two seasons outside it from it's formation until it's renaming in 1992. During that time, the club were to waste all of the good work of the Westgarth era, and it was to take an exceptional young manager to put them back on the right track briefly before yet another period of doldrums.

Their first year in the new Division saw them finish 19th, but there was one notable result: a 10-1 win over Barrow that to this day remains their biggest League win. The only time Pools have bettered it was in the North-Eastern League era, when Workington were thrashed 12-0. It was to be their only bright spot for a while....

The next season saw Pools finish bottom for the first time in their history. More than 100 goals conceded, and a strong challenge from Peterborough looked to have sealed their fate - but it was instead Gateshead that went out of the League, and the decision still rankles with some who followed them at the time. In 1960-61, Pools improved marginally to 23rd - but received the least votes of any of the League teams. They were perhaps lucky that with no well-defined pyramid in place, no less than 16 teams stood against the four re-election candidates; had all the votes for the non-league teams gone to one place, Pools would have been out.

The next season Pools again finished next to bottom, suffered the indignity of being beaten 1-10 by Wrexham, and it's entirely possible that had Accrington Stanley not gone out of business in mid-season to create a vacancy, that the club would have been for the chop. Not that this encouraged the side - they finished rock bottom again the following season (1962-63), next to bottom the season after and only escaped the re-election zone in 1964-65 to finish 15th - after five successive years in the bottom two. 1965-66 saw Hartlepool once again avoid re-election, but it was a landmark season for the club in another sense: the arrival of a new management team at the Victoria Ground. Brian Clough had made his name as a striker for Middlesborough and then Sunderland before injury finished his career; now, he was given the opportunity, together with his assistant Peter Taylor, to rescue Pools from the lower reaches.

Clough and Taylor worked hard - Clough would regularly do the rounds of the pubs and clubs to raise funds, and even famously learnt how to drive the team coach as an economy measure - though he showed plenty of nous to turn it into a press occasion! John McGovern signed from school to become the youngest player to pull on a Pools shirt until his record was broken in 2002 by Steven Istead, and others arrived as well. Pools improved from 18th to 8th under their stewardship, and Derby County came a-knocking at the end of the 1966-67 season. Gus McLean then took over, and guided Pools to the first promotion in their history in 1968 - a win at Swansea in the penultimate game securing Third Division football, Pools eventually finishing third. Clough had been gone a full year - but even now, most regard it as his team.

Promotion secured, Hartlepools United still never played in Division 3. Over the close season, with the boroughs of Hartlepool and West Hartlepool merging, the club's name seemed no longer appropriate - and so Hartlepool AFC took centre stage at the Victoria Ground the following season.

Hartlepool's time in Division 3 was to be short-lived. They were relegated in their first season, suffering from drawing too many games (19), and it was back to business as usual in the basement Division. A re-election zone finish in their first season back, and Bradford PA being dumped out of the League in favour of Cambridge United. A next to bottom finish in 1970-71 saw the club applying for re-election for the tenth time, and with increasingly strong challenges coming from the non-league sides, the question was how long before it was Pools turn. The following year was a case in point - they escaped re-election in 18th place, but a strong case from Cup heroes Hereford was enough to see the name of Barrow wiped out of Football League history.

1972-73 saw Pools just avoid re-election once more, and then came a considerable - and potentially vital - improvement. 11th, 13th, and 14th may not have been pulling many trees up, but it meant that when Pools did slip into the re-election zone again in 1976-77, they hadn't been up for the vote for a full five years. They'd also had some Cup success, reaching the Fourth Round of the League Cup in 1974-75. Workington had finished bottom for the second season running, were making their fourth successive application for re-election, and lost out to Wimbledon.

It was, however, the last season for Hartlepool AFC; another renaming, this time to the current name of Hartlepool United, took place over the close season. Not that it brought the club much luck, with a 21st place finish and another re-election campaign to fight in 1977-78. There had been some Cup success - including a victory over Crystal Palace in the FA Cup 3rd Round - but improvement was needed. It came to a degree as Pools pulled up to 13th, avoiding re-election narrowly, and then confounded many expectations to finish 9th in 1980-81. Sadly, the improvement wasn't sustained, and by 1982-83, Pools were once again staring re-election in the face. Another campaign to remain in the Football League followed the next year - and although their re-election efforts were once again successful, the gap was narrowing. Pools were consistently polling the lowest number of votes of the League clubs, and with 14 re-election campaigns behind them, patience was wearing thin.

Narrowly avoiding re-election in 1984-85 was a huge relief therefore, and it was an improvement that continued with a vengeance in 1985-86. Pools spent some time in the promotion places before fading, but an eventual finish of 7th was still highly encouraging. With play-offs coming in the following season - and the end of re-election - more of the same was what they wanted - but it was not to be. Pools avoided relegation to the Conference by three points in the end - but 18th place was not a good place to be after the heights of the previous season. Finishes of 16th and 19th followed, but it was to be the next season that saw Pools finally hit rock bottom and then start rising - for a while at least. Bobby Moncur was about to sail into the sunset, but Cyril Knowles was to turn the club around.

In the winter of 1989-90, Hartlepool United were in a critical condition on the pitch. Firmly anchored to the bottom of Division 4, they looked dead and buried - nailed on certainties to take the drop they had cheated so many times before. Bobby Moncur tendered his resignation, refused to change his mind despite pleading from Chairman Garry Gibson - and in his place arrived a former Spurs full-back with a handy track record at Darlington and Torquay, and a song in his honour. Cyril Knowles took charge, saw what he had to do - he described Pools as being "like a holiday camp" when he arrived - and with a couple of additions to the squad set about turning things around.

It wasn't often very pretty, but it was effective; and in the half season after he arrived, Pools showed the sort of form that teams at the top end of the table would have given anything for. Teams from the promotion spots would arrive at Pools and more often than not retreat with their tails between their legs; Stockport were dismissed courtesy of four goals from Paul Baker, including a spectacular bicycle kick. From being dead and buried, Pools finished 12 points clear of relegated Colchester in 19th place.

The following season saw things really take off. With Joe Allon in tremendous form up front, Paul Baker partnering him, and the likes of Dalton and Honour to provide ammunition from the wings, Pools looked good prospects for a play-off place. The good results kept coming, and all looked well until a bombshell was dropped in early 1991: Cyril Knowles was taken into hospital with a serious - later to prove fatal - medical problem. He was operated on for a blood clot in his brain, and looked to be set to be away for some time; echoes of Fred Westgarth? Meanwhile, the club's Commercial Manager - former Middlesborough player Alan Murray - was placed in temporary charge. With the addition of goalkeeper Kevin Poole on loan, and a final polish, a determined Pools proceeded to carry all before them and when the final day arrived, they were even in with a shout of winning the title. A 3-1 victory over Northampton proved enough to clinch third place and their second promotion; and as the fans celebrated on the pitch, "Nice One Cyril" boomed out over the tannoy.

1991-92 started with Alan Murray still in charge; Cyril's illness, it turned out, was more serious than first thought, and Murray soon had the job permanently. It was still, however, a big shock - and a sad loss to the whole of football - to hear of his death at the end of August 1991, on the day of a match against Bradford. The name of Cyril Knowles is still revered amongst Hartlepool United fans, and lives on following the building of the Cyril Knowles Stand in the mid 1990s.

Murray proved to be an astute replacement though, and guided Pools to a highly respectable 11th place finish in Division 3. Joe Allon may have departed, but he was allowed to bring in the likes of Andy Saville and Lenny Johnrose for big money, while others like Dean Emerson made themselves invaluable to the side.

Although 1992-93 started off full of promise for Pools in the newly-renamed Division 2, they were to make headlines for both the right and wrong reasons. A terrific start to the season saw Pools at one point joint top of the table, and then came one of the best results in their history - when Premier League Crystal Palace came to town and in front of the Match of the Day cameras and deservedly lost to an impressive Pools side. The penalty award may have been questionable, but when Andy Saville's penalty hit the back of the net, Palace were beaten - and could have few complaints after Pools had dominated proceedings. It was a great time to be a Poolie - but unknown to them, a storm was brewing.

Chairman Gibson, it turned out, was strapped for cash - and almost out of nowhere, the club was facing a serious financial crisis. Players were allowed to leave, and injuries to two key players (Emerson and Honour) in a game following the Cup victory, badly affected the team. Game after game went by without a goal, and before long it was the butt of jokes all over the place as more than 1200 minutes of football passed between the goal against Palace and finally breaking their duck again at Blackpool. It was a new record, and in the space of a couple of months, Pools had gone from heroes to zeroes. Murray was sacked, Viv Busby came in, and Pools ended the season in 16th place - a poor end to a season that had promised so much.

Worse was to follow. With no money, the carefully built-up squad was allowed to dissolve. With a ban on transfers into the club, Busby was forced to play the youngsters - and when he was sacked after just nine months in charge, so was his successor, veteran player John MacPhail. With little experience to speak of, and possibly even less quality, Pools were doomed from the very beginning and finished 23rd in Division 2. Harold Hornsey finally managed to buy the club and started trying to put them on an even keel - but MacPhail didn't last much longer, and the revolving door saw Dave McCreery back at the club as Player/Manager.

Pools didn't fare too well under McCreery, and he departed towards the end of 1994-95 to be replaced as Player/Boss by Keith Houchen. 18th out of 22 was not a record to be proud of, but neither was Houchen's - his full season in charge saw the club finish 20th out of 24, and with his personal discipline on the pitch poor as well, it was little surprise when he made way for his assistant Mick Tait early the following season at the newly-renamed Victoria Park.

With Hornsey in charge, the club was at least on a sound financial footing, but manager Mick Tait proved unable to take much advantage of it. Taking over early in the 1996-97 season, Tait saw his Pools side under perform and it was only a deadline day rash of signings that spurred the team on to pull away from the bottom. Only with a couple of games left was safety assured, with Hereford and Brighton left to fight it out, while Pools finished in a 20th place that was a lot less comfortable than it sounds.

Helped by an appalling Doncaster side propping up the rest, Hartlepool were never in serious danger of relegation in 1997-98, but although some of Tait's signings were astute - particularly Jon Cullen, who later departed to Sheffield United - he seemed unable to sign the striker they so desperately needed. Oil Company IOR bought the club late in 1997 (I'm not sure anyone knows why!), and used their Norwegian contacts to bring in a genuine International in Jan Ove Pederson - who proved to be a cut above anyone else in the Division during his loan spell - as well as a string of other Scandanavian triallists - but Pools were drawing too many games, setting a joint record of 23 with Cardiff on the way to 17th place.

The following season saw things get even worse for the Tait-managed Pools side. More struggle at the foot of the table saw attendances falling, and even the signing of Newcastle legend Peter Beardsley failed to ignite the side. Tait departed, and after a few weeks Chris Turner was appointed to what almost everyone agreed was the hardest job in football.

Turner quickly started turning Pools round. Signings were swift: forwards Gary Jones and Chris Freestone, and defender Gary Strodder played a major part as Hartlepool battled against the drop. Relegation was avoided before the last day of the season, and it was Scarborough that went down as Carlisle earned a win thanks to goalkeeper Jimmy Glass.

After the hair-raising experiences of recent seasons, most fans would have been happy to settle for some mid-table mediocrity; Turner, however, revamped the squad, brought the best out of players like Tommy Miller and Paul Stephenson, and thanks to a marvellous 3-0 win over Hull on the final day of the season, clinched an unlikely play-off spot. Defeat by Darlington was hard to take, but reaching the play-offs themselves had been a big bonus. Better was to come the following year.

With Turner still working on the squad, Pools continued to improve and before long were fixtures in the play-off places. Brighton, Chesterfield and Cardiff were well out in front; but then came the revelations that Chesterfield had been playing fast and loose financially. A number of allegations were proven, and rumours of a big penalty - even expulsion from the League - were rife. Pools were in fourth place, and looked set to benefit. The punishment handed down though was a nine point deduction - enough to stop the Spireites winning the title, but not enough to push them out of the automatic places. Despite the general cries of "foul" from supporters throughout the country, the punishment remained - and Pools found themselves in the play-offs once more. This time it was Blackpool who beat Pools home and away, but surely the team was set for automatic promotion the following year.

This made the start to 2001-02 all the more hard to take. After a big clear out - and some big names brought in - Pools failed to get off to a good enough start, and in fact were bottom in November. A major revival started, boosted by the signings of Gordon Watson and Paul Smith, and Pools once again made the play-offs on the final day - having recorded some spectacular wins along the way, including a 5-1 mauling of play-off finalists Rushden. In the play-off semi-final against Cheltenham, Pools came closer than ever to the final - drawing both legs 1-1 before losing on penalties.

This seemed to put the club into a determined mood for 2002-03 though, and Pools lead the division for most of the season. Chris Turner left for Sheffield Wednesday, Mike Newell took over, and at one point Pools stretched their lead to 14 points. With real hope of their first ever trophy though, Pools suffered a disastrous loss of form for the last two months of the season, being overhauled by Rushden to finish as runners-up.

Newell departed at the end of the season, Neale Cooper taking over as manager of Luton Town and he was replaced by , with the club hoping to at least consolidate their position in Division Two.  

History courtesy of: Albatross, Webmaster of Pools Online.

Luton Town vHartlepool United...

A full rundown of all of the past meetings

Home Matches   Oct 12 1968 D3 W 3 0 13145   Feb 12 1966 D4 W 2 1 6131   Mar 27 1967 D4 L 0 2 7370   Sep 9 1967 D4 W 1 0 8347   Dec 22 2001 ND3 D 2 2 6739 Report Aug  30 2003 ND2 W 3 2 5515 Report Statto's Corner

Away Matches   Dec 14 1968 D3 L 0 1 3887   Mar 5 1966 D4 L 0 2 4896   Mar 24 1967 D4 L 1 2 8442   Jan 13 1968 D4 L 1 2 4766   Dec 8 2001 ND3 W 2 1 3585 Report Statto's Corner

• Stats taken from Lutonfc.com's 'Statto's Corner'