8th August 2015
Hartlepool United 2 Morecambe 0 (Football League Division Two)
No more than a couple of times in a season an
opportunity presents itself whereby I can knock another Football League ground
of the list.
A long time planned holiday in Staithes meant
that one of the very few League grounds in the North could be ticked off, but
it meant a bit of luck falling my way with the fixtures. I’ve only got
Carlisle, Morecambe, Blackpool, Burnley and Hartlepool to do in the North, and
with all bar Hartlepool being on the West side, I had one chance at it!
As luck would have it, opening day of the
season and they were at home, tickets were sorted over the phone, just a case
now of finding something to keep Rachael and George entertained in the morning!
My knowledge of Hartlepool is minimal, I did
drive through it in my student days en route to Seaton Carew with my old mates
Craig and Suzy, but it don’t recall it being too appealing a place to visit.
That said, a quick look on the web and it became clear that the refurbished
Hartlepool Marina, adjacent to the ground, was the place to go in Hartlepool,
in fact, to be fair, it was the only place to go in Hartlepool!
And a very nice place it was too, with a
museum, exhibitions, film shows and the chance to wander round HMS Trincomalee.
It didn’t start well though, George decided to put is head into the stocks so
he could have his photo taken, except the holes were not designed for heads,
they were designed for arms and legs…yes, the old adage about what goes in must
come out, failed him!
Panic set it, George’s head was stuck, I tried
to lift the stocks but they wouldn’t separate, George was getting a bit
distressed, as was Rach, she asked me to get help. I found a Pirate, who was
very helpful, and he calmly eased his head out, but being a Pirate he didn’t do
it quietly, he gave a running commentary, and by now an audience had gathered
to look at the little boy who’s head was stuck in the stocks.
I was torn between concern and embarrassment,
but George was ok, apart from the fact he had a couple of small scratches on
his forward where indeed ‘X’ did mark the spot! He was a bit quiet afterwards,
I could tell Rach was a bit shook up, I just wish I’d taken control of the
situation and eased his head out with the same minimal fuss that the Pirate had
shown, then at least we wouldn’t have provided a sideshow for the visitors to
the Hartlepool Maritme Experience, at least not one they were expecting!
The area around the Victoria Ground isn’t too
appealing, so after parking up in a convenient Pay and Display we made our way
to the seats in the family section, it was a beautiful day and I have to say
the ground was quite a nice one. We sat to the right hand end of the Cyril
Knowles Main Stand, whereas a taller, albeit not full length stand was opposite
with paddock style terracing in front. Behind the goal to our right was the away end,
and that was all seated, while behind the opposite goal was covered terracing.
The atmosphere was very good, the more vocal
Hartlepool element stood in the paddock, and positioned themselves as near to
the away fans as they could get, not that I would imagine too many visiting
fans pack out the away end very often. Morecambe bought a couple of hundred
with them and made plenty of noise, but I shouldn’t imagine too many will bring
much more, probably the likes of Carlisle and York, maybe even Portsmouth.
As a club, I’ve always been quite interested in
their history, not least because the great Mr Clough started his managerial
career their before he went on to Derby County. But another quirk with them is
the fact that over the past fifty years they have had three different names.
They started out as Hartlepools United, but
then dropped the ‘s’ and indeed the ‘United’ to become plain old Hartlepool. It
appears this was due to some changing of boundaries in the town, but in 1977
they added the ‘United’ back again and Hartlepool United they remain.
Otherwise, the clubs history has really been
one of surviving, and indeed remaining in the Football League. Along with
Rochdale and Halifax Town they have had to endure the most re-election
campaigns prior to automatic promotion and relegation was put in place. In May
1984 they recorded a home crowd of just 740 for a game against Stockport
County.
Moving to more recent times, at one stage last
season they looked doomed to drop out of the league, and after losing a home FA
Cup tie to Blyth Spartans of the Evo-Stik League, the future looked bleak. But
a strong late run, saw them ease out of the relegation zone and consign both
Tranmere Rovers and Cheltenham Town to the Conference.
Most famous fan, Jeff Stelling, was a happy
man, and then in the Summer it was all change with new owners coming on board,
record season ticket sales of over 3,000, and a renewed optimism under Ronnie
Moore.
They played well, taking a first half lead
through Billy Paynter, and then a second goal in the second period came via
Rakish Bingham. Morecambe had their chances though, the woodwork denied them on
more than one occasion and indeed I don’t ever recall a team having the ball in
the oppositions penalty area as much as they did, without actually scoring.
In the end though, Hartlepool took their
chances, and on that basis deserved the win, and while I’m not sure they will
be a promotion contender this season, I don’t think they are going to have too
many worries about the trap door.
4,289 paid to watch it, a considerable
difference from the dark days of May 1984.
The get away was easy, and soon we were on our
way out of Hartlepool and on the A19 towards base camp just North of Whitby. It
had been quite a day, not least due to the fact that George had to be rescued
by a Pirate on the Trincomalee, for that reason alone, Hartlepool United and
league ground number 73 will live long in the memory!
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