Full name | Hartlepool United Football Club |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | Pools Monkey Hangers |
Founded | 1908 |
Ground | Victoria Park |
Capacity | 7,858 |
Owner | HUFC Holdings Ltd |
Chairman | Pam Duxbury |
Manager | Craig Harrison |
League | National League |
2016–17 | EFL League Two, 23rd (relegated) |
Website | Club website |
Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team plays in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Hartlepool play their home games at Victoria Park on Clarence Road. The club was founded in 1908 as Hartlepools United Football Athletic Company. Their main rivals are Darlington. Brian Clough began his managerial career at the club in 1965. Under Cyril Knowles' management the club won promotion to the Third Division in 1990. In 2005, Hartlepool narrowly missed promotion to the Football League Championship.
The team mascot "H'Angus the Monkey" was elected mayor at the 2002 Hartlepool Council election. The club receives vocal support from Jeff Stelling, the presenter of Sky Sports Soccer Saturday.
In 1920, the Football League formed a third division. This was based almost entirely in the south, as the new division was created by absorbing virtually the entire top division of the Southern League, with Grimsby Town the only northern representative. This was rectified the following season when a Third Division North was created, with Hartlepools one of the founder members.
Brian Clough was invited to manage Hartlepool in 1965. His reaction was: "I don't fancy the place," but he took the job, anyway.