[Football] 15 days left for Hartlepool United

[Bold Seagull]

Quote from the Hartlepool Gazetteearlier this week: "The club had to cancel their usual luxury coach and overnight stay and get the train on the day for last weekend’s 4-2 defeat at Dagenham"

An overnight stay seems extravagant for a team in the National League.

Happens regularly in the Conference North and South now too for some teams.

 

[Simontheseagull]

Happens regularly in the Conference North and South now too for some teams.

No wonder some clubs are going into administration if they can't live within their means.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Afraid I have no interest in saving Hartlepool. They have Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Hull not too far away so let them do the decent thing. If Hartlepool bow out then there are plenty of well run clubs in the National League to replace them. Hartlepool fans can start again as did AFC Wimbledon and Rushden and Diamonds!

The same Rushden and Diamonds, who were dissolved in 2011?

 

[drew]

The same Rushden and Diamonds, who were dissolved in 2011?

http://www.afcdiamonds.com/

Does this help?

 

[Brian Fantana]

No wonder some clubs are going into administration if they can't live within their means.

I don’t think overnight stays are particularly extravagant, especially if you’re a club playing in a national rather than regional league.

You’d really expect the Hartlepool squad to travel down to, say, Torquay and back in a day?

 

[drew]

The business model under which football operates is dreadful - and there's nothing to say Hartlepool are operating any better or worse than other clubs.

The primary issue - should the FA wish to ever get its house in order - is it obligation to maintain football in England at all levels. ALL levels. At least Hartlepool would have a better fighting chance. To shrug and give up isn't good enough, and is only ever indicative of the FA's behaviour.

So let's just keep throwing money at it then. It's not the FA's job to ensure football at all levels everywhere at any cost! There is of course a massive imbalance in finance that has accelerated ever since 1992!

 

[drew]

I don’t think overnight stays are particularly extravagant, especially if you’re a club playing in a national rather than regional league.

You’d really expect the Hartlepool squad to travel down to, say, Torquay and back in a day?

It is extremely extravagant if you don't actually have the finances to do it. It certainly would make life harder for them and they wouldn't be prepared as well for games but that's the reality of it.

 

[Brian Fantana]

It is extremely extravagant if you don't actually have the finances to do it. It certainly would make life harder for them and they wouldn't be prepared as well for games but that's the reality of it.

Agreed, given their current situation. My point was though that in principle it is not by definition extravagant for a team in a national league to have overnight stays for games at the other end of the country.

 

[MJsGhost]

I’m happy to chip in and have done so.

Without the help of fans from other clubs, our story could well have taken a very different turn and I for one will be eternally grateful and willing to reciprocate.

 

[worthingseagull123]

So you're basically saying that all teams outside the Premier League deserve to go out of business. It's the system that's broken imho, as @the large one described eloquently in another thread yesterday.

Some of our so called supporters forget about our hard times and the support fans from other clubs gave.

If plastics do not have any empathy for Hartlepool and other lower league teams in trouble, well I wish they would find some other sport to follow.

 

[worthingseagull123]

Some of the apathy and ambivalence on this thread is quite awful at times.

The short term memories used by some on here are pitiful to read. Perhaps that's what happens to the mindset now theat we're in the Premier League; nothing else matters and sod the rest - an attitude I sorely hoped we wouldn't pick up once we made it to the top division. So much for wishful thinking.

Rewind two short decades and remember the parlous state Brighton & Hove Albion was in? We cried out for help and it came in the form of Fans United Day - one of the most important days in the history of the club. Hartlepool United duly laid down and had their tummies tickled, losing 5-0 on the day. And their fans were brilliant in playing their part.

Now their fans are asking for our help - and what do we reply with? "Get Jeff Stelling to put his money in." Unbelievable, Jeff.

True, we don't have an absolute obligation to help save Hartlepool United - though to say their fans have only chucked in £340 is bordering on outrageous libel. I sincerely hope Beachy was making an attempt at a dreadful joke. I do, however, feel there's a moral imperative here. They helped us at a time when we BADLY needed it, and no-one was listening. Is it too much to return the favour - however small?

Probably a bunch of plastic fans who didnt support us during the Gillingham or Withdean years.

I'd pay no attention to them.

 

[Bold Seagull]

No wonder some clubs are going into administration if they can't live within their means.

Overnight stays won't be the factor in that. A sponsor or two pulling out, unexpected ground / maintenance expenditure, an unexpected relegation. Unless you know their accounts and financial planning, I think it is plain wrong for anyone to just assume they've caused this through not living within their means. I'm sure people said the same thing about us to be honest.

 

[Brian Fantana]

Got an update from my mate who is involved with the Supporters Trust. There were six potential investors interested, but they’re now down to two. The other four have pulled out after being given access to the club’s accounts. They are, apparently, in a colossal mess.

As bizarre as it sounds, going into administration ASAP might be their best bet. It results in a 12 point deduction, but if they survive relegation and are out of admin by the end of the season then they can stay in the National League. If they are still in admin by the end of the season, it is a relegation to two leagues below.

 

[GOM]

Afraid I have no interest in saving Hartlepool. They have Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Hull not too far away so let them do the decent thing.

Hull is over 100 miles from Hartlepool. So not very close.

 

[LlcoolJ]

Got an update from my mate who is involved with the Supporters Trust. There were six potential investors interested, but they’re now down to two. The other four have pulled out after being given access to the club’s accounts. They are, apparently, in a colossal mess.

As bizarre as it sounds, going into administration ASAP might be their best bet. It results in a 12 point deduction, but if they survive relegation and are out of admin by the end of the season then they can stay in the National League. If they are still in admin by the end of the season, it is a relegation to two leagues below.

This is the most sensible post I've seen on the issue. Without seeing the accounts nobody can really comment on what the best way forward for the club is and if it's true that they are a total mess then chucking more money at the situation is not the right way, however charitable it might seem.

 

[drew]

Hull is over 100 miles from Hartlepool. So not very close.

I assume you got the gist of what I was getting at!!

 

[drew]

Probably a bunch of plastic fans who didnt support us during the Gillingham or Withdean years.

I'd pay no attention to them.

Plastic for 40 years.

Interested to know how much you will donate and how often, assuming that this call for money will become a regular thing until the club is taken over?

Hartlepool where until last season a league team but what if they had been a national league team for the last 10 years, would people be so interested? What about national league teams that have gone under over that time and how much did people contribute to them?

 

[worthingseagull123]

Plastic for 40 years.

Interested to know how much you will donate and how often, assuming that this call for money will become a regular thing until the club is taken over?

Hartlepool where until last season a league team but what if they had been a national league team for the last 10 years, would people be so interested? What about national league teams that have gone under over that time and how much did people contribute to them?

I feel for any team that goes under. It is all well and good to blame the boards, but are the fans to blame?

Sorry but any person without an ounce of empathy is no fan of football.

40 years you say. I can only assume you recently got your first ticket after moving to them Amex? You seem the sort.

 

[maffew]

Why are so many Boro fans donating? (comments like "returning the favour")

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Afraid I have no interest in saving Hartlepool. They have Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Hull not too far away so let them do the decent thing. If Hartlepool bow out then there are plenty of well run clubs in the National League to replace them. Hartlepool fans can start again as did AFC Wimbledon and Rushden and Diamonds!

Why would the people of Hartlepool support Hull or any of the others you mention ? I find that a bizarre suggestion. Supporting a football club isn’t like supporting a restaurant.