So, let us get into it with these 4 reasons why you should take Hartlepool United back to the football league and further in FM20! Can you take on the challenge?
Founded in 1908 as Hartlepools United Football Athletics Company after West Hartlepool were dissolved in 1905, representing the surrounding areas of West Hartlepool and Old Hartlepool under one name.
You’d be right to suggest that fans of the football club have been put through it all over the years, and being a fan myself, I know that all too well. From being minutes away from championship football in the 2004/5 season to the slippery decline into non-league football, which the club succumbed to for the first time in its history at the end of the 2016/17 season. The recent years haven’t been too kind I can tell you that.
So, let us get into it with these 4 reasons why you should take Hartlepool United back to the football league and further! Can you take on the challenge?
1. A fanbase starved of honours
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| Not a great sight is it. |
Whilst the North East club have a loyal fanbase, its safe to say the club have been starved of honours and trophies within its 112-year history and the fanbase have been beaten only by Rochdale for the title of ‘longest-suffering fanbase’.
An index created which factors in variables such as relegations and promotions, domestic league and cup honours and average league positions. Competing in both the FA Cup and FA Trophy in-game, as well as the league title chance, there are multiple chances to gain silverware early in the save. Whilst the FA Cup might be a bit of a longshot at this stage, the FA Trophy and league title gives you more than a reasonable chance to give the suffering fans the success they deserve.
2. Young Talent
At this level of the game, developing and keeping a hold of young talent can be a valuable asset that will serve you well as you start to climb the leagues. At the start of the game, there are a number of young talents that, providing they are shown the appropriate attention and game time, will serve you well throughout your career at the club.
Notable mentions of these youngsters include goalkeeper Bradley Young, who has been linked to several premier league clubs in real life, defender Aaron Cunningham and central midfielder Adam Bale, who despite failing to make much of an impact in real life, could be a star player at this level of the game.
3. The mascot was elected as mayor
In the 2002 council election, the mascot of the club, Hangus the Monkey ‘aka Stuart Drummond’ campaigned for and was elected as the mayor of Hartlepool. His master plan? “Free bananas for schoolchildren” and whilst this was a publicity stunt, the comedic effect this had on the fanbase and the wider football community was ever-lasting.
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| H'angus the Monkey |
Stuart Drummond was then re-elected in 2005 under his own name and not the monkey, representing the Labour Party. Whilst the current board at the time, IOR, were keen to keep the club out of politics, they happily covered the £500 deposit needed for the mascot to run. Whilst this reason doesn’t directly influence the game in of itself, it adds a certain character to the club and shows you what this club means to the town.
4. The return from the depths
As you may well know, when clubs get relegated out of the football league into non-league, it is often very difficult and can take many years for them to climb back out again. For the first time in their history, Hartlepool United succumbed to this fate in 2017after a 23rd place finish in League Two and have yet failed to get themselves out again, suffering financial troubles along the way and almost going into liquidation in 2018. Successive 15th and 17th place finishes in the past couple years have not filled fans with much hope that this promotion will not be achieved soon and the sobering realisation that it will be more of a gruelling task to see their beloved clubs back in the football league.
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| A painful sight. |
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