England legend John Barnes' praise for Hartlepool

Former Liverpool, Newcastle United and England legend John Barnes appeared in Hartlepool this weekend when he was the main speaker at a function organised by town-based Andy Husband Promotions.

The sell-out event at the Engineers Club also included Hartlepool born TV comedy impressionist Danny Posthill and compere Paul ‘Goffy’ Gough from BBC Tees.

John Barnes said: “It was my first time in Hartlepool and I loved working with the crowd they were full of fun and you could see many had a lot of passion for the game and in particular their local club.

“Fans of Pools were telling me of their hopes for brighter days with the introduction of Dave Jones as the new manager. Dave, has plenty of experience and he is very well respected throughout the game, so if the club and fans get behind him they will be fine.

“I can’t remember playing football in Hartlepool before as when I joined Watford as a youngster under Graham Taylor we were pushing up the divisions.

“One thing I will say is that the people from the town were fantastic to me on Saturday night, they included people who had become fans of mine via the early days of my career.

“It is always a thrill when people bring old clippings, photographs and memorabilia to show me and to sign from across my playing career.”

Promoter Andy Husband said: “It was a truly fantastic night and it had a great town feel to it - Danny Posthill kicked of the night with lots of laughs, John Barnes then took to the stage and was interviewed by the event host ‘Goffy’ and that part lasted for a remarkable unbroken two hours and fifteen minutes in conversation of fantastic memories.

“John, signed autographs, mixed for photos and was one of the final people out of the room at the Engineers Club - he was fantastic value and the feedback on social media today has been brilliant.”

John added: “That was a long chat on stage for well over two hours, but the questions were really good, and I even finished up performing my part in the ‘World In Motion’ song from my England days in 1990 which went to number one for New Order.

“The crowd joined in the fun and that made it even more special - it really was a fantastic night with many laughs, and importantly it was really well organised.”

Promoter Andy said: “It was my first big name sporting event but after this success I believe Hartlepool really needs more and I will be looking to bring more big sporting names like John to town in the near future.”