H'Angus and pals delighted with outpouring of support for fans' campaign to save Hartlepool United

Hartlepool United has until Thursday, January 25, to raise £200,000 to ensure players, staff and bills are paid.

If it fails to find the cash, the club could have to call in the administrators, which would see them deducted 10 points in the National League.

To bolster the campaign, H'Angus the Monkey and a team of stewards have been out in force to collect cash from the town, with £3,605 collected thanks to a two-day stint collecting in Morrisons and a trip to Newcastle.

They were given a warm welcome as they headed to the Toon yesterday as fans turning out for the side's match against Swansea also gave generously.

Michael Evans, who has filled the role of H'Angus for the last five seasons, was supported by Nigel Gobie, a senior steward, along with safety officer Andy Briscoe, team leaders Neil Smith, Gary Cooper, Mick Horsefield and Arthur Brown and stewards Michael Wray, Zara Lavender, Georgina Groves and Bobby Pearce.

Michael, who is 33 and works for train manufacturer Hitachi, said: "It's been unbelievable, and even as we were packing up today, a man came over and added in £50.

"We've had some amazing support, especially from Morrisons.

"Nobody wants to see the club go and the town always pulls together.

"The people in Newcastle as well were fantastic and they wanted a photo of me as H'Angus in return for a donation.

"We hope this will help.

"I've always following the club and my Mam's a fan and my great-grandfather was Nichol Evans, who was chief scout in the 1940s and was the man who once bought a player for a box of kippers.

"It's more than football, it's history for me.

"We're delighted with how much we raised and we want the money to go to the right places."

Collection buckets will remain at the tills at Morrisons until the end of the week.

Nigel, who also visited the Tees Bay Retail Park during the weekend as part of the collection, added: "Because we're stewards, people just think we wear a yellow jacket and that's it, but it's still our club and we're Hartlepool through and through.

"If it's saved, it means we'll still have a football club in the town and we are passionate about football and it's a people town, and people might struggle but they will always work to help others out.

"Yes, we might lose our jobs if it goes, but most of us have other jobs anyhow, what we care about is the club.

"We want to say a massive thank you to Morrisons, because we wouldn't have collected half as much without them."

Donations made during the collection will be added to the Crowdfunding page, which already stands at more than £42,000.

Anyone who would like to add to it can click here.