Analysis of Dave Challinor’s departure from Hartlepool United to join Stockport​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ County and why it raises more questions than answers

Just 38 days after signing a new three-year deal at Pools, Challinor asked to leave the club following an approach from National League side Stockport County.

Just like that, all the positivity and momentum building up at the club has come crashing back down. The 46-year-old’s departure isn’t likely to be an amicable one either with the Hartlepool confirming the news by stating their disappointment at how events unfolded following Stockport’s approach.

The club claim Stockport contacted Challinor via his agent first before being informed on Friday. The approach was declined only for Challinor to state his intention to leave on Monday.

Technically speaking, Challinor remains Hartlepool’s manager at the time of writing, but he will not manage the club again. It appears bridges have been burnt as Pools consider their legal options.

On face value, Challinor stepping away from a top-half League Two outfit so soon after signing a new contract to join a well-backed non-league club smells of financial motivation.

In football, there is not a lot of loyalty unless the Queen’s face is on it.

Understandably, supporters haven’t taken the news well. Challinor was adored in Hartlepool and had formed a connection between the club and the fans that had never seemed so good.

He had it all at Pools, or so it appeared.

It’s sad to think we will never hear a ‘Challinor’s better than Mourinho’ chant, North West Corner fist pump or a cheers thank you from the 46-year-old as Hartlepool manager again.

The move feels almost like a betrayal, an abandonment – for many it will feel like a bad break-up.

But damage limitation tweets from Challinor’s friend and former colleague Alex Hay and wife Kate have suggested that there was more to the move than just the money.

The implication that things weren’t quite right behind the scenes raises more questions than answers but Challinor’s frustrations have been evident ever since pre-season. The prolonged contract saga, a difficult transfer window and thinly-veiled comments are all pieces of a jigsaw that we can’t quite put together just yet.

There are two sides to every story, but until Challinor speaks for himself, we won’t know the exact motivations behind his abrupt exit.

Instead we can look at the facts, and in just shy of two years, Challinor has helped transform Hartlepool. As raw and bitter as his inevitable departure feels right now, it doesn’t take away from his achievements as Pools boss.

When Challinor first arrived at Hartlepool in November 2019, he stated his goal was to leave the club in a better position. That was achieved as soon as Brad James tipped Matt Buse’s penalty onto the crossbar at Ashton Gate back in June.

Since then, Challinor has supposedly been living his career-long dream of being a Football League manager. Apparently it wasn’t all it was hyped up to be given his swift drop back into non-league football.

With 36 wins from 76 matches, Challinor boasts the highest win percentage in league matches of any post-war Pools boss. Although his legacy and reputation has been tarnished, he remains a club legend for what he’s done.

Passionate, demanding and articulate – Challinor knew the game and played it very well with the fans, with the press and the club.

At times, he seemed like the glue holding Pools’ makeshift HMS P*** The League together. Only now he’s jumped ship.

Challinor has left Pools when his stock was at it’s highest following promotion and a solid start to life in League Two on a modest budget. He was a manager who always seemed destined for bigger and better things higher up the pyramid, which is why this move leaves a particularly sour taste.

Stockport County are a big National League club that Challinor knows well having played almost 100 times for them between 2002 and 2004.

But the fact remains they are a non-league club in a brutal division that is incredibly difficult to get out of the right way.

It feels like Challinor is doing himself a disservice by dropping back to the National League with no guarantee of an EFL return. It’s a risk, then again, so was joining Pools two years ago.

But in any other profession, the chance to move back home for a considerably higher wage would never be scrutinised or criticised in this manner – though football is the most passionate and volatile business around.

After the highs of last Saturday’s win over Harrogate, the dramatic change of events over the past week or so has brought a whiplash feeling with it.

Challinor could have become the all-time great at Hartlepool – instead his excellent spell will be remembered as one that ended poorly and prematurely.

Make no mistake, Challinor is a huge loss and replacing him properly will prove a real challenge.

Regardless of who the manager is, no one person is bigger or more important than the club itself. We’ve seen many managers come and go at Victoria Park but the club has always (just about) remained, and it's in a good place back competing in the EFL.

This news has rocked the club and it’s fan base but it’s important to stay united through this adversity. Given the scenes at The Vic this season, there will be plenty of credible interest in the role.

For now, club legend Antony Sweeney will take charge, as he did two years prior. A man whose loyalty and love for the club will never be questioned and will keep things ticking over while a replacement is found.

‘The King is dead, long live the King’.

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