Hartlepool United acting executive director Martin Jesper explains why new contracts are being delayed

Pools are yet to sign any players or tie anyone down to new contracts since Nicky Featherstone agreed a new deal before the National League season was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The club has just eight players contracted for next season, as has been the case since the club announced its retained list back in May.

Since then, developments at Victoria Park have been few and far between with the appointment of Jesper for the outgoing chief executive Mark Maguire at the start of June being the last significant announcement by United.

And while Jesper hasn’t been actively involved in contract discussions with players, he was able to give some explanation as to why no deals had been completed thus far.

The acting executive director told The Mail: “The situation with player contracts and us at the moment is that if you’re a player, why would you sign now because you want to be paid today but the club hasn’t got the funds to do that?

"We’re not alone in this situation, it’s a holding position where we’re just waiting to see if we’re able to bring players in for training first and get the contracts sorted in line for the start of the new season but we still don't know when that will be.

"I completely understand the players’ situations and from what I gather, a lot of agents out there understand the clubs’ position as well.”

Hartlepool have gone four months without any matchday income, replica kit sales, sponsorship or season ticket sales that would usually generate significant funds for the club.

Without that, chairman Raj Singh does not appear willing to gamble on new contracts until clarity over when football will return is provided.

Despite no certain restart date, some of Pools’ National League rivals have been hotting up their transfer activity.

On Friday, Stockport County announced the signing of Mark Kitching after the left-back failed to agree a new deal at Pools.

Solihull, Woking, Aldershot, Eastleigh, Maidenhead and Ebbsfleet have also had new deals confirmed in the past week.

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