Hartlepool United aiming to forge closer ties with Hartlepool College of Further Education

The setting looked a little bit different for Keith Curle’s pre-match press conference ahead of Hartlepool’s FA Cup 3rd Round tie with Stoke City. Taking place at Hartlepool College of Further Education, the club and college are hoping holding such events will help to forge a closer relationship between the pair.

And Curle, who only took charge of the club in September following Paul Hartley’s sacking, is hopeful that this partnership can help benefit the whole club, describing the facilities available to the students at the college as ‘phenomenal’.

Curle said: “It’s fantastic. Coming in and having a look around the facility, it’s absolutely phenomenal.

“I have to say, the college lads that come up and take part in the training sessions conduct themselves excellently to a point the football club have been praised due to the conduct of the players. Not just in the sessions, but how they conduct themselves in and around the environment as well.

“It’s a fantastic partnership for the football club. The more they train with us, the more they get used to the environment and the more we get to see that willingness and desire to impress and improve.”

Curle and his assistant Colin West also took part in a question and answer session with some students of the college, with Curle being grilled on whether or not he would get into Pep Guardiola’s current Manchester City defence - much to the amusement of everyone involved.