Exclusive:Adam Campbell left 'frustrated' by Hartlepool United spell as he opens up after summer exit
The former Hartlepool United forward has reflected on his time with the National League club.
Adam Campbell has described his two-year spell with Hartlepool United as ‘the toughest two years’ of his career and admitted he was left frustrated by his time at the Prestige Group Stadium.
Former manager Darren Sarll persuaded the versatile forward to return to his native North East during the summer of 2024 just a month after he had helped Crawley Town secure promotion into League One with a play-off final win against Crewe Alexandra. However, the former Newcastle United and Gateshead forward was unable to build on the momentum of one of the most successful spells of his career as he struggled to find consistent form throughout his time in a Pools shirt.
After marking his first appearance as a permanent Pools player with an assist at Yeovil Town on the opening day of the 2024/25 season, Campbell netted his first goal in a 1-1 draw with Maidenhead United just over two months later. A spark to find consistent form always remained out of reach and he would find the net just once more before the end of the season. An improvement was found in the most recent campaign as Campbell scored five goals and provided four assists in 32 appearances - but his time with Pools came to a close when he was released last month.
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The 31-year-old revealed his frustration over the last two years - but described Pools as ‘a great club’ and believes they can ‘kick on’ in the future.
He told The Mail: “It has been tough. Apart from my time at Morecambe, it’s probably been the toughest two years of my career - but that’s in different ways. At Morecambe, I was still quite young. It was my first experience of a dip in form. This time around, I came back full of confidence, I’d just been promoted into League One, I’d just got married and I was moving back home and everything was set to be positive when I first signed. Sometimes it happens in football.
“At Morecambe, it maybe effected me more with my confidence and as a person because I was so young. But this time, it was more frustrating because I was in a good place in my career and I felt I could make an impact. It hasn’t worked, it was the wrong fit for me. I don’t know what the future holds but I am excited for it - but I am still glad I came back to Hartlepool, I enjoyed the two years and it is a great club that has great potential to kick on and I hope they do that.”
Movement
Campbell is now looking to the next move in his career and he revealed he has held discussions with clubs in the top two levels of the non-league game - but it yet to make a decision over where he will spend next season.
He said: “It’s been quite a slow summer. Usually you see a lot of movement but it doesn’t seem that way. It has picked up in the last week to ten days and I’ve had a couple of meetings with managers and had a couple of chats on the phone with others. I am positive about what the future holds and it will be National League or National League North - but that could depend on certain other things.”