Hartlepool United's head of recruitment Chris Beech explains what inspired his Pools return
HUFC head of recruitment Chris Beech explains what inspired his Pools return.
Former Hartlepool United midfielder-turned head of recruitment Chris Beech has been opening up about what made the move back to The Vic so attractive as Landon Smith’s Pools project gathers pace.
The Pools players were due to return to Maiden Castle on Friday for testing before pre-season gets underway in earnest on Monday with several new faces already signed ahead of the 2026-27 National League campaign. Beech and Chris Maxwell, Bromby & Partners' head of football operations, have been working hard on adding to the squad along with head coach Lee Clark and so far Jordan Hugill, Jack Nolan, Brooklyn Ilunga, Owen Hampson and Corey McKeown have joined on permanent deals.
This is the first summer of Landon Smith’s ownership and with a new head coach, head of recruitment and squad to revamp it is an exciting time. So what made Beech - who made more than 100 appearances for the club between 1996 and 1998 before then heading into management with spells at Rochdale, Carlisle United and AFC Fylde - want to return to The Vic in this new role as head of recruitment?
Beech, 51, told the Mail: “That's a great question, it's just through, I suppose, respect of Chris [Maxwell] really. I spoke to Bromby & Partners, the football club, and then this role became apparent, I actually tried to recruit Chris back in the day, I tried to get him to come to Rochdale in League One!
“But having spoken to them and then being offered this opportunity, what I've enjoyed in it is the autonomy to be aligned to that strategy, but also being given the opportunity to build it and help build it, and then - what will be a little bit different for me - is just passing the baton on for it to be delivered, but ultimately I've fortunately - or unfortunately - worked at clubs where I've done my recruiting, I've had to do it as a manager anyway, so this current period of off-season isn't different to me, it's not new to me.”
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When asked about the structure at Pools, with head coach Lee Clark, Beech and Maxwell all working closely together, Beech added: “There's no ego in this, everybody has an opportunity to have a seat at the table but ultimately we work in football and we've got to make sure that we have an understanding of the past, understand what we're trying to achieve in the future and you can simply do that by looking at the last five years' averages of this league - how many goals you need to score, how many wins you need, how many clean sheets you need.
“So then, who's going to do that, who can help achieve that, how can you get more out of what you've already got, how can you support that with people you bring in, so it's just that kind of thought process really, but for it to connect and excite the supporters, it's got to attack more, it's got to score more, it's got to play faster forwards and it's obviously possession but with a purpose, and you need players that can deliver that and can repeatedly do that and be resilient within that.”
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