Robbie Stelling's Hartlepool United season review: Chaos, tumult and hope
Hartlepool United's season review: Chaos, tumult and hope
Life as a Hartlepool United fan is certainly never boring.
Things hadn't exactly been plain sailing heading into the 2025/26 campaign, but even by those standards this season has been full of drama, discontent and division. And yet fans are approaching the upcoming summer with renewed hope and optimism under new owner Landon Smith, who has vowed to lead Pools back to the Football League after completing his takeover of the club from the controversial Raj Singh on New Year's Eve.
Although the memory of Singh's tumultuous tenure is slowly beginning to fade, his legacy still looms large over Victoria Park and Pools have a lot of work to do before some of the wounds left over from the end of his time in charge can be properly healed. Pools went into the 2025/26 season in the wake of one of the most contentious summers in the club's entire history, with Singh's resignation from his role as chairman in March followed by a period of alarming uncertainty.
In the end, Singh returned to his former position after a contested vote among season ticket holders and appeared to dig his heels in and tighten his grip on the levers of power, dispensing with charismatic if inexperienced head coach Anthony Limbrick in favour of Simon Grayson.
Grayson, an apparent long-time target of Singh's, arrived with four promotions in the Football League to his name having led Blackpool, boyhood club Leeds United, Huddersfield Town and Preston North End to glory and Pools fans were optimistic about his appointment.
Despite his impressive record and reputation, Grayson had never before managed in the National League - albeit he was not altogether unfamiliar with the division due to the fact that his son, Joe, had played for Gateshead since 2023 - while he had spent time managing in India and Nepal since being sacked by Fleetwood Town in 2021, leading to some concerns about how he would be able to adapt on his return to England.
Initially at least, Pools fans need not have worried. Despite losing the prolific Mani Dieseruvwe, who scored 43 goals in 89 games at Victoria Park, as well as the long-serving Joe Grey, supporters were generally encouraged by their side's summer recruitment while Pools picked up 10 points from the first 12 available when the National League got underway in August. Yet it wasn't long before things started to unravel. Having gone seven games unbeaten at the beginning of the campaign, Pools slipped out of the play-off places and back towards mid-table following a frustrating run of just one win in 11 matches.
Despite that, the sudden sacking of Grayson after just 15 games at the helm came as a shock to most supporters, with Pools still only four points outside the top seven at the time of his dismissal. Pools turned to Nicky Featherstone, who celebrated his testimonial over the summer and is the club's third highest appearance maker of all time, initially on an interim basis.
Despite making the worst possible start as Pools were dumped out of the FA Cup at the fourth qualifying round stage by Northern Premier League Premier Division side Gainsborough Trinity, a subsequent run of seven matches without defeat - as well as a dearth of other viable candidates - led to Featherstone being offered the job on a permanent basis.
In the months that have followed, there have been plenty of ups and downs for Featherstone, who the club revealed last week was set to step down from his role at the end of the season after a review by specialist football consultancy firm Bromby and Partners.
Pools got the better of title-chasing Rochdale and thumped rivals Carlisle United but were themselves on the wrong end of several humiliating results, not least December's dismal FA Trophy defeat to Northern Premier League Division One Midlands minnows Anstey Nomads as well as last month's 7-0 drubbing by Wealdstone, their worst result since 1994.
Yet amidst all the disappointment of missing out on the National League play-offs for the third successive season, Pools fans are dreaming of a bright future under American businessman and investor Smith, who completed a seemingly unlikely takeover of the club after just six weeks of negotiations. Heading into the summer, Smith and his team of advisers will have a whole host of significant and often difficult decisions to make, with head of football operations Joe Monks also set to head for the exit at the end of the season.
Yet if Smith can get things right on and off the pitch, working to instil a clear footballing identity and sustainable growth, then Hartlepool United could be set for a very special 2026/27 season indeed.
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