The Hartlepool United nightmare - Pools' off-field issues laid bare

It’s amazing to think a little more than 12 months ago this was a football club with a manager - Craig Hignett, replaced three times over since - who talked about promotion to League One and an owner in JPNG’s Gary Coxall who had eyes on Pools being the next AFC Bournemouth.

As we thought at the time, it all turned out to be pie in the sky.

Dreams turned to dust and a proud history was rewritten.

What we couldn’t have imagined back then was that the decisions taken by those at the helm, and by that I mean Coxall, not Hignett, had the potential to bury this great football club.

Day-by-day those nightmares are becoming reality.

The facts, on and off the park, are stark.

And for many fans they will make for very difficult reading, although they do give a little insight into the struggles of the players, Craig Harrison and the staff behind the scenes at the Vic.

Pools had to borrow training kit and equipment for some of their players from Dagenham on Saturday. Yes, borrow.

The club was forced to rearrange plans to get to Victoria Road and instead of using a bus company they’ve always done, they got the train.

There was no overnight stay, no luxury coach, just the same East Coast Mainline journey as many Poolies.

Imagine if there had been a cancellation. Would Pools have just missed the game? Deadlines were so tight to catch the 6.30pm from Kings Cross Station that NO Pools player had time for any post-match chat. It was a case of needs must. Only Harrison was able to face the music after the Daggers capitulation.

Moving on, Pools staff got paid in December but they still do not know if that will be the case in January.

This has caused undoubted problems on the field. Two-goal Michael Woods claimed pre-match that any player worrying about off-field issues while on the park “needs their head looked at”.

Well, that may be the case, as I’d be surprised if any player was genuinely going up for a header or into a 50-50 thinking about their January pay. But on Monday morning they might be. Or on Tuesday morning at the club’s Racecourse training base, or in a video analysis session, or gym workout.

Ask any sportsman and it is the work off the park that is just as integral to success as anything done on it.

Contractors, hired by Pools, have still not been paid for work they have carried out. This is an ongoing concern.

And that’s without getting into the January budget for additions. Put simply, it totals £0.

At most clubs across the country the biggest concern this month is whether players will be signed.

At Pools, it’s whether the club will be able to make ends meet to make February without the need for yet more debt - non-existent when our old friend Mr Coxall swaggered through the doors.

Many might not realise it but the next few weeks could turn out to be the most crucial in the club’s history. And for that reason, at the moment, anything that happens on it is sadly secondary. Although, a win or two wouldn’t go amiss.