Joe Ramage: Hartlepool United attendances dwindle as malaise sets in for winter of discontent

With a third of the season now gone Hartlepool can begin to see a gap emerging in the League Two table where one win won’t be enough to see them climb out of the bottom two, given their alarming goal difference. But aside from that, the more straightforward issue is that it would also require them to win a game - something they have managed just once in 16 attempts.

And it doesn’t seem to matter whether Pools are poor in their performance, or whether their endeavours measure up a little better, as seen against Salford City, the result seems to be the same. Keith Curle’s side enjoyed plenty of possession against Salford, and created a number of ‘nearly’ moments where a better final pass, or a more clinical finish, might have resulted in a goal and some much-needed points.

For large parts of the game we saw Pools playing in the opposition half, something which has scarcely been the case at times this season. But it wasn’t enough. Salford, in the end, did the only thing which matters in football as they found the back of the net twice in what manager Neil Wood referred to as a ‘gritty display.’ As for Pools, that sinking feeling was back.

But in truth, it’s a feeling which hasn’t really left this season and one which is now submerged around the Suit Direct Stadium. With points, and wins, few and far between, the atmosphere on Clarence Road continues to diminish as we head towards what could very well be a winter of discontent with attendances also tumbling.

In the space of just three weeks since Curle’s arrival, Pools have seen around an 1,800 drop off from the 5,525 in attendance against Carlisle United to Tuesday’s 3,707 against Salford. Having averaged over 5,100 at the Suit Direct Stadium last season, the club are currently seeing around 4,500 each week. It signals the disillusionment and malaise which has set in at the club.

And for pretty good reason. A summer recruitment process which appears to be more and more mistaken as each game passes by is compounded by a precarious league position which offers little in the way of hope.

At this stage of the 2021-22 season, both Scunthorpe United and Oldham Athletic had accumulated 12 points, with two and three wins respectively. Both went down. In 2020-21, Grimsby Town, who ended the season in the bottom two, had 16 points with four wins to their name from 16 games. Southend United, who joined Grimsby, had the same as Pools’ total of nine points - having managed two wins. It suggests Pools are to be in the mire for the long-haul this season.

There’s no way to skirt around it, Hartlepool’s Football League status is in deep trouble as things stand. And with Curle hinting he will unlikely make further adjustments to the squad until the January transfer window, discouraged by what he has seen from the free agent list, things could get worse before they get better.

The problem is, January may come too late for Hartlepool.