Joe Ramage: Hartlepool United's academy return could prove to be their most significant signing

As Pools bumbled around in the National League with little hope or optimism of a brighter future, a return to the Football League seemed a distant proposition.

As a matter of fact, the very existence of the club became the sole focus as opposed to any potential return to the elite 92 during their four year hiatus.

But this is not to pour scorn over any of those decisions in years gone by. Nor is this to heap praise on some of those decisions, and on-field successes, which helped Pools back into the Football League 12 months ago.

Each of those decisions have their own merit and yet one decision, of which we saw the fruits of this week, which should be commended, and may well prove to be a significant one in the recent history of the club, is the return of the academy structure.

Pools announced the dawning of a new era when confirming the academy had officially re-launched with day one of training being completed on July 4 and it is a future which, hopefully, will prove to be hugely beneficial.

There are a number of ways in which this move back into a Category 4 academy status can benefit the club.

First and foremost, it allows the club to acquire any local talent they see fit and keep them in house in order to nurture them, both as footballers and as human beings with educational benefits also on offer.

But should those players continue to produce on the field, then Paul Hartley will potentially have homegrown talent available to him for his first team squad.

Hartley has often stressed the need to build a club and a culture as well as a squad, and by re-integrating the academy this can be seen as the first step on that journey.

And the success can already be seen after one of the club’s youth alliance partners, Seaton Carew, claimed the All-Cities Elite Shield (ACES) Under-18s title in Nottingham last weekend.

The success was a first for a team from Hartlepool and follows other fantastic achievements from younger teams from the Hornby Park based club.

As well as other league successes at different levels, there were also county cup successes for the Seaton Carew Under-13s Lions, who won the league too, and the Under-15s won the Under-16s County Cup.

It may seem a long way off, but these are all small successes for Hartlepool United.

It will take time, of course. As with most things, you need to be able to walk before you can run. But Hartley knows of the benefits having an academy at his disposal can bring.

The Pools boss was on hand to meet and welcome the club’s new stars of the future, and to plant that seed of a potential pathway into his first team.

With the club set to seek a swift upgrade into a Cat 3 status, the return of the academy could easily be the best signing of the summer for Pools in the long-term.