LET FANS IN: Passionate Poolies forced to be armchair fans as Hartlepool United's strong start to the National League season feels hollow

That's not to take anything away from Dave Challinor’s side, who look to have been transformed into National League contenders over the past 11 months.

It’s the first time since Pools were relegated to the fifth tier that the side has a genuine fear factor about them.

They’re currently on a club-record run of scoring in each of their last 23 away games and the 4-0 win at Maidenhead United on Saturday was the third time in 15 matches away from Victoria Park that Challinor’s side has scored four or more goals.

The 4-1 win at Yeovil Town, 5-1 win at Chesterfield and the weekend victory in Berkshire have shown the side’s ability to be ruthless and clinical on the road.

Prior to that, it took Pools 151 away matches to achieve three wins by scoring for our more goals – a run stretching back to 2013.

In normal circumstances, the 4-0 win at York Road would have been a grand day out for Poolies. Getting up before sunrise to catch the early train down to King’s Cross, rushing across London to make your connection, grabbing a few pints before the game, singing your heart out and most importantly, watching Hartlepool secure a big three points to go top of the table.

It’s what being a football fan is all about. But those days have sadly been robbed from supporters, who are forced to become armchair fans watching inconsistent streams on their laptops.

Fans of Premier League clubs may not see what the fuss is all about, especially if they’re used to watching their side on television most weeks anyway.

But at the lower end of the professional footballing spectrum, where your team is on television once a season if they’re lucky, the matchday experience is paramount.

Pools’ start of three wins from three would have had Victoria Park rocking against Bromley and we all know how much of a difference that can make – but the reality is quite different.

The hustle and bustle of Clarence Road on a matchday is gone, The Vic has become a cold(er), sterile place, where the only people in attendance are simply there to do their jobs.

As coronavirus cases continue to rise and tier three lockdown measures are introduced, safety should always take precedence over people’s entertainment.

Football has been walking on a tightrope for the majority of 2020 and the longer fans aren’t allowed in, the more precarious a position clubs are put in and frustrations will understandably grow.

While most people understand the severity of the situation, the contempt shown towards football supporters from the Government is there for all to see.

You can still go to the theatre or cinema and watch a performance or film inside with a couple of hundred strangers yet 1,500 Hartlepool season ticket holders are unable to sit outside, socially distanced in a 7,865 capacity Victoria Park to watch their team play.

One certainly seems a lot safer than the other and it's not the one that's currently deemed safe by the Government.

The ridiculousness of the situation is highlighted in the fact that Hartlepool live streaming a home match for supporters at Victoria Park would be permitted but any view of the pitch where the game was taking place would have to be blocked to prevent fans watching it in person.

Watching football is a more chaotic, more impassioned past-time in ways going to the cinema or theatre simply isn’t. In that respect, it could be seen as harder to control but the significantly larger venues and open spaces surely compensate for that?

The lack of answers and hypocritical guidelines have caused football fans across the country to sign the ‘Let Fans In’ petition which is now being considered for a Parliamentary debate after gaining around 200,000 signatures so far. You can sign it yourself here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/552036.

Ultimately, clubs should not have to be forced into becoming football streaming services just to stay afloat with the aid of a Government grant.

At National League level, many clubs have very small media teams and some, including Pools, are run by volunteers. For these people to have to scramble around to put functional streaming services together in a matter of weeks is asking an awful lot.

It’s a huge ask even for an experienced professional media team, so at this level, there are bound to be significant teething problems early on.

For what it’s worth, Hartlepool seem to be handling the situation better than most – we understand Chesterfield last week was a disaster for many who attempted to tune in.

But the club’s 1,500 season ticket holders aren’t getting what they paid an inflated fee for, and that has to change.

Communication from the club’s hierarchy has been inconsistent and at times non-existent over the past seven months. Even the matchday programme, which provided fans with a regular column from chairman Raj Singh and a member of the board, now seems to be a thing of the past when fans need it most.

On the pitch, it’s typical that Hartlepool are enjoying their best-ever start to a National League season yet no fans have been there to witness it in person.

All the side can do now is make sure when fans are allowed to return – whenever that may be – that they are still fighting at the right end of the table.

We know there will be hiccups and set-backs along the way for Pools as they fight for promotion back to the Football League. But every success they have over the course of the season will have an empty tinge to it as long as supporters aren’t there to celebrate with them.

Positive messages, likes and retweets have nothing on the roar of a crowd on a matchday, and the longer it goes on, the harder it will become for everyone.

At the moment, there's only one practical solution – let fans in.

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