Mark Shelton details why he 'always' wanted to play for Hartlepool United after ex-Salford City midfielder reached milestone

Shelton initially joined Hartlepool on loan from Salford City in 2019 under former manager Dave Challinor to help bolster the midfield ranks as Pools sought promotion from the National League.

Shelton, 26, spent three years at Salford but would manage just over 20 appearances in that time for the Ammies owing to injury and eventual loan spells at Woking and then Pools.

But after turning his loan move into a permanent deal at the Suit Direct Stadium in the summer of 2020, Shelton would go on to become a key figure in the club’s return to the Football League with 39 appearances as well as converting his spot kick as Pools saw off Torquay United in the most dramatic of play-off finals at Bristol City’s Ashton Gate stadium.

Alongside captain Nicky Featherstone, and Irishman Gavan Holohan, Shelton formed part of the self-confessed ‘wolfpack’ at Hartlepool with the midfield trio influential for Challinor’s side.

And Shelton would continue to play an important role last season as Pools retained their EFL status, with the midfielder having now crossed the 100-game threshold for the club.

“I’ve played against Hartlepool before for other teams and you see the following and the passion it means to the players and the town and I remember thinking ‘I’d like to be a part of that one day,’ Shelton revealed to The Mail.

“So to come here and play over 100 games for the club and get promotion in probably its most successful time over the last 15 years is big personally for me.

“You never know in football where you’re going to be or where you’re going to be living. I’ve moved away from home for the last three years now and you call this your second home. You know everywhere off by heart. You know all the roads, all the people, everything.”

Shelton added: “Sometimes you have to acknowledge your own personal accolades and I feel like I’ve done alright so far.”

But reaching that 100-appearance milestone seemed in doubt earlier this year.

After the exit of Holohan in March, and Shelton’s own contract coming to an end, the ‘wolfpack’ were seemingly set to be down to just one this season before the 26-year-old penned a new one-year deal with the club under Paul Hartley.

But, for Shelton, things didn't go accordingly under the former Pools boss as he struggled to cement his place in the Scotsman’s starting XI.

Shelton came off the bench in what would prove to be Hartley’s final game at Sutton United last month, a game which - despite the defeat - was significant for Shelton in that it was his 100th appearance, a landmark Hartley was quick to rebuff in the wake of that defeat.

And, while Shelton recently acknowledged that the club was ready for a change, the midfielder did question why he struggled to feature in the early part of the campaign.

“I spoke to him [Hartley] multiple times about why I wasn’t playing and what I can do to play - some things I felt were a bit unfair but that’s football, it’s not fair and it’s the same as life,” said Shelton.

“You’re going to find yourself on the wrong end of decisions. Managers bring people in and they want to see what they’re about and that kind of pushes other people out of the equation and that is just football - the same as me playing meaning somebody else isn’t playing, that’s just the way it goes.

“I’ve played a lot of football over the last few years here with [Dave] Challinor and Graeme Lee and, hopefully, Keith Curle has come in and I can stay in the team for a period of time.”

Shelton’s omission under Hartley was slightly questionable given Hartlepool’s form to start the season and, despite being here only three years, Shelton being one of the senior figures in the dressing room given the number of changes that have happened over the last 12 to 18 months.

And Shelton has acknowledged that tag alongside the likes of Featherstone, Ben Killip and David Ferguson as one of the few remaining players from the promotion winning squad of 2020-21.

“When I take myself out of the situation, yeah I probably am [one of the senior players at the club],” Shelton told The Mail.

“You’ve got Ben, Feath, Fergie - so I’m in the three or four longest reigning players at the football club at the minute which, looking back, is quite a long period of time that I’ve been here.

Shelton continued: “It feels like I’ve been here for a long, long time. It’s only my third season but football is just crazy. It changes so fast.

“One week you might be out of the squad, the next week you might be playing. It’s difficult as a player to get your mentality to the point where you are ready regardless of what’s going on.

“I’ve probably been guilty before of not playing and thinking ‘what’s going to happen now.’ You look at things like coming up to the end of a contract. There’s a lot going on in a professional footballer's life, it’s not just what you see at 3 o’clock on a Saturday.

“But we’re professionals, so we have to deal with that as soon as we can.

“I just love playing football. No matter what level you play football at, whether it’s down the park with your mates or you play in the Premier League, you want to play football. So when you’re not, it is frustrating.

"It’s not the first time I've been there, and it probably won’t be the last, but I just enjoy playing football and especially for this football club.”