Raj Singh has his say on Hartlepool United's finances, fanbase and long-running takeover

Singh must surely rank as among the most controversial figures in Hartlepool United's history, with fans divided over his stewardship. On the one hand, Singh deserves huge credit for stepping in to effectively save the club from the threat of administration in 2018, committing £1.2 million to help Pools rebuild from a potentially ruinous financial situation.

Since then, Singh has, more or less, steadied the ship, with the days when Pools struggled to afford pre-match meals, their dry cleaning bill or even the gas and electricity at the ground now a distant memory. Even his most ardent detractors would struggle to dispute the fact that Singh has been as good as his word when it comes to making sure bills - and, importantly, players' wages - have been paid on time throughout his eight years in charge.

On the pitch, too, there have been some memorable moments, not least when Pools won promotion back to the Football League in 2021 by beating Torquay on penalties in a heart-stopping National League play-off final at Ashton Gate.

Although their first season back in League Two was much more mixed and was overshadowed by the controversial departure of promotion-winning boss Dave Challinor, Pools reached the fourth round of the FA Cup, setting up a memorable trip to Premier League Crystal Palace, as well as the semi-finals of the Football League Trophy.

Without Singh, then, it is possible to argue that many Pools fans - particularly those of a younger generation - might never have experienced what must surely rank as some of the best days of their lives as Hartlepool United supporters. Yet a combination of other mistakes means that Singh has lost a lot of the goodwill he worked so hard to build up amongst Pools fans.

Having dispensed with Challinor's successor, former Pools defender Graeme Lee, towards the end of the 2021/22 campaign, Singh turned to Paul Hartley, plucked from relative obscurity in the Scottish Championship, to take the reins. It was to prove a calamitous decision from which neither Singh nor Pools would ever really recover, with Hartley allowed to sign a staggering 17 new players, many of whom arrived on two-year contracts, before leaving without ever having managed a league win in the North East.

Despite the best efforts of John Askey, who took over following Keith Curle's ill-fated spell in charge, Pools were condemned to relegation back to the National League in 2023. At the time, Singh, who felt fans had unfairly turned against him, put the club up for sale - a position he has maintained, to a greater or lesser extent, ever since.

Since then, however, rather than wash his hands of the club, Singh has come in for further criticism following a series of underwhelming appointments, both in the dugout and elsewhere, as well as an apparent lack of ambition, long-term planning or willingness to engage with frustrated supporters.

A somewhat uncomfortable status quo seemed to have been established until Singh announced his sudden decision to resign in March, declaring his intention to push through a sale of the club by the end of the season. Yet, just when it seemed as though a takeover deal between Herd International Group, led by Hartlepool-born businesswoman Shelley Hammond, and Singh was close, talks collapsed in dramatic fashion.

Singh returned in the summer following a much-debated vote among season ticket holders, with 63 per cent of those eligible calling for the divisive owner to take up his former role as chairman once again.

Since then, however, there are fans who feel as though Singh has lapsed back into his familiar pattern of hiring and firing managers almost at random, with Anthony Limbrick replaced by Simon Grayson, who in turn was succeeded by Nicky Featherstone following an almost eight-week spell in caretaker charge.

Despite all of that, Pools still find themselves with, at the very least, a fighting chance of finishing in the National League play-off places, while Singh told The Red Radio that the club are on a firm financial footing.

"Financially, it's probably as good as it could be," he said. "The fact remains that every non-league club - even some Championship, League One and League Two clubs - are all losing money.

"We are losing money, but I'm supporting that with my other businesses and, as everybody knows, the bills are being paid on time, the wages have never been behind, so it's on a solid footing as much as it could be.

"In a word, we're secure - 100 per cent. People say that the club's a mess, it's in turmoil, they've never seen things as bad as they are now; I would just like to remind some of those people where we were as a club eight years ago.

"My aim is to keep the club running to the best of my ability with the finances we've got in place until somebody else comes in and steps into the hotseat. "As everybody knows, we decided to put the club up for sale after relegation, which is some two-and-a-half years ago.

"I've said it before, I'll say it again, there have been a lot of timewasters.”

He added: "Yes, we've had offers. Some people are saying I'm asking for too much money, and that's why the club hasn't been sold; to those people I would say, we had three offers accepted over the summer, so that means I'm not asking for too much money."