Raj Singh reflects on Hartlepool United takeover and his time in charge
Former Hartlepool United owner Raj Singh has revealed that Landon Smith's takeover of the club took just six weeks to complete.
Following one of the most turbulent periods in the club's entire history, Pools announced that Singh had sold to the American businessman and investor on New Year's Eve. Singh first put Pools up for sale after they were relegated back to the National League in 2023.
After a spell of seeming calm, however, Singh announced his sudden resignation from his position of chairman in March last year as well as his intention to complete a sale of the club before the end of the season in May. A deal between Singh and Herd International Group, led by Hartlepool-born businesswoman Shelley Hammond, seemed within days of completion before collapsing in dramatic fashion in the summer.
In the wake of the fallout from that, Singh returned to his role as chairman following a hugely contested vote among season ticket holders and there had been little to no suggestion that a deal was close let alone imminent prior to the shock announcement on New Year's Eve.
Indeed, even vice-captain Nathan Sheron admitted he and the rest of the squad were caught unawares by the news when it broke just before 5pm. Quite how Singh's almost eight-year tenure will be remembered is still up for debate.
On the one hand, his intervention in 2018 helped stave off the threat of administration and there have been some good times under his stewardship, not least promotion back to the Football League in 2021 as well as memorable FA Cup and Football League Trophy runs.
Yet a lot of the goodwill Singh built up during that time has evaporated since relegation back to the National League, with the club and the fanbase more divided than it has been for decades.
Even so, if Smith can make a success of his ownership, then perhaps history will look more kindly on Singh, with his decision to step in to, in effect, save the club in 2018 perhaps his defining achievement.
"It was exactly how a deal should be done," Singh told The Red Radio. "We started speaking to the new owners about six weeks ago, so that's how quickly the deal's actually got done.
"The new owners have been really easy to deal with, there were a lot of points to negotiate as you can imagine with a deal like this. In the end, everybody got the job done.
"From day one, eight years ago, I mentioned that I wanted to leave the club in better shape than I found it - that's always been the case.
"On the pitch, it hasn't been as successful as I would have liked it to be."