Teenage Hartlepool United defender Campbell Darcy joins Northern Premier League side Whitby Town on loan

The 18-year-old made his debut for the Seasiders on Tuesday night, starting in a 2-0 win over Matlock as Whitby picked up their first points of the new season.

Darcy made his Pools debut in January 2023, featuring from the bench in a 3-0 FA Cup defeat against Stoke, before impressing with two fearless cameos at the back end of last season.

The versatile defender, who can play at right-back or centre-half, had been set to make his first start on the final day of last season against Dorking, only to miss out after turning his ankle in training.

He endured a frustrating summer as he struggled for fitness but featured as a second half substitute in the 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest B a fortnight ago.

Darcy joins a Whitby side full of former Pools players. Gary Liddle, who made 363 appearances during three separate spells at Victoria Park, winning promotion under Dave Challinor, started in midweek and is also assistant manager, while Connor Smith, Lewis Hawkins and Nathan Thomas all featured in the XI.

Darcy has already shown plenty of promise during his time at Pools and is one of a number of players to have progressed through the impressive academy set-up in recent years but was likely to find his opportunities limited at this stage, with Pools well-stocked at both centre-half and right-back.

However, the club do have the option to recall the teenager at any time and so a loan move, especially to a side with such strong links to Pools, seemed to make sense for all parties.

"This loan move is an opportunity for Campbell to get regular senior football which is the next stage of his development," head of football operations Joe Monks said.

"Whitby and ourselves have a good relationship - Gary Liddle is the assistant manager and he will help Campbell's development as a defensive player.

"As with Max Storey, Campbell is in his first year of being a professional footballer.

"By playing for Whitby he can apply what he's learned from Darren's sessions and his academy grounding, which was done to a very high standard by Ian McGuckin.

"Campbell can be recalled by us should he be required at any point and we will be closely monitoring his progress."