The great story behind Will Goodwin's loan move to Hartlepool United from Stoke City

Goodwin arrived on loan from Stoke City last week and scored for Pools on his Football League debut in Saturday’s 3-2 defeat at Barrow.

The 19-year-old progressed through the ranks at Chester before securing a move to Stoke in February 2021.

While the loan move seems like an opportunistic one for Hartlepool on face value, Challinor has actually been monitoring Goodwin’s progress for the best part of a decade.

As a youngster, Goodwin played for Chester-based junior football club Christleton New Scene – the same club as Challinor’s sons.

While experiencing the early stages of his managerial career, Challinor also coached one of Christleton’s teams on the side.

Although he didn’t manage Goodwin directly, Challinor knew the striker could have a big future ahead of him as he was snapped up by Bolton Wanderers as a 10-year-old before joining Chester.

“I’ve known Will a long time, going back to junior football,” said the Pools boss. “He played for a grass roots team that my sons played for and I managed one of my son’s teams [in a younger age group].

"So I’ve known Will and his family for a long time. You always keep an eye on people’s progress and he obviously got into the Chester team as a really young player and has gone out and played men’s football on loan.

"He’s since gone to Stoke and has developed very well in a short space of time, a lot quicker than Stoke thought would be the case. He’s been involved with most pre-season fixtures with their first team.

“It’s an opportunity for everybody. We’re looking forward to help him and help ourselves.”

Challinor praised Goodwin’s ‘excellent’ debut at Barrow and believes the teenage forward has the ‘raw attributes’ to make a difference for Pools in League Two this season.

His initial loan spell is until January 2022 and the Pools boss is still keen to bolster his forward line before the summer transfer deadline on August 31.

“It will be a step up for him but if you look at the attributes he has, strikers who are tall, quick, powerful and score goals are hard to come by,” he added.

"But if you have someone who has small bits of all of those aspects then you have a chance. We feel the raw attributes he has can make an impact especially in our team.

“There is always pressure on the players because they'll always put pressure on themselves to perform and be the best they can be. For anyone coming in there is going to be a little bit of pressure and what you have to do is harness that a little bit and simplify what you need to do.

"What Will has to do is control what he can and look to be a nuisance and a threat.

"If you get chances, do your best to hit the target and if they go in then brilliant and that pressure is all of a sudden relieved.”

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