Football Season Review

Despite a lot of hopes surrounding the Pools going into this season, they remained exactly where they were last term - midtable. The early season promise was definitely there, as Hartlepool were around the top six in the first quarter of the season, but the home results soon became a big problem, the Monkey Hangers suffered their worst ever run of home results, losing nine home games in a row, and this ended up costing Mick Wadsworth his job. His replacement, Neale Cooper, did manage to make the side more competitive at home, but the brilliant away results were not there anymore, and Cooper never really managed to help his side go on a winning run that they needed in order to get back into the promotion fight. The positive to take out of the season will surel be the blooding of young players, as the likes of Jack Baldwin and Luke James both broke into the first team and looked very impressive, while the fans might wonder what could've been had top scorer James Poole managed to stay fit in the second half of the season. There haven't been any standout performers for the Pools this season, so our choice for their Player of the Season is Neil Austin, as the trusty defender completed the remarkable feat of playing every minute of every game in the league, becoming the first ever Hartlepool player that managed to do that.

Player of the Season: Neil Austin