retired_bbcarr

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * English First Division - Saturday 24th April 2004********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2003/4 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Barnsley 44 16 3 3 59 29 7 6 9 33 38 78 2nd HARTLEPOOL 44 15 3 4 62 32 8 6 8 41 47 78 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Ipswich 44 13 7 2 43 15 8 6 8 28 29 76 4th Leicester 44 13 6 3 49 24 8 6 8 38 40 75 5th Norwich 44 15 4 3 38 17 7 5 10 29 32 75 6th Sunderland 44 15 3 4 45 21 5 9 8 27 35 72 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7th Reading 44 11 9 2 36 19 7 7 8 32 31 70 8th Derby 43 15 5 2 63 34 5 5 11 25 43 70 9th Watford 44 15 0 7 53 38 5 9 8 44 50 69 10th Bradford 44 10 7 5 44 32 9 2 11 39 44 66 </pre>

shannon2007

page 2 :o

retired_bbcarr

Quite a momentus day in the history of FMS, i feel

retired_bbcarr

English Championship: Hartlepool vs Portsmouth - Victoria Park - Saturday 1st May 2004

A mere 480 seconds had elapsed in this tie when utter disaster struck for Hartlepool. With a win being an absolute must for their chances of automatic promotion, giving Portsmouth the chance to open the scoring from the penalty spot was hardly the start that Rob had asked for. Callum Davidson was the idiot whose clumsy challenge on Diomansy Kamara gave the Senegalese striker the chance to convert the spot kick. Thankfully, however, Harald Wapenaar had recovered from his ridiculous form of the QPR game, and pulled off a fine save to tip Kamara's penalty round the post and keep the scores level.

The save was to provide little comfort for Hartlepool fans, though, as Portsmouth were, by far the better side throughout the entire game. The home side managed, throughout the entire ninety minutes, just one shot on goal, and not a single one on target. Their only effort being a Joel Porter shot which flew three feet over the cross bar.

But, for the most part, they were kept in the game by the heroics of Wapenaar. A far cry from his comic performance of the previous week, Wapenaar was repelling all comers with an array of fantastic saves, many of which were to deny the hugely impressive Kamara. It was only ever going to take one goal for the visitors to snatch all three points, though, and that was proved true come the final whistle.

In the 61st minute, Kamara had broken down the right flank and skinned Davidson as he made his way to the byline. Instead of crossing into the six yard box where Lomano Lua-Lua and most of the Hartlepool defenders were waiting, he cut the ball back to the edge of the penalty area for the onrushing Barry Robson who drove a first time shot into the top corner of the net. Wapenaar had no chance with the shot, and all he could hope was that his team's strikers finally found their form in a game where they'd looked nothing but anaemic.

It wasn't to be, though. Hartlepool came of the pitch with their dreams dashed. Though it was still mathematically possible, the fact that there were five teams in the running for two spots, and that Hartlepool were already behind three of them did not instill much hope that they could force their way into the Premiership automatically. With a tough tie in Sunderland to round off the season, it looked very much like they would have to negotiate their way through the play-offs if they were to find themselves a Premiership team for the following season.

Hartlepool 0 - 1 Portsmouth (Robson 61")

retired_bbcarr

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * English First Division - Saturday 1st May 2004********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2003/4 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Pl Ipswich 45 14 7 2 46 16 8 6 8 28 29 79 2nd Pl Barnsley 45 16 3 4 60 31 7 6 9 33 38 78 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Pl Leicester 45 14 6 3 50 24 8 6 8 38 40 78 4th Pl HARTLEPOOL 45 15 3 5 62 33 8 6 8 41 47 78 5th Pl Norwich 45 15 4 3 38 17 8 5 10 31 33 78 6th Derby 44 16 5 2 65 34 5 5 11 25 43 73 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7th Sunderland 45 15 3 4 45 21 5 9 9 27 37 72 8th Watford 45 16 0 7 56 39 5 9 8 44 50 72 9th Reading 45 11 9 2 36 19 7 7 9 33 35 70 10th Cardiff 45 13 3 6 51 35 7 4 12 30 46 67 </pre>

mrsevans7177

Ashton = Legend (can't you tell i'm a Crewe fan :p)

Promotion seems so close, how can you keep up the bloody suspense

retired_bbcarr

ashton has been fantastic in his two years, so far. not just scoring goals but getting assists as well

---------------------------

English Championship: Sunderland vs Hartlepool - Stadium of Light - Sunday 9th May 2004

It all rested on the next ninety minutes. Five teams could still walk away with the title, all were guaranteed at least the consolation of a place in the play-offs. But every single one of them was desperate for a finish in the top two and the automatic right to play in the Premiership the following season. The only one of the five teams at home were Norwich, and that, in the minds of many, gave them the upper hand, despite the fact that they went into the day sitting in 5th spot. Barnsley and Ipswich, who began the day in the coveted positions, were away at Reading and Cardiff respectively whilst Leicester travelled to Bradford.

Stephen Lovell passed a late fitness test to pull on the blue and white jersey for (hopefully) the final outing of the season, and he would partner Dean Ashton with Australian international Joel Porter dropping to the bench. With defeat at home to Portsmouth still ringing in their minds, Hartlepool knew that they would have to get off to a quick start if they were to overcome their nerves and get the result they so desperately need out of this tie.

And start quickly they did. Within sixty seconds Ashton had forced a tremendous save from Sunderland's Hungarian 'keeper Márton Fülop, and just two minutes later the Black Cats' #1 had to be on top of his form again, this time to tip a long range drive from Stuart Wardley over the bar. The early breakthrough that every side in the battle craved came for 'Pool in the tenth minute of the match, when Wardley's run to the byline and cross was met by the head of Lovell and his effort bulleted past Fülop and into the net.

Within three minutes, though, Rob Watson received news that both Leicester and Ipswich were leading in their respective games. Both had scored since Lovell netted for 'Pool, and though Barnsley and Norwich were still being held at 0-0, it wouldn't be enough to see Rob's men into the top two.

And the day got worse for Rob in the twentieth minute of the match. Inattentive defending from Callum Davidson let Paul Reid free down the right flank, and the youngster used it to full advantage. When level with the penalty area, he cut inside centre half Bobby Mann and steadied himself for a shot on his right foot. And te shot he unleashed with said foot ripped past Wapenaar and into the top corner of the net. It was all looking like going horribly pear shaped for 'Pool, but there was some relief in the fact that they learnt Cardiff had equalised against Ipswich, so if they could regain the lead in Sunderland then there was still a chance.

And they did regain the lead. With ten minutes left before the break, Stephen Lovell latched onto Gavin Strachan's pass, and squared a ball across the six yard box for his partner in crime, Dean Ashton, to tap home into the unguarded net. With fifty five minutes of playing time still to go, there was a lot of time for it to go wrong, but as it stood, 'Pool would be going up with Leicester.

The second half provided little excitement at the Stadium of Light. Hartlepool had done their job and they heeded their manager's instructions to play a 10-0-0 formation in the second halff, and if they could have got away with it, I'm sure he would have had all eleven players form a wall across the goal line. But, as it was, they didn't need to. The final whistle came, and their 2-1 lead was still in tact. All they needed now, was to find out the results from the other games.

At the Madejski Stadium, Barnsley had been held to a 0-0 draw with Reading, which left the visitors on 79 points. A second half double from Kenny Miller meant that Bradford had prevailed over Leicester 2-1, leaving Micky Adams' men with 78 points. Norwich had fallen to a 1-0 defeat at home to Tranmere, and they also finished on 78 points, whilst Cardiff had snatched a second in the 60th minute, giving them a 2-1 win over Ipswich, which gave the Portman road boys a final tally of 79 points. So, the three that Hartlepool had gained at Sunderland, leaving them with a total of 81 points, was not only good enough to see them up automatically, it was enough to win them the title. And how fitting it was that fans' player of the year Dean Ashton had scored the goal which eventually took Hartlepool to the Premiership.

Sunderland 1 - 2 Hartlepool (Stephen Lovell 10"; Reid 20"; Ashton 35")

retired_bbcarr

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * English First Division - Monday 31st May 2004********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2003/4 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st C HARTLEPOOL 46 15 3 5 62 33 9 6 8 43 48 81 2nd P Ipswich 46 14 7 2 46 16 8 6 9 29 31 79 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Barnsley 46 16 3 4 60 31 7 7 9 33 38 79 4th P Leicester 46 14 6 3 50 24 8 6 9 39 42 78 5th Norwich 46 15 4 4 38 18 8 5 10 31 33 78 6th Derby 46 16 5 2 65 34 6 5 12 30 46 76 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7th Watford 46 16 0 7 56 39 6 9 8 48 53 75 8th Sunderland 46 15 3 5 46 23 5 9 9 27 37 72 9th Portsmouth 46 13 2 8 41 29 8 7 8 33 39 72 10th Reading 46 11 10 2 36 19 7 7 9 33 35 71 11th Cardiff 46 14 3 6 53 36 7 4 12 30 46 70 12th Bradford 46 11 7 5 46 33 9 2 12 41 47 69 13th Q.P.R. 46 15 4 4 42 28 3 7 13 25 45 65 14th Wigan 46 11 5 7 46 31 6 5 12 28 42 61 15th Nottm Forest 46 12 8 3 43 29 4 5 14 29 45 61 16th Wolves 46 11 5 7 31 26 5 6 12 28 40 59 17th Sheff Utd 46 14 1 8 43 29 4 2 17 27 56 57 18th Millwall 46 11 5 7 54 41 4 6 13 36 51 56 19th Bristol City 46 7 9 7 44 39 7 3 13 38 40 54 20th Preston 46 10 8 5 41 36 4 2 17 28 61 52 21st Tranmere 46 9 8 6 35 32 4 3 16 17 40 50 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------22nd R Stockport 46 7 6 10 40 44 6 3 14 30 52 48 23rd R Stoke 46 12 2 9 36 32 2 2 19 22 57 46 24th R Gillingham 46 5 6 12 25 40 1 3 19 17 55 27 </pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** Hartlepool United - Wednesday 12th May 2004********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2003/4 Senior Club Stats============================================= ================================================== =No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10 Ashton, Dean 37 (1) 24 0 0 8 1 0 9 8.08 20 Brackstone, John 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 30 Carbon, Matthew 35 (3) 3 0 0 5 1 0 0 7.03 27 Carpenter, Richard 23 (3) 9 0 2 (1) 5 5 0 0 7.19 24 Chilvers, Liam 39 (1) 2 0 1 (1) 2 9 0 0 6.95 6 Clyde, Mark 16 (1) 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.59 - Coleman, Tony - - - - - - - - ---- 12 Davidson, Callum 42 0 0 0 4 3 1 1 6.88 50 Duncan, Kevin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- 5 Edwards, Robert 17 (3) 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 6.40 19 Fotheringham, Martin 13 (2) 0 0 0 6 2 0 1 7.20 15 Harper, James 20 (1) 2 0 0 4 1 1 0 6.81 8 Humphreys, Ritchie 16 (8) 3 0 0 2 2 0 0 6.96 14 Lovell, Stephen 27 17 0 1 (1) 6 2 1 7 7.85 21 Lovell, Stuart 13 (1) 3 0 0 2 0 0 0 7.21 16 Mann, Bobby 30 (1) 6 0 0 1 0 0 1 7.16 - Middleton, Sean - - - - - - - - ---- 3 Partridge, David 11 (3) 0 0 0 3 1 0 1 7.07 9 Porter, Joel 22 (17) 13 0 0 7 4 1 4 7.31 7 Quashie, Nigel 36 (3) 8 0 0 9 5 0 1 7.18 13 Rachubka, Paul 3 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 7.33 22 Robson, Mattie - - - - - - - - ---- 18 Strachan, Gavin 24 (2) 6 0 0 2 1 0 0 7.27 23 Sweeney, Anthony 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.00 17 Tudor, Shane 24 (2) 4 0 0 9 0 0 0 6.85 1 Wapenaar, Harold 49 0 92 0 0 2 0 2 7.14 29 Wardley, Stuart 37 9 0 0 8 2 0 1 7.32 11 Williams, Alex 18 (9) 12 0 1 (1) 3 0 0 1 7.37 26 Williamson, Michael 14 (2) 1 0 0 1 2 1 0 6.75 </pre>

shannon2007

YAY \o/

Well done Simon, you really dragged that out :p

Bet you had no nails left

retired_bbcarr

cheers, stuart i was pleased with how much longer than necessary i managed to spin that out and my fingers were nigh on bleeding with the amount of nail biting that went on

------------------------------------------

July - 15th November 2004

In preparation for our debut Premiership campaign, we suffered a huge blow when both Celtic and Charlton met the £6,000,000 release clause in Dean Ashton's contract. There was simply nothing we could do to stop our star leaving as he moved north to join Martin O'Neill's quest for glory. At least there was one positive in that the sale of Ashton paid for the upgrade of the stadium to allow us to play in the top flight. Victoria Park went from a 7,000 capacity with 4,000 seats to a 13,454 all-seater ground (admittedly, it would be pretty much the smallest in Premiership history).

Alan Shearer, released by Newcastle at the end of the previous season, was the man that Rob brought in to replace Ashton. With a wealth of experience and requiring only a one year contract, it seemed a pretty ideal move for all involved. It looked for a moment, though, like Rob might leave 'Pool when England sacked Sven and he applied for the national post, but Steve Bruce was hired ahead of him and Rob had to go back to building his squad for the upcoming campaign.

Nicky Weaver came in on a free transfer whilst Swiss left back Reto Ziegler joined from Spurs for £2M. One of the most sought after defenders of the lower leagues, Michael Dawson, arrived at Victoria Park with a £2,000,000 price tag from Nottimghan Forest whilst it cost Rob £2,8000,000 to get John Curtis through the door from West Ham. Salif Diao was brought in from Liverpool for £1.8M and when Chris Burke joined from Rangers for £2M, Rob felt that his squad was complete.

The season began with a disappointing performance at the Reebok Stadium which left them with a 2-0 defeat against Bolton, despite the fact that the home side were reduced to ten men in just the 12th minute with the score at 0-0. Mark Clyde and Ritchie Humphreys were sold off (to Barnsley and Bristol City respectively) before the visit of Liverpool to Victoria Park in a game which, despite being a sell-out, was a new record low attendance for the league. The TV camera did little to inspire Hartlepool, and Liverpool came away with a 2-1 win, and when Rob's men lost 1-0 at Newcastle fourteen days later, they realised just how difficult this league was going to be.

The visit of Arsenal provided momentary hope as Michael Dawson gave 'Pool the lead ont he stroke of half time, but second half goals from Robin van Persie and Gilberto Silva wrapped up the points for the London outfit. Their first win of the season came in the League Cup when, despite falling 2-0 behind at home to Boston, goals from Lovell, Porter and Fotheringham dug them out of the hole and got them through to the next round. A visit to Fulham in the league saw Burke and Shearer get their first goals for the club, but with Fulham netting three on the day, they were goals that meant little.

So, with August and September having come and gone, Hartlepool's league position was not looking its most healthy.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">10th Bolton 6 2 1 1 6 4 0 0 2 1 3 7 11th Middlesbrough 6 2 1 1 6 5 0 0 2 1 3 7 12th Aston Villa 6 2 1 1 4 2 0 0 2 0 4 7 13th W.B.A. 6 2 1 1 4 4 0 0 2 0 3 7 14th Leicester 6 1 1 2 5 6 1 0 1 1 4 7 15th Charlton 5 1 0 0 2 0 0 3 1 4 5 6 16th West Ham 6 1 0 1 3 2 0 1 3 2 6 4 17th Blackburn 6 0 3 1 4 5 0 0 2 0 3 3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18th Birmingham 5 0 0 1 0 2 0 3 1 2 4 3 19th Ipswich 6 1 0 1 2 2 0 0 4 1 11 3 20th HARTLEPOOL 5 0 0 2 2 4 0 0 3 2 6 0 </pre>


But, in the end, their first win was just around the corner. Fellow promoted side Leicester had started the season much better than 'Pool, but when the Foxes came calling, goals from Burke, Strachan and a Shearer double saw Hartlepool crush them 4-0 at Victoria Park. The momentum was stopped pretty quickly, however, as Man City (thanks to a Jason Koumas double) put 'Pool back on losing terms. Those losing terms were continued at the Hawthorns thanks to a Rob Earnshaw hat-trick giving the home side a 3-0 win, but a Chris Burke goal at Victoria Park against Blackburn found them a 1-0 win (though they stayed rooted to the bottom of the table).

In the league cup third round, Joel Porter hit two and his efforts were added to by Shane Tudor and Martin Forhteringham as Brentford were swept aside 4-1, and then 'Pool gained their first away points of the season in the league. Chris Burke had got things underway, but Lee Hendrie soon cancelled out his effort. But a hat-trick from James Harper meant that 'Pool walked away from Villa Park with a hugely impressive 4-1 success. But again their joy was short lived as they lost 2-1 at home to Chelsea in their next game, although they were, at least, out of the relegation zone and sitting in 16th place.

The league cup 4th round saw Stoke visit Victoria Park, and goals from Tudor, Mann and Lovell saw the home side through to a quarter final tie at Anfield. They were sure from that moment that their run in this particular cup was over. In the league, they next travelled to Old Trafford, and though the scoreline at the end of the ninety minutes read 3-0 to the home side, it could, in truth, have been far far higher as Man Utd battered 'Pool throughout the game and only some good saves from Weaver kept the scoreline in single figures.

That, however, was to be Rob's last game in charge of Hartlepool. With the club sitting in 17th, he got an offer he simply could not refuse. At the start of November, Derby had seen fit to part ways with manager Nigel Clough. After losing the play-off final in the previous season, Derby's start to this campaign had been dire, and a 3-2 home defeat to Preston left them rooted to the foot of the table. So Clough was relieved of his position, and Rob applied for the vacant job. Two days after the Man Utd trouncing, Rob was offered the post at Pride Park and he took it without a moment's hesitation. He could finally get on with the business of becoming the new Brian Clough.


Hartlepool Managerial Record:

Games Played: 166
Games Won: 77
Games Drawn: 31
Games Lost: 58
Goals Scored: 338
Goals Conceded: 271