Julia Newton – Chairperson
I have been a supporter of the Football Club for close to 40 years and a season ticket holder for a significant number of years. Along with my husband I attend hospitality events at the club, making lifelong friends while supporting Pools. I also joined as a member of the Trust when it was set up and I fully support the ambition to work in partnerships, to develop a successful football club that benefits the town and the community.
I have a background in finance and am currently working in Human Resources, where I have gained extensive project management experience. Skills include working with people, good organisation, integrity and reliability.
My role as Chair is to oversee and implement the overall strategic aims of HUST, as well as acting as the main liaison between HUST, the Football Club and other Supporters groups. I am keen to promote HUST to those HUFC supporters who may not recognise what the key benefits of a Supporters’ Trust are.
Alastair Shepherd – Vice-Chair / Social Media Officer
I first watched Pools back in 1984 and I got to enjoy the glory days of 90/91 – that kind of raw emotion and joy never leaves you despite 40 years of ups and downs since. Over the years I’ve stood or sat in most areas of the ground, often with my dad and daughter.
We’re thankful that Mr. Singh stepped in when he did in 2017 but there are challenges ahead and I really believe that putting fans at the centre of decisions will stand us in good stead for years to come, to the benefit of both owners and supporters. Our club is blessed with loyal, passionate fans, whichever side of the ground they prefer and I’m here to help HUST with communication, which we want to be very much a two way thing. I was director at a UK Top 100 architectural practice for 15 years and am now work alongside a property development company. My professional role requires clear communication, which has been central to the success of many prominent developments around the country.
I have overall responsibility for HUST social media and the website, also supporting with member communications and developing new ideas in which to engage members, HUFC supporters and the wider community. As vice-chair I am also here to support our chairperson and team, to help drive forward initiatives that promote Pools in the wider community.
Ed Parkinson – Community Engagement Officer / Communications
I can’t remember my first Pools match – my grandad was club secretary (for getting on 50 years!) and started taking me to matches with him as soon as I was old enough not to irritate everybody!
Since then, I’ve always attended matches regularly, although over a decade working and living abroad made getting to the Vic more difficult than I would have liked in recent seasons, particularly at the height of Covid! Even so, I’ve continued to write positively about Pools for When Saturday Comes and also contribute features to the HUST website.
I joined HUST as soon as it was formed and now that I’m back in the North-East permanently I’ve got my season ticket and am keen to help the trust and support Pools in any way I can.
Jo Grylls – Community Engagement Officer
My love for Pools and a wish to see it become a sustainable and community orientated club led me to become involved with the Hartlepool United Supporters’ Trust. I believe in the aims and goals of the Trust, and I believe that all fans are an integral part of any football club, investing their time and money to follow their Team through thick and thin!
Communication and liaison is a big part of the role, building relationships with the Club, community and other agencies and playing a key role in the dialogue between Football Supporters Association, HUST and the Club.
My current role is to help promote HUFC as a community orientated Football Club, developing and supporting events that also help encourage as many people in the wider community as possible feel safe and comfortable attending Victoria Park.
Stephen Poxon – Content Provider and Community Officer
Although I nowadays live in Hertfordshire, I follow Pools as closely as possible, making my way to as many matches as I can every season. These are mostly away fixtures, within reach of St. Albans, but I also like to get to Victoria Park around six times a season.
Having previously lived in Hartlepool, Hartlepool United is very special to me, and I would count it a privilege to play even a small part in helping the club as best I can, especially at present when things aren’t going so well (although let’s hope that changes soon!)
I am married, with two adult children, and I am a freelance writer, recently publishing a book called ‘Poolies at Heart’.
My mum lives in Billingham, so I come up to see her as often as I can, visiting my dad’s resting place in Stranton Cemetery. Having read a fair bit about the history of the town, and with those family connections, the area and the football team mean a lot to me.
Marc Gilfoyle
With both my parents being from Hartlepool, I have been a Pools fan for as long as I can remember despite never actually living there. I watched the team as a boy/teenager with my family and more recently some away games on my own too – when family & work demands allow! Earliest memory would be a home game vs Carlisle probably early 90s but later I loved watching Ian Clark tear defences apart and also the strong run to the League 1 Playoff Final at Cardiff in 2005.
Martin Corner
My Mum locking herself out of the car in Middleton Grange Shopping centre in 1978 was the start of my lifelong love affair with Pools. Having walked to the Vic to call my Dad over the tannoy (much to his embarrassment), 4 year old me watched transfixed at what was going on in front of me and then begged to stay with Dad at the match, that was it, every game from then on. Pools has never just been about being a football nut (as I was) which is what you tend to believe when you are young, it’s about the family routines (after every match whole family had Dinner at my Grans and my job was running to get the Sports mail from Rift House newsagents), the faces and people you get to know at the match and most importantly the role a club like Pools plays in creating an identity for the town and the community.
I’ve moved around outside of the North East due to work and think the latter point is the most important of all, what is Hartlepool without Pools, without those mentions on TV every week when the result is read out, the pride in telling people you meet that you support Pools and the people it brings to the town from elsewhere.
The pressures on lower league football clubs in the time of mega money at the top and scraps at the bottom have hardened my belief that Supporters Trusts become ever more crucial in representing the real supporters and fighting for a community and it’s future. I want to keep taking my own kids and eventually Grandchildren to Pools so I would be honoured to help HUST carry on it’s great work in the community and it’s fight for Pools future survival and true fans representation in the Boardroom.
I’ve been a member of HUST from the beginning but losing my Dad last year, who shared a lifetime of Pools with me, has made me reflect on life’s priorities and I want to make time to support things that really matter hence me putting myself forward to join the Board and actively participate.In my professional life I have progressed into leadership positions in some large organisations so can bring that experience into the mix, dealing with difficult egos and managing business cases and communications could be useful, but mostly I will bring total passion for Pools and the fans.
Stephen Smith
Hello,
Let me introduce myself – I am a 61 year old retired postal worker, who worked there for almost 20 years, and I’ve been married to my wife for 36 years. I’m also a long suffering Pools fan! I attended my first match as a seven year old in 1971 and have in the past travelled to watch Pools on the road, as well as getting to as many home games as I can.
I am a firm believer that our club should have fan representation on the board. I feel that I have a lot to offer to the HUST, having been a co-opted member for 12 months prior to joining the board in 2025. I will help out in any way I can. I also have connections with the local council, as a Parish councillor for Greatham. I sit on two committees in the council, regeneration and neighbourhoods.
UTP