CRAIG HIGNETT – HONORARY PRESIDENT
HUST’s Honorary President is a man who needs no introduction to Pools fans (or indeed the wider football family)… Craig Hignett!
We’re grateful to Craig for accepting our invitation at the start of 2023 and we will no doubt benefit from his footballing experience and knowledge, as a player, manager and director of football. It’s clear speaking with Craig that he has a huge affection for Pools.
“I was honoured to be asked by the Supporters’ Trust at Pools to be their honorary president. I hope I can use my experience, time in football and contacts to lend support where I can. It’s great that Pools fans are so passionate about the future of their club and I’ve seen the good work they do with community organisations.
“The trust is ultimately there to represent fans, so the more members there are the stronger the voice. I would urge all Pools fans to join up. The Trust have done well to build a fund that in the right circumstances will ultimately really benefit the club.
“I look forward to meeting again with HUST’s board and fans in the future but in the meantime get behind the team.“
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-Chairperson / Communications 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 have stood or sat in most areas of the ground, often with my 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.
Michael Weir – Diversity and People Officer
I have been attending matches since 1990 and, despite the pain it can cause, I want to continue to do this, hopefully with my son when he is old (but not wise) enough to attend with me.
In my profession, my focus and passion is on building relationships and developing people; with this it is sometimes important to offer constructive criticism and advice. I will continue to help develop our relationship with the club in this vein, including supporting with any people focused strategies and give any support that the Club might need. This focus has given me the opportunity to support the Football Club with development of some people strategies including policies and procedures .
In addition, my role also incorporates community work, in particular around Diversity and Inclusion. I’m proud of my role in reaching out to those who might not think Pools is for them and look to build on this further and have helped build links with Autism, LGBT+, Mental Health and Homeless organisations, amongst others. I also lead on HUST’s Community Tickets initiative.
Tom Atkinson – Secretary
I was born in Stockton and was brought up on a farm outside Hartlepool with one sister and two brothers, all of whom are farmers. I trained as a Chartered Accountant, qualifying in 1981, and admitted as a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in 1982. I trained at Wm Fortune & Son in Hartlepool and worked my way up from the bottom becoming a partner in 1986. My first job after qualifying in 1982/83 was to be seconded to a firm of timber importers in Hull as Financial Accountant. My Russian O level was useful because the old Soviet Union was a major supplier of timber and I could at least deal with the invoices etc which were all in Russian. On the plus side, if any of the Russians came over there was an unending supply of vodka, sometimes for breakfast!
The rest of my working life has been spent in Church Square at Wm Fortune & Son, a short walk from the football ground. As a practising accountant most of the time is spent helping people, families and businesses to solve whatever challenges they come up against and try to plan for the future.
I have served as a governor of Houghall Agricultural College and East Durham College at Peterlee and am also a former president of Durham County Young Farmers Clubs. Currently I am a director of Northern Cross.
The first match I saw at the Victoria Ground was a 0-0 draw against Lincoln City in December 1970. In truth, the only thing I remember about the match was that the day was bitingly cold. The highlight of watching Pools has to be the trip to Cardiff in 2005 which coincided with our wedding anniversary. My wife organised a weekend in Wales which included the match.
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.
Mark Reeve – Membership Officer
My first Pools game was a cracker, the FA Cup victory over Crystal Palace in January 1993 which I went to with my dad. My love affair with the club began then, aged 7 and it’s something I want to share with my son, hopefully with the club in the football league still! I’ve been able to attend some of our best games in recent years and was in Cardiff for the day that almost was.
I’ve been a member of the trust for a year or two now and I believe that a strong relationship with the club can only be a good thing for both parties. My working background is in admin and customer services, and I believe I have strengths that can be put to use in helping to improve the bond between the trust and the club.
We as fans are all grateful that Raj Singh stepped in when he did, as the club might not have been here in its current form. I do believe that the club could be stronger with some sort of fan involvement, no matter how small and it’s my opinion that the supporters trust are best placed to offer that fan involvement.
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, presently working on a book called ‘Poolies at Heart’ which I hope will be published by Pitch Publishing and available in 2025.
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.
I joined the HUST board for 2025 onwards as I am attracted to helping the club’s current plight. I feel changes are needed, especially in challenging circumstances in the National League. A healthy supporters trust and therefore football club can only benefit the town & community which I’m passionate about.
Benjy Meggs
I am a lifelong Hartlepool United fan with 15 years’ experience working Financial and Contractual roles in a multi-national company. I have been an off and on member of HUST since its inception and have followed the groups progress. I believe that HUST has achieved some significant milestones which include:
1. Its formation which required a lot of administration and hard work.
2. Raising of funds, which provide a cushion should HUFC require financial support.
3. Providing a credible alternative ownership in the form of the recent consortium.
I would like to contribute to the journey of HUST through the next phases of continued growth of members, raising additional funds and working with legitimate potential new owners should the current owner decide that he would like to end his ownership of the club.
I have met Raj Singh at a fans forum and can understand his perspective, which is important if HUST want to be part of the solution when the owner does eventually move on.
Over the years I have travelled home and away to watch matches, including on transport provided by various fans groups. I have spent many evenings in the Corner Flag, 1908 Bar and the Century Bar and have several useful connections should the time come for the multiple supporter groups to come together to support the survival, or progress of our club.
Co-Opted Members
The board also benefits from the experience of co-opted members. We have specialist accountancy and legal skills to draw on, as well as assistance with fundraising and financial oversight, particularly for our monthly, licensed lottery.
We’re incredible grateful for their support and expert advice.