Mention of the Bill being proposed by Chester MP Chris Matheson in last week’s Terrace Thoughts has generated some positive feedback and a request for regular updates – the best way to follow the progress of the Bill, and to see what else Chris is doing on behalf of we ‘proper football fans’, is to follow him on twitter @ChrisM4Chester
I’m sure that we’ll be returning to Chris’s Bill in the very near future.
Well, the pre-season friendlies are progressing nicely and we are now only weeks away from the opening game against Sutton United. Pools are set to be live on television twice in the opening months of the new National League season after BT Sport confirmed their first batch of selected fixtures for 2019/20. This is always an opportunity to show a wider audience how good (or bad) we are; and for certain players to model new barnets. Personally I’m frustrated with our first TV outing – our home game against Woking on Saturday 7th September has been chosen for live broadcast and, as a result, it will now kick-off at the later time of 7.30pm. 7.30pm on a Saturday night! That’s no good for those of us who have to travel for several hours to and from the town – or for those who need to be home for BGT or whatever – and it makes the pre-match drink a potentially dangerous few hours…………….
Craig Hignett’s men will also be on the box for our trip to Stockport County, with the fixture having been moved back 24 hours to Wednesday 9th October at Edgeley Park (7.45pm kick-off). This is a fixture that I’ve been looking forward to since Stockport won promotion – I’ve always enjoyed our visits to Edgeley Park – and a few pre-match pints of Robinsons.
Anyway, as the season is fast approaching we are now in the final rounds of the Summer Quiz and the answers to last week’s questions are as follows:
41. Who did we beat in the FA Cup on 17 December 1991?
Darlington!!! Goals from Paul Dalton and Brian Honour doing the damage.
42. Paul Baker scored for Pools in front of a crowd of 12,507 on 4 January 1992 – who were we playing that day?
Ipswich Town at Portman Road.
43. 6,700 crammed into The Vic on 15 January 1992 to see Pools play who?
Ipswich Town – who won 2-0.
44. Who beat us in the FA Cup on 28 February 1978?
Ipswich Town – in front of a crowd of 24,207, we lost 4-1 with our goal coming from Derek Downing. It was a long journey back but we didn’t care – the team had tried, they’d done well against quality opposition, we’d lost but in an enjoyable fashion, those were good days to be a Poolie……………
45. Outside of playing for Pools, what do David Linighan and Tommy Miller have in common?
Both played for Ipswich Town.
And next five questions are as follows:
46. Who was the first manager of Hartlepools United?
47. Who was the first chairman of Hartlepools United?
48. Who was the first chairman of Hartlepool United Supporters’ Trust?
49. Who is the current chairman of Hartlepool United Supporters’ Trust?
50. Who won the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2018 and have been providing amazing services to folk with disabilities since 2001?
Earlier this year HUST helped some former Poolies hold a fundraising day to support the Len Johnrose Trust, raising money for Lenny who has been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. The event generated over £2,000 and now the South East Poolies have very kindly donated a signed HUFC Poppy shirt to raise more money for the Len Johnrose Trust. HUST are offering this for auction so that someone can get their hands on this fantastic piece of rare HUFC memorabilia. The auction will close on Friday 19th of July at 17:00 and the person with the highest bid submitted to HUST on social media or by email to membership@hufcsupporterstrust.org.uk at that time will win the shirt. Well done to the South East Poolies for their generous donation – and to HUST for continuing their work in support of this cause.
And now some good news – Four years ago, a football club from a tiny village in Yorkshire went to Wembley and won the FA Trophy. The following season they earned promotion to the National League, the fifth tier of English football, where they would rub shoulders with former Football League clubs such as Lincoln City and Tranmere Rovers. A lot has changed since then. A great article on the phoenixing of North Ferriby FC – here.
And to my final (not so) quick points:
a. John’s football website of the week – @ChrisM4Chester – it simply has to be the twitter account of our current hero.
b. Financial Crisis of the week – Creditors of Bury FC have asked for more time to consider a rescue plan for the newly-promoted club. A decision on a proposed company voluntary arrangement (CVA) which would ensure Bury’s survival was adjourned at a meeting of the League One club’s creditors on 9 July. Steven Wiseglass, a director at Inquesta Corporate Recovery & Insolvency, who is the nominee for the proposed CVA, said: “The creditors have adjourned their decision pending further negotiations and are scheduled to meet again on Thursday, July 18. We continue to work closely with the club, its director and the creditors to try to ensure a successful outcome.”
Bury FC is facing a winding-up petition led by HM Revenue & Customs over unpaid debts – the total of which seems to grow by the week. Add to this that the club is losing players due to non-payment of wages, are being kicked out of their training ground (for non-payment of rent) by Manchester City, and one can only ask when, rather than if, this will end in tears.
c. Notts County Watch: the agony continues as the potential buyers from South Africa pull out and are replaced by a Danish group. The tax man had them back in Court on Wednesday (10 July) and the local Council is promising not to sell the freehold of Meadow Lane. But they survive, again, on the assumption that the new owners will be in place by 17 July.
d. Gateshead comment of the week: Left-back Scott Barrow has agreed a new one-year deal at Gateshead Football Club after Hartlepool United failed to reignite their interest in the Welshman. So says Dominic Scurr in Monday’s Hartlepool Mail! Apparently Barrow was set to sign for Pools last summer but instead opted to stay loyal to the Heed and agree a new deal as club captain. Following Gateshead’s demotion to the National League North, the Welshman had to weigh up his options as he was keen to stay in the north east and would have been interested in a move to the Super 6 Stadium. According to Scurr, “Many Poolies were keen for United to sign the 30-year-old full-back this summer but the club didn’t come back in for the player as he’s now chosen to sign a for a third year at the International Stadium”. If you say so Dominic – I can’t recall any such discussions on the terrace or in a bar – but, isn’t it good to have someone writing for the Mail who has some experience in the field (Dominic worked with Gateshead FC) and doesn’t write every article in the style of a shopping list?
e. The fans suffer again – for the third week on the trot it has to be the Barcodes. Sam Allardyce said no to a return to St James’! Says it all really.
f. So which groups of fans will suffer next? I’m afraid I return to Bolton Wanderers. This week we have learnt that their debts exceed £25m (including £6,000 for cheeses pasties) and, whilst a preferred bidder is in place, time until the start of the season is fast running out.
In Raj we trust. Well, we have to.
Pip Pip
John