Hartlepool United release Widdrington and Ross

By Albatross
May 15 2003

Hartlepool United have confirmed the release of Tommy Widdrington and Brian Ross. While the departure of Ross was expected, Widds will be very disappointed to find himself on his way out of the club.

Rumours had been circulating for a while that Widds was going to be released, and it's a sad end to his time at Pools. He's played a big part this season, and although he's not getting any younger - he'll be 32 in October - there are a lot of fans who felt he could do a job for is in Div2.

Widdrington originally arrived at Pools in the summer of 2001, but didn't exactly make a great start. The new midfield trio of Tinkler, Widdrington and Stephenson just didn't click, and Widds was the one getting a lot of the flak; and a penalty miss against Scunthorpe didn't help his case.

The switch to 4-4-2 helped though, and he won most of the fans over as his ability to break down attacks, provide an outlet for the defence and play the simple ball well came to the fore. He even got on the scoresheet a couple of times, but an injury picked up at the end of January last year was to prove serious enough that at one point doubts were raised over his future career. Initially thought to be a leg problem, it turned out to be Tommy's back that was the cause and he didn't make it back to first team action until the end of August.

His whole-hearted enthusiasm this season has made him very popular with most fans, and he's appeared in 34 games for Pools this season; however the injury that he suffered after scoring twice against Rochdale meant he missed the next game and was only on the bench at Rushden.

The release of Brian Ross is much less likely to cause eyebrows to be raised. After signing professional terms and winning the "Young Player of the Year" award back in 2000/1, he then suffered a series of injuries following an ill-fated loan spell at Norwegian club Fana, and has never made the breakthrough to the first team. This season he has found himself out on loan to Bishop Auckland, and the writing has been on the wall for his Pools career for some time.

So why are Pools waving goodbye to Widds - a decision that Mike Newell has described as "the hardest I've had to make"? Well, there's little doubt that he's been one of the highest earners at the club, and every team in the league is looking to keep wages under control: and with Watson gone and Widds going, two of the highest earners at the club will have left. By doing this Newell may have the budget he needs to bring in 4-5 other players who will strengthen the squad. There's a lot of talented players looking for new clubs this summer, and wage levels look certain to decrease for many of them.

The question remains who Pools are looking to bring in. Has Newell already got replacements lined up? If so, do they offer more to the team than Widdrington? Or is it purely a case of having to economise? Once more, all we can do is wait and see.