Steve Agnew is Hartlepool United's new No. 2

By Albatross
June 23 2005

Hartlepool United have announced that former Sunderland player Steve Agnew is the new Assistant Manager at Victoria Park. Agnew joins from Leeds United, where he's been in charge of the reserves for the last two seasons. Is Martin Woods going to rejoin as well then?

Agnew will be 40 later this year, and has played for a number of clubs in a long career. He started off at Barnsley, spending about eight years there before moving on to Blackburn for £700K; he never made a breakthrough there though, making just four appearances in a year and a half and being farmed out on loan to Portsmouth before joining Leicester for a couple of years and then Sunderland where he teamed up with Scotty. Three seasons at York followed three with the Black Cats before he retired from the playing side. He then moved into coaching with the Middlesbrough Academy.

Agnew has spent two years with Leeds, acting as Reserve Team Manager and coaching with the first team - but has been persuaded to join up with Scott as part of the setup at Victoria Park. He seems to be looking forward to the role, telling the Official Leeds United Website that we're "a progressive club that have laid the foundations to be successful" and indicating that he wants to get started quickly in his new role.

Following Kevin Ball ruling himself out of contention it was widely believed Agnew would be the man to join Scotty, and so it has proved. The fact that someone involved in the senior coaching scene at a club like Leeds has left them to become the number two at Pools speaks volumes about how our image has changed; Scott and Agnew now have to go about making sure that state of affairs continues.