Introducing the Pools 200 Club!

Vic Park
By Albatross
October 27 2005

Pools Online has a new feature: The Pools 200 Club. Over the next few months, Pools Online will give you a potted history of the careers of the players that have played most for the club in the Post-War era.

So what's all this about?

Well, to badly paraphrase Shakespeare, "All the World's a pitch, and the people merely Footballers. They have their transfers and their retirements, and each in his time plays in many positions, sometimes for many clubs." Players come, and players go: sometimes they leave no imprint on the memory of the fans, while others achieve legendary status.

However, any list of Hartlepool United Heroes is sure to be a cause of some debate. Some will want to know why a particular player is missing; others why someone is regarded as a legend at all. A Hall of Fame will inevitably be somewhat arbitrary.

This particular arbitrary list then is of the players that have played for Hartlepool United the most. To be part of the 200 Club List, a player has to have played in 200 or more League matches for Pools since the Second World War.

Over the next few months you'll get to hear about players from 50 years ago, and others from today; some famous, others infamous. And about the only thing they have in common is that they spent a significant amount of their career playing at the Vic.

There's an opportunity to help out as well. Being the young whipper-snapper that I am (!) my recollections of players from before the late 1980s are quite literally non-existant. So if you have any memories or stories to tell about the players on the list, why not email me a contribution? You'll be credited on the article, and can bask in the warm glow of knowing you've helped keep alive in Poolie Folklore someone that would otherwise become just a name - so get walking down Memory Lane!