While I apportion a little bit of the blame for all of this I wonder what he makes of it. For all the stick he got over the years some justified, he made sure everyone from our star player to the local pie supplier got paid on time for 18 years and handed over the club completely debt free. I hope he feels as sad and angry as the rest of us.

Sadly IOR attempted to sell us to 2 sets of conmen on the way out. A couple of them are serving jail time I believe...

I know that, I would just be very interested on what he had to say, not in his programme notes way where he’d blame financial fair play, VAT and always the council I’d like to know what he actually thought about all of this.

He’d probably think that all of the cloud cuckoo grass is always greener on the other side brigade who were desperate to get shit of him had got what they deserved.

I’d make him right actually to think that.

Hounded out by all those fans who thought he should put more and more into the club. It is sad that Russ only delivered 2 sets of conmen to take over but it shows how much IOR invested each year and with a lot of abuse for it.

Football has changed markedly in that time and even more so since the last Premiership deal. There are little prospects for any club our size to reach those heady heights again. Money rules now much more than ever before.

I reckon I’d most like to have a pint with Russ Green as he was there for the transition between responsibility with a few white lies (Hodcroft) and the road to outright asset stripping. I remember saying at the time that as others rejoiced as they had laddish banter with Coxall on Twitter I though Russ’s departure was a worrying turn of events. But his time was up really I just wish they’d have made as much effort to sell the club then as we all are now.

Russ and Ken should have done a hell of a lot more due diligence when selling the club.

The worst thing for me is that is that it wasn’t that they were even selling the club, they were giving it away. If you read about the ‘THM’ court case Hodcroft bent over backwards and covered the first months bills. They are in Jail now, hopefully the second choice will end up there as well. Imagine if they had thought outside the box then and gone to a Chris Musgrave with then he’d gone to the council? We were totally debt free.

I did say it at the time " be careful what you wish for" even that kernt Mr Horden was moaning about our central defensive partnership and striker when we were top 6 in league 1" and saying within 10 years we would be in the conference. Hope the miserable git is happy now.

I’d like to think he isn’t at all.

He isn't marra, believe me ! that's me not Ken. I'm probably less shocked than most , as I saw this coming, maybe a couple of years out , and not on this scale of shiteria.

No one sees anything coming, they have an opinion or a belief based on their own mindset that sometimes comes to fruition. End of.

I did HONEST ! I saw the financial crash coming in 2006, but then I'm no expert. I just used my powers of observation, a bit like tribal people did hundreds/thousands of years ago, when sensing impending doom/storm brewing. I do apologise if this sounds silly.

Our very own Mystic Meg

Thats me Marra ! though even I couldn't predict exactly what the next 5 years will bring for HUFC.

Unlike horden I didn't see the fiancial crisis coming but the results on the field for the last 4/5 years made predicting relegations fairly straightforward. Even the performance in th National League was signalled within the first few weeks with defeat at home to Dover, a club that had 18 new players intheir squad of 21 and losses to part-time teams. It is criminal that a club with the support we have, has performed so badly and a complete clear out is needed so that a fans run club can be launched. As mentioned elsewhere, clubs can rise from the ashes and regain EFL status. I will be joining the Trust as it represents the best option for the future imho.

You'll be saying the earth's flat next.

A can remember at the time a fair few people wanted him out and were whinging and wining about him left right and centre but I agree with what PJ said on this thread at least people were getting paid on time, Do you think we will be in this mess now if he was still at our club? Just a thought.

He did so want to buy the ground and nearly everyone said it was a bad idea, yet now nearly everyone thinks it's not a problem and a price worth paying to survive. Funny innit?

The same ken hodcroft who has us in 2 relegation battles before he left?

Credit to ken he paid the bills. But the club was on its arse n heading for the conference whilst he was here.

I’m probably just being a bit awkward because I’m up early but it shows how bad we have it that someone’s getting praised just cos he paid bills n wages. The absolute minimum requirement of owning a company.

Just gunna go wake our lass up n thank her for paying the leccy bill this month.



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Ken always reminded me of a constipated Easter Island statue, the reluctant babysitter of a clingy club.
What I was highlighting was how some fans suddenly think what was unacceptable is now OK, when oblivion is staring them in the face.
Relegation battles and financial crises have been the mainstay of my life supporting Pools, so Ken is nothing different to all the other owners, his trouble was it followed our only golden period so compare and contrast was his problem.

In hindsight if the club was on its arse then where is it now?

But also reflection yes his time was up at Pools but giving the club away for nothing to absolute conmen (twice) taints all that went before.

I didn’t start the thread for a Ken love in I’d just be genuinely interested at his thoughts.

Funny place to ask then! You could try IOR's offices in Aberdeen if you're that 'genuinely interested'.

Office? IOR Existed?

I suggest you have a look into that...

Ken Hodcroft is IORnhorn?

Used to work up in Dyce a fair bit in the Oil Industry and everyone always used to say "who?" when I asked about IOR.

Never even had a website.

IORnhorn is Kenkle

IOR came into being when Pools needed buying. They disappeared when Pools was sold. It's almost as if they were a vehicle for another company to offset losses of around a million a year somewhere.

Did I say losses? I meant "Administration fees".

You'll be telling me JPNG are a real recruitment company next...

He got rid of t because he could no longer fund it. If he was still here I suspect we wouldnt be. He also fell out with the council and got very mardy over it and sold us to absolute crooks. Be careful about re-writing history. Nobody wanted the Ken Hodcroft from 2007 out but the one from about 2011 onwards was not the same.

Even as an Oil company they were a pretty mickey mouse outfit.

Always remember the headline in The Fail, " The Oil Man Cometh " As though we were being taken over by Texaco or Shell.

We didn't do too badly out of it though did we?

Wasn't Ken's panic stricken desire to get rid of Club, one that had paid him a decent wedge for a few years, driven by a report that a "Grauniard" journo was sniffing round a number of clubs? Pools and Swindon Town were mentioned among others if I remember rightly.

By our previous standards no, but we still never won anything , other than a couple of promotions. We still haven't won a title in 110 years of existence, an unbelievable record.

He's sitting in his cabin, feeling a tinge rueful, repeating over and over "Man, that fucking Oldham game."

Once the real owner of IOR, Berg Larsen had been jailed and money from Kurdish/Iraqi oilfields was being interrupted the days of Pools ownership were numbered. They wanted the ground as it would have made the club easier to sell. We should be thankful for the early, successful years of IOR’s ownership but equally that they didn’t get to buy the ground.
As for Hodcroft. There were no emotional ties to the club. He was a hard headed businessman (which was for the most part a plus as the club was very well run)and once the club became a burden he just wanted shot. It was frustrating for him that he couldn’t sell it quick enough and used VAT bills, financial fair play etc as a smokescreen to hide the lack of will to invest further.
Having said all that it was the club i. e him who pulled the plug on the TMH fiasco. But his impatience to sell the club was such that he probably knew this lot were crooked but had passed FA due diligence which meant he could wash his hands.
He’s probably not crying himself to sleep at night.