As we head towards the end of yet another eventful year following Pools it feels like the right time for a brief roundup of the last twelve months from the HUST board’s point of view.

Rapid managerial changes have become the norm at the club but since John Askey’s sacking on December 30th last year the pace has been frantic. The ousting of Kevin Phillips’ surprised many fans nearly as much as it surprised Kevin who had been offered a new contract by the Chairman shortly
before being sacked by the Board the same Chairman had appointed! The Board then gave the job to Darren Sarll.

Once Sarll’s brief tenure was mercifully ended, the Board appointed one of its own members, Lennie Lawrence, as the replacement. An unusual approach, but results have improved, the players seem happier, and we can all hope for a better second half of the season. However, the instability and lack of a clear plan to take the club forward mean that steady progress back towards the Football League remains unlikely under the current ownership. We’re only ever a run of bad results from a sacking and sudden change of direction.

Which brings us to the subject that has occupied a great deal of the HUST board’s time in 2024 – the attempted consortium takeover. At the AGM last week we explained that the legal costs of the takeover campaign came to £17,000 in the financial year 2023-24. This level of spending reflects the fact that in January we were playing a leading role in a consortium which made numerous, serious bids to take control of the club. Everyone involved believed that we were in genuine negotiations and incurred expenses. It is also worth remembering that at our first meeting Mr Singh told us that he was minded to stop funding the club in February. In the circumstances, we felt obliged to act. Later, a further, very much quieter, attempt at a takeover was made. Again, this involved lawyers from both sides and costs were generated as we believed an agreement was close. These costs were shared equally between the consortium partners. Ultimately a deal wasn’t agreed but we were certainly taken seriously as credible buyers throughout.

The costs incurred show just how far discussions got. With our partners we set out a convincing vision for the club - a club the whole town could be proud of - with the aim of owning a share of the club being vital to achieving democratic supporter representation. Some of HUST’s costs have already been covered by the lottery which continues to raise substantial funds year on year thanks to the generous support of so many members and fans.

Obviously, we’re disappointed that the takeover didn’t happen but we do feel that we’ve gained a lot. We’re now confident that we could pull an emergency consortium together if the club was in jeopardy. We’re also still in touch with our consortium partners and hopeful about the prospect of working with some or all of them again should the opportunity arise.

Another important point is that when we were forming the consortium HUST’s community work, and positive approach to Pools as an asset that could benefit the whole town, was one of the factors that made business people and local politicians keen to work with us. It is really pleasing to see that some
of the initiatives we championed such as Rainbow Laces, Downs Syndrome Day and Autism Acceptance have been embraced by the club. This year’s match visit from The Salaam Community Centre in the aftermath of the riots was another one that we’re particularly proud of, and we should add that the support and additional tickets for this initiative from the club, particularly Sarah Rowntree, was appreciated enormously. These things might not always seem directly relevant to football but they’re great indicators of the type of inclusive club we want to represent our town, and ultimately can help bring new supporters to the Vic.

Looking forward, we wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy, prosperous New Year that also brings success on the pitch and a stronger club off it. Plenty of points from the festive fixtures including a revenge win at Gateshead would be a great step in the right direction. There’s no point in being a Poolie if you’re not an optimist!


Yours


The HUST Board