John Linacre was a lazy twat, but he did knock a few good goals in during his time at Pools.

Can't remember who we were playing, but having endured a load of stick from the Town End he popped a beauty in the top corner of the net from outside the box - and then gave us all a V-sign, which wasn't the Churchillian type.

Cheeky bastard..!!!

Rob Mckinnon the most gifted full back in the lower two divisions. He used to mesmerise me with his dribbling.

I used to rate Stephen Halliday, I sure with the proper coaching he have played at a much higher level.

I liked Halliday; really good at this level, but jumped ship to Sunderland & did Jack shit. Spoiled his legacy at Pools that.

Martin Burleigh might not have been out best 'keeper ever, but he was a bit of a character.

Remember seeing an article in the Mail where he claimed his training routine was doing press-ups with his wife sat on his back.

Aye Martin, 'course you did...!

Didn't he used to jogging bottoms in every game

Have to agree with you there, Rowlands was your typical aggressive hardcase centre half, he Billy Ayre, George Smith and Mick Tait were all in that

You mentioned 4 of the best and hardest players ever to pull on the pools shirt But the best centre half as a defender and also a hard man was the bloke Tubby took out of retirement by paying off his insurance pay off the ex Wimbledon player. Sorry his name escapes me at the moment but he retired again to run the family antiques shop in Thirsk Total quality proper centre half.

Another good solid centre back was Gary Strodder very reliable player.

I'm not sure, perhaps he did. You've got me scratching me heed now..!

Bet you're thinking of Mick Smith, Leggie ?

Yes kit kat that's the man thank you

Watty Moore Ken Johnson & Leo Harden ( flying Dustman ). All three top players of the past years. I never seen any of them play and would love to hear from any supporters who did although maybe non alive today? I met Leo Harding in the late 70s he was a friend of my dad and they used to drink in the Saxon. He was a lovely bloke who told me plenty of funny stories about the way the club was run. I met Ken many times in the sponsors lounge before he died. He was always talking about the goals he scored and another top bloke. Wattys son used to deliver stationery to me for many years and we often talked about his Dad who I believe was the " dogs bollocks " and awesome player.

Just found out Martin sadly passed away in 2021 aged 70. Apparently he played for 7 north east teams and a few more than once. R.I.P.

Bit before my time - but I remember Brian 'Flapper' Cox was a big fan of jogging bottoms

Loved Gary Strodder- he was a proper warrior!

Ian McGuckin was pretty handy too - often used to see him driving a green cavalier estate, back in the day

Remember we sold him to Fulham about a fortnight before Al Fhyed (the fat corner shop keeper) bought them and brought in Keegan as manager. Don't think he made his debut for about a year or so.

John MacPhail alongside Mick Smith- what a centre half pairing - both frightening and a big reason why we went up in '91. Very few soft goals conceded in those days!

Spot on Kettering

Come to think of it I may have gotten mixed up between the two of them

Today's equaliser

John Bird ex Newcastle United player. Total gentleman and ultimate professional footballer. That's the type of defender we no longer attract. Come to think of it do these tough central defenders even exist these days.

your last sentance tells the story because they do not exist. fans loved em but the authorities more or less got them out of the game with the rules. they,d hardly play half a dozen games nowadays as they,d be serving one suspension after another. even the look on their faces would receive a 5 match ban for intimidation. gone are the good old days of centre halfs and centre forwards kicking lumps out of each other and expecting it and then having a pint together after the game. if they had dived or pretended to be injured then the rest of the team would get revenge as quickly as possible. doubt we will see the likes ever again which is a pity for new fans.

You can’t have good old fashioned tough tackling players nowadays as they would be getting booked and sent off all the time.

Another reason football is fooooked now. It seems almost every decision made has been totally wrong since these clueless faceless people started tampering with our beautiful game. The goal line technology is the only one that springs to mind that is any good.

the reason that i find more reasons not to attend games rather than reasons to do so. its not laziness brought on by old age either or pools being crap. bit like the old pubs versus the new swanky modern places or owning a modern car that looks on steroids against the older ones built with style in mind. its one good thing about old age as you will not be around too long to see more changes for the worst.

Paul Bakers looping shot ( rinkend ) to cement promotion against Northampton 1991. He started as a centre back and was converted to a very successful forward. I cannot remember which manager it was that made that master stroke

What sport is the pretentious SUT (sports utility vehicle) built for…. Billiards.
They sell bland swanked up family saloons on jacked up suspension for silly prices that would be incapable of negotiating a car park puddle and too bloated for parking spaces.
I enjoyed that rant

can add so called off road vehicles to the list of crap. off road means you can park em in a supermarket car park and they have the available techknowledgy to park in your garage.

Bob Newtons 2 penalties ( 6-2 ) against the mighty Leeds United in the late seventies. Leeds refused to get ready in Pools changing rooms and instead got changed in either the Grand or the Staincliffe if memory serves we had 17400 crowd

Oh for players like that in the team now, he had a heart and the benefit of being ginger to fuel up the determination.

The Grand, too posh to poo that lot with their fancy dangly little epaulette's dangling from their stockings, God what condescending ego’s.
I suspect they wouldn’t change at the Vic because their ‘f&£king heads were too big fit through the changing room doors’.

I remember when he left Pools after a bit of wrangling that lead to some ill feeling and I believe he was Tyneside based and there was some complaint about the travelling and he wouldn’t sign a contract with Pools.… then he signed instead for Gillingham…the late Paul Mullen bless him said who did he think he was signing for…Billingham!!!

Yes he was from Wallsend and brother in law of Lee Clarke.

Probably my favourite memory of being a Pools supporter. I had to pay a couple of colleagues cash-in-hand to cover for me at work that day, and it was worth every penny.

A first-team that barring injuries named itself for an entire season.

Is it me, but I used to get really pissed off with the ‘big matches’ where all these gits who never came near the place suddenly become super Poolies for a day.
First time was when we played Barnsley in the Cup for the chance to play Arsenal, 1970?….a night match and after bare bone crowds for some reason got annoyed at the place full….never got over it.

Most definitely you I'm afraid.

Without those bumper home gates, how else could Vince Barker have supplied the chairmen of every other league club with free potatoes for life...?

It most definitely is me

That's what has always pisssed me off Snowy. During the good times of IOR I worked with 3 lads who suddenly started to support Pools. It lasted about 2 seasons then hey presto gone for over 10 years. I watched the win over Torquay on t.v. but was gobsmacked to see 2 of them jumping about celebrating the win. I rang one just after the game ( not spoken to any for years) and he said they had queued up for 4 hours to get tickets then asked how come I had missed such a important game.

I had a job for many years where I had to work every Saturday. Later on I did five years of "Continental Shifts" that meant my ability to attend matches was very limited.

In recent years ill health has also been a very significant factor.

Does any of that negate my time as a Poolie "Die hard"...? Because of work and family commitments I missed a lot of the IOR years, something I am very jealous of when those who could be there tell me how wonderful those times were.

Every single one of us has our own version of what supporting Pools has meant to us over the years, and none of us have the right to consider ourselves as the "better" Pools fan because of that.

The late Pools' stalwart Derek Malcolm was only at the 1-1 draw at Peterborough because of me having a rare Saturday off and being able to charge him, Kingy and Smithy a fiver each for petrol.

It sickens me when some Poolies turn things into a pissing contest. I am from Hartlepool, and will support Pools as long as there is breath in my lungs to do so.

John Bird

Wow that surprised me Loyal

I’m in the same boat as you but that wasn’t the point I was making
You , like me have had occasions where you can’t attend every match, work, holidays, injuries, a host of valid reasons, but like me you’d have been there if you could, in fact I paid on the gate for me and my kids until about 2010, because
I couldn’t afford to pull the money out for a season ticket as my shifts made it financially pointless…..but that doesn’t make the 100%er who has had a season ticket since conception and never missed a match in their life any more a Poolie than me……my old man had emphysema and could’ve go anymore but his love of the club never wavered, so anyone lucky enough to be a 100%er is no better than anyone else, just lucky.

Gucky broke some ones leg in a pre season 'friendly' against Newcastle which Keegan, the then barcodes manager, commented extremely negatively about. Ian then went to Fulham and later Keegan turned up at Fulham as the manager - I don't think that helped.
Set him up for life that move though.

John Linacre had his moments, but the player I enjoyed watching in that team was Mark Lawrence. Missed his 4 goals in the away game down at Halifax unfortunately.

Him plus Keith Houchen of course -rarely remembered with any fondness by Poolies, but a great player all the same.

Gus Di Lella Argentine footballer who played for Pools in late 90s. Now that was a player with balls n fight but unpredictable at times.

Yup, just liked him for his attitude alone…always reminded me of Nick Cravat, Burt Lancaster’s sidekick in the ‘Crimson Pirate’.

how many of this current shambles of a squad haver the same "balls n fight" ?

Terry Bell from the 67/68 promotion team and from a later generation Phil Gilchrist - pure class.

Sold to Reading for 10 k…..I was gutted