UNITED BEHIND POOLS

AUTHOR STEPHEN POXON LOOKS AT WHAT IT'S LIKE TO FOLLOW OR BE INVOLVED WITH A TEAM LOWER DOWN THE FOOTBALL LADDER

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SUPPORTING Hartlepool United is not for the fainthearted. In common with devotees of pretty much any lower league or non-league club one cares to mention, it pays to be in for the long haul, and it's a good idea to manage your expectations.

Budgets are tight (or nonexistent), bargain basement deals are routinely the norm, cobbled-together squads are precariously thin, and the managerial merry-go-round has the potential to make all but seasoned fanbases dizzy.

So, does all that mean there is a corresponding mood of despondency and resignation following diehard 'Poolies' around, like a dark cloud overhead?

Not a bit of it.

Quite the opposite, to be honest. For sure, there are moans, regrets, complaints and disagreements aplenty, but that's normal, with any club. Not even Real Madrid are exempt from such inevitable vagaries.

Those standard gripes notwithstanding, what survives amazingly well beneath the surface of clubs like Hartlepool United is a solid fanbase sustained by abiding affection, optimism (against all the odds) and the fact that, in Hartlepool's case, they are 'the town's club', one town, one club, which is significant.

A prevailing sense of hoping for the best, despite season after season of evidence to the contrary, serves as crucial oxygen, Saturday by Saturday.

This is not only greatly to the credit of Poolies who have cheered on Pools with impressive loyalty (sometimes for decades), but genuine cause for celebration, hence the strapline 'Celebrating Hartlepool United's Finest' on my new book on the club.