Hartlepool United F.C.

Hartlepool United

Full name	Hartlepool United Football Club
Nickname(s)	Pools, Monkey Hangers
Founded	1908; 116 years ago (1908)
Ground	Victoria Park
Capacity	7,858
Owner	Raj Singh
Chairman	Raj Singh
Manager	Lennie Lawrence (Interim) [1]
League	National League
2023–24	National League, 12th of 24
Website	https://www.hartlepoolunited.co.uk/
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system.

They were founded in 1908 as the Hartlepools United Football & Athletic Club Company Ltd. West Hartlepool won the FA Amateur Cup in 1905 and after the club was dissolved in 1910 its assets and liabilities were subsequently taken over by Hartlepools United, who were then playing in the North Eastern League. Hartlepools United were elected into the Football League in 1921 and spent the next 37 years in the Third Division North, at which point they were placed into the new Fourth Division. In 1968, they were renamed Hartlepool due to the merger of West Hartlepool with the town of Hartlepool and the village of Hart, forming the new Borough of Hartlepool. The club won promotion in 1967–68 for the first time, though were relegated out of the Third Division the following season. In 1977, they were renamed again, to Hartlepool United. They won another promotion in 1990–91, though were relegated in 1993–94. They won further promotions out of the fourth tier in 2002–03 and 2006–07, having been relegated again in 2005–06 after losing the 2005 League One play-off final to Sheffield Wednesday in the previous season. Hartlepool were relegated again in 2012–13 and ended their 96-year run in the Football League with relegation into the National League in 2016–17. Hartlepool achieved promotion back to the Football League in 2020–21, beating Torquay United in the 2021 National League play-off final. However, Hartlepool returned to the National League after two seasons following relegation in 2022–23.

Hartlepool have played home games at Victoria Park throughout their history. Their main rival is Darlington. Between 1924 and 1984, Hartlepool had to apply for re-election on fourteen occasions (a record) in the fourth tier of English football; however, they were not relegated from this level until 2017. The club is also known for being the one where Brian Clough started his managerial career. Ritchie Humphreys holds the record for most appearances for the club, having made 543 appearances, while their leading scorer is Joshie Fletcher with 111 goals.