Extreme Football Tourism: ENGLAND: Hartlepools United FC (1908-1968) / West Hartlepool FC (1908-1910) / Hartlepool FC (1968-1977) / Hartlepool United FC (1977-) / Gateshead FC (2013)

Victoria Park, Hartlepool (Hartlepool United FC, formerly Hartlepools United FC / West Hartlepool FC / Hartlepool FC / Gateshead FC)

England, county: Durham

26 XII 2025 / Hartlepool United FC - Scunthorpe United FC 1-2 / National League (= ENG level 5)

Timeline

1881 / Foundation of a first football club in West Hartlepool, which is given the name West Hartlepool Amateur FC – mostly referred to simply as West Hartlepool FC, especially after 1900.
1883 / West Hartlepool Amateur FC becomes one of the founder members of the Durham Football Association.
1886 / The West Hartlepool Rugby Football Club (RFC) purchases a plot of land at Clarence Road in Hartlepool’s harbour for the development of a new rugby ground. The area had previously been in use as a limestone quarry in the ownership of the North-Eastern Railway Company. Upon its inauguration, the new rugby ground is named Victoria Ground in celebration of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.
1889 / West Hartlepool Amateur FC joins the newly formed Northern League.
1905 / Marking the major success in club history, West Hartlepool FC conquers the FA Amateur Cup, defeating Clapton FC in the final (3-2).
1908 / West Hartlepool RFC goes bankrupt, with the Victoria Ground being purchased by the newly founded Hartlepools United Football Athletic Club Company Ltd., a football team representing both the town of West Hartlepool and the original settlement of (Old) Hartlepool – hence the plural, Hartlepools – with the new entity being referred to mostly as Hartlepools United (FC). Initially, Hartlepools United FC shares the Victoria Ground with the amateurs of West Hartlepool FC. Hartlepools United FC, which joins the North-Eastern League, makes its debut at the Victoria Ground with an emphatic 6-0 win over Newcastle United FC on September 2nd, 1908.
1909 / Hartlepools United FC wins the Durham Challenge Cup for the first time, going on to retain the trophy in 1910.
1910 / West Hartlepool FC, groundsharers at the Victoria Ground since 1908, ceases its activities due to dwindling support following the foundation of Hartlepools United FC, as its remnants are absorbed into the new entity.
1913 / Hartlepools striker Joshie Fletcher bows out of the club after five seasons, in the course of which he scored 111 goals – a club record until the present day.
1916 / The Victoria Ground is bombed by a German Zeppelin, resulting in the main stand on the eastern touchline (Clarence Road) being reduced to rubble. A small, wooden stand is erected as a temporary measure.
1919 / As plans to claim compensation from the German government for the demolition of its ground come to naught, the ‘temporary’ wooden stand at Clarence Road remains in place – due to remain a feature at the ground until the mid-1980s.
1921 / Hartlepools United FC become founding members of Football League Division 3 North, destined to remain a regular feature at that level for more than thirty years to come.
1924 / Finishing in second-last place in Football League Division 3 North, Hartlepools United FC has to apply for the mandatory re-election in the league along with bottom club Barrow AFC, with both clubs retaining their spots unopposed. In the following sixty years, Hartlepool would go on to face mandatory re-election thirteen more times, a record among football league clubs.
1955 / Following successive wins over Chesterfield FC (1-0), Aldershot FC (4-0), and derby rivals Darlington FC (1-1, 2-2, 2-0), Hartlepools United FC reaches R4 of the FA Cup for the first time, with the club losing out to Nottingham Forest FC following a replay (1-1, 2-1 A.E.T.).
1957 / In the best season in club history, Hartlepools United FC finishes as runners-up in Division 3 North, 4 point behind champions Derby County FC. Also in 1957, the club sees a record attendance of 17,264 as Hartlepools take on Manchester United FC in the FA Cup. The Pools eventually lose 4-3 in what legendary Man United manager Matt Busby later described in his autobiography as “the most exciting match I've ever watched.”
1958 / Finishing in the bottom half of Football League Division 3 North, Hartlepools United FC is placed in the newly created Football League Division 4 for the 1958-59 season.
1964 / Ambrose Fogarty becomes the first-ever Pools’ player to win a cap, in this case for the Republic of Ireland. It was not Fogarty’s first international match, as he had already been called up for Eire several times before joining Hartlepools in 1963.
1965 / Hartlepools United FC signs former Middlesbrough FC and Sunderland AFC striker Brian Clough as their new coach in what is Clough’s first managerial job.
1966 / Nigel Clough gives 16-year-old Scottish midfielder John McGovern his first team debut at Hartlepools United FC. McGovern would go on to be part of Clough’s Nottingham Forest FC squad which won two European Cups.
1967 / After two years at Hartlepools United FC, Brian Clough leaves his post as manager to sign a deal with Derby County FC. Later on, he would also take charge at Brighton & Hove Albion FC and Nottingham Forest FC, famously leading the Nottingham club from the Second Division to the national title and two European Cup wins.
1968 / Finishing in third place in Football League Division 4, Hartlepools United FC wins promotion to Division 3 along with champions Luton Town FC as well as Barnsley FC and Crewe Alexandra FC. The successful coach is Angus McLean. In the summer of 1968, as West Hartlepool is officially merged into the original municipality of (Old) Hartlepool, Hartlepools United FC takes on the new name Hartlepool FC.
1969 / Coached by Angus McLean, Hartlepool FC finishes in third-last place in Football League Division 3, thus dropping back into Division 4 after just one season, along with Northampton Town FC, Crewe Alexandra FC, and bottom club Oldham Athletic FC.
1977 / Hartlepool FC changes its name to become Hartlepool United FC, the denomination retained until the present day. Also in 1977, 20-year-old Hartlepool defender Dave Wiggett is killed in a car crash.
1985 / The wooden stand at the Clarence Road side of the Victoria Ground, erected in 1916, is knocked down following a tightening of Football League regulations as a result of the tragic Bradford City AFC fire earlier in 1985. With no budget being available to replace it with a fully-fledged stand, the eastern touchline of the ground sees a number of portacabins being put in place, used as the club’s offices, dressing rooms for the players, as well as a small number of seats.
1986 / As Middlesbrough FC are temporarily locked out their Ayresome Park as the club faces liquidation at the start of the 1986-87 season, this club plays its first match of the season at the Victoria Ground.
1991 / Finishing in third place in Football League Division 4, Hartlepool United FC wins promotion to Division 3 (renamed Division 2 following the introduction of the FA Premiership in 1992) along with champions Darlington FC as well as Stockport County FC and Peterborough United FC. The successful coach is Alan Murray, who had taken over as a caretaker in the course of the season to replace Cyril Knowles. Knowles had had to give up his managerial duties in February 1991 due to brain cancer, with the former Middlesbrough FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC defender succumbing to the disease later that same year.
1994 / Finishing in second-last place in Football League Division 2 with coach John MacPhail, who had taken over from Viv Busby in the course of the season, Hartlepool United FC drops back into Division 3 after three years, along with Fulham FC, Exeter City FC, and bottom club Barnet FC.
1995 / In the summer of 1995, two new stands are inaugurated, with the Cyril Knowles Stand (1,599 covered seats & named after the manager who had succumbed to a terminal disease four years previously) replacing the temporary facilities which had been put in place after the demolition of the old main stand in 1985, while a Town End Terrace (covered terracing for 1,775 spectators) replaces an older terraces at the southern end of the ground. It is unclear in which years the other present stands, the Rink End (north end / 1,033 covered seats) and the West Stand, a combination of 1,617 covered seats with a terraced paddock (capacity 1,832), were constructed in their present form. All four stands combined bring total capacity of the ground up to 7,856.
1996 / Following the improvements to the ground of the past years, the Victoria Ground is officially renamed Victoria Park in the summer of 1996.
1998 / Hartlepool United FC signs 37-year-old striker Peter Beardsley, a former English international (59 caps, 1986-96) who had defended the colours of Carlisle United FC, Vancouver Whitecaps, Manchester United FC, Newcastle United FC, Liverpool FC, Everton FC, Bolton Wanderers FC, Manchester City FC, and Fulham FC earlier on in his career. Also in 1998, Hartlepool United FC is joined at Victoria Park by rugby club West Hartlepool RFC as groundsharers in a partnership which was to last several years, but in the end the rugby team only stayed at the ground for the duration of the 1998-99 season.
1999 / Following 22 league appearances for Hartlepool United FC, in which he scored only two goals, striker Peter Beardsley leaves the club to sign for Melbourne Knights FC in Australia, hanging up his boots for good later that year.
2000 / Finishing in seventh place in Football League Division 3, Hartlepool United FC qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in the semis by derby rivals Darlington FC (3-0 aggr.).
2001 / Finishing in fourth place in Football League Division 3, Hartlepool United FC qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in the semis by Blackpool FC (5-1 aggr.).
2002 / Finishing in seventh place in Football League Division 3, Hartlepool United FC qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in the semis by Cheltenham Town FC (2-2 aggr. & penalty shoot-out).
2003 / Finishing as runners-up in Football League Division 3, 2 points behind champions Rushden & Diamonds FC, Hartlepool United FC wins promotion to Division 2 along with the title winners as well as Wrexham AFC and play-off winners AFC Bournemouth. The successful coach is Mike Newell.
2004 / Finishing in sixth place in Football League Division 2, Hartlepool United FC qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club bows out in the semis against Bristol City FC (3-2 aggr.). Following the 2003-04 season, Football League Division 2 is renamed Division 1, as the ‘old’ Division 1 takes on the name Championship.
2005 / In a repeat of the excellent performance of the previous season, Hartlepool United FC finishes in sixth place in Football League Division 1. Qualifying for the promotion play-offs, the club survives the semis for the first time by knocking out Tranmere Rovers FC (2-2 aggr. & penalties), only to suffer defeat in the final against Sheffield Wednesday FC, played at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium (4-2).
2006 / Coached by Paul Stephenson, Hartlepool United FC finishes in 21st place in Football League Division 1, thus descending into Division 2 along with Milton Keynes Dons FC, Swindon Town FC, and bottom club Walsall FC.
2007 / Runners-up in Football League Division 2, 1 point behind champions Walsall FC, Hartlepool United FC wins promotion to Division 1 along with the title winners as well as Swindon Town FC and play-off winners Bristol Rovers FC. The successful coach is Danny Wilson.
2008 / In a remarkable FA Cup run, Hartlepool United FC manages to knock out Premier League sides West Bromwich Albion FC and Stoke City FC, eventually bowing out against West Ham United FC (0-2).
2013 / Finishing in second-last place in Football League Division 1 with coach John Hughes, Hartlepool United FC drops back into Division 2 after six years, along with Scunthorpe United FC, Bury FC, and bottom club Portsmouth FC. Also in 2013, utility player Ritchie Humphreys, who had joined Hartlepool from Cambridge United FC in 2001, plays the last of 488 official matches for the club – a record – as he signs a new contract deal with Chesterfield FC. Also in the second half of the 2012-13 season, Hartlepool United FC are joined by Gateshead FC as groundsharers due to drainage problems at the International Stadium in Gateshead proper.
2016 / Victoria Park is officially given the new name Northern Gas and Power Stadium in a sponsorship deal which lasts for the 2016-17 season. In the following years, more sponsorship deals and ephemeral sponsor names are given to the ground.
2017 / Coached by Matthew Bates – the fourth manager in the course of the season, following in the unsuccessful footsteps of Craig Hignett, Sam Collins, and Dave Jones – Hartlepool United FC finishes in second-last place in Football League Division 2, thus suffering relegation from the national divisions after 97 (!) years, along with bottom club Leyton Orient FC, descending into the National League (level 5) for the first time in club history. That same year, following three winding-up petitions, the heavily indebted club is taken over by a consortium called the Hartlepool United FC Holding Ltd.
2018 / Following near-relegation from the National League, Hartlepool United FC is taken over by businessman Raj Singh in the summer of 2018 – narrowly in time to avoid liquidation. In November 2018, he West Stand of Victoria Park is renamed Neale Cooper Stand in honour of a former Pool’s player and manager who passed away earlier that same year at the age of 54.
2021 / Finishing in fourth place in the National League, Hartlepool United qualifies for the promotion play-offs, in which the club edges past Stockport County FC in the semis (0-1) to qualify for the final, to be played at Ashton Gate in Bristol. In a nail-biting encounter, the club just has the edge over Torquay United (1-1 A.E.T. & penalty shoot-out), thus winning promotion to Football League Division 2 along with champions Sutton United FC. The successful manager is Dave Challinor.
2023 / Finishing in second-last place in Football League Division 2 with manager John Askey, who had taken over from former England international Keith Curle in the course of the season, Hartlepool United FC drops back into the National League after two years, along with bottom club Rochdale AFC.