Jeff STELLING
SOCCER SATURDAY ANCHORMAN & HARTLEPOOL HONORARY PRESIDENT
IF MY beloved Hartlepool United make it back into the Football League over the next month, I'll be the happiest man in the town – and the UK!
Okay, our chance of winning the National League – and claiming automatic promotion – has gone, but the play-offs give us a second bite of the cherry.
That's not to be sniffed at when you consider that a couple of years ago, after another lower half finish, I feared we might not get back into the EFL in my lifetime!
There is real strength in the National League and it's so harsh that only one team goes up automatically and one more via the play-offs.
It would mean so much to everyone if we could win promotion – the club is the heartbeat of the town. We put season tickets on sale recently, without even knowing what division we'd be in, and sold 1,800 in the first week! That shows you how important the club is to the town.
This season has been difficult without the presence of our supporters and I know they'll be eagerly looking forward to attending next Saturday's final home game of the season against Weymouth – and I hope they're in good voice to show manager Dave Challinor how much we love him.
We've improved massively this season and it's huge credit to the manager. He deserves all the accolades, along with the chairman (Raj Singh) who was so eager to appoint him. The day Fylde sacked Dave, Raj was on the phone to him.
Dave was contemplating taking a rest, but Raj was having none of it and got his man. Dave has been brilliant with Fylde and us, and it's no wonder he's a sought-after manager.
Cold sweat
Every time the Tranmere job – and others – come up, I come out in a cold sweat! I can see the attractions for Dave in the Tranmere job – he's an ex-player, it's on his doorstep and they have fantastic facilities.
However, they have gone through managers pretty quickly recently, while Dave knows he's got security and absolute support at Hartlepool. He can see the benefits of his work and we can see what he's building.
I hope he will want to carry on that work and getting into the Football League would be a massive plus.
The fans will be back for the Weymouth game and I hope they show him just what high esteem we hold him in.
■ WE'VE had some stand-out performers this season – and striker Rhys Oates has definitely been one of them.
He had a spell in the League with Morecambe and came back to us bigger, stronger and quicker. He's had a fantastic season – 14 goals and one clean sheet (when he replaced injured keeper Ben Killip in the draw at Boreham Wood) proves it! His enthusiasm and desire to work is second to none.
However, it has been a real team effort this season. For example, Rhys' strike partner Luke Armstrong has made a massive difference on loan from Salford, I believe Nicky Featherstone is the best midfielder in the National League and Gary Liddle has been immense at the back.
■ WE VISIT league leaders Sutton United this afternoon and you have to give them massive credit for the season they've had.
They are up against a lot of big-hitters, former Football League clubs and I think everybody thought they would fall away at some stage. Indeed, I heard people saying ‘here we go, the bubble has burst' when they had some iffy results in March and April.
But they've bounced back and done brilliantly. I think they will win the league now – unless we beat them and open the door for Torquay.
Sutton are at the top on merit. We beat them 1-0 at our place in an incredibly tight game and I expect something similar today.
We've still got plenty to play for ourselves. Realistically, we're in a battle with Stockport for third place and that's big deal. If you finish third, you are one home game away from a play-off final.
However, if we finish fourth and have an extra game, it's important not to see it as failure. Talking to Dave Challinor, he said, and I concur, that if someone had said at the start of the season that you'd have three games to regain your place in the Football League, you'd have taken it. It's all to play for.
■I MUST be a glutton for punishment as I'm getting my walking boots on again – and I'd love you to join me.
It's a couple of years since I did my last March for Men in aid of Prostate Cancer UK. This time I'll be taking on four walking marathons in four regions – I'll be in the North-East (Aug 30), Yorkshire (Aug 31), Merseyside (Sep 1) and London (Sep 4).
It's been brilliant to raise more than £1m for crucial research to beat prostate cancer with my three previous walks and I'm hoping 400 football fans will join me this time around.
More than 1,200 football fans and supporters have joined me on my previous walks. Among them was Yorkshireman Lloyd Pinder, who joined me on my first walk in 2016 and was there to meet me at the finish line at Tottenham in 2019, alongside former Liverpool, Tottenham and England goalkeeper Ray Clemence.
Those two great friends are both sadly no longer with us, both victims of prostate cancer.
Last year, we lost Ray, a terrific goalkeeper and human being. My mate, Lloyd, succumbed to the disease a few months earlier. I met him on the second day of my very first march for Prostate Cancer UK up in Yorkshire.
This highlights once more what an indiscriminate disease this is, and it's for men like Lloyd and Ray, their families and everyone affected by prostate cancer that we march again.
● Full details of the route will follow at the start of June and you can register an interest to take part now at prostate canceruk.org/jeffsmarch
REGISTERED COMPANY 02653887
