By Eggy_Poolie
July 13 2006

After the promotion in 2003 Hartlepool enjoyed 2 years of success in Division 2/League 1. Now we are back in the bottom flight of football lets see what has changed.

2003 was the year that we finally reached the promise land of Division 2. After being top of league all season we blew it at the last hurdle and finished runners up to Rushden and Diamonds. The promotion saw the end of 3 years of playoff heartbreak: first to Darlington in 2000, then to Blackpool in 2001 and the heartbreaking penalty shoot-out against Cheltenham in 2002.

After promotion the Pools faithful had good right to believe we had left Division 3 behind for good. Under the managment of Neale Cooper, Pools got off to a flying start in Division 2 and, after beating all expectation, we finished the season in the play offs losing to Brisol 3-2 on aggregate. 

The 03/04 campaign in division 3 saw Doncaster Rovers achieve a second successive promotion as champions to League 1. In second place came Hull City followed by Torquay United who only achieved automatic promotion due to goal difference. The playoffs were won by Huddersfield - who managed to beat Mansfield 4-1 on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes of football.

This season also saw the opening of the brand new Reynolds Arena. The Stadium built by the Darlington chairman was to become the biggest in Division 3 holding over 25 000 supporters. However the first game drew a record crowd of 17 000 and the next game a crowd of 11 000. After that the attendances fell dramatically and the lowest gate was 3 500. 

This season also saw the relegation of Carlisle and York. Carlisle had been fighting relegation when Pools were at the bottom of Division 3 and it was inevitable that they would soon be relegated - however the relegation was a blessing in disguise as it brought about big changes to the Cumbrians which eventually led to 2 successive Championship winning seasons.

The biggest change to the football league in 2004 was the change of Sponsorship. The league changed from the Nationwide Football league to the Coca Cola football league and the former Division 1 became the Coca Cola Championship. Division 2 became League 1 and Division 3 became League 2.  

The 2004/05 season was to be the best in the clubs history. The confidence in the club was high after previous play off performance and the club where going from strength to strength. Once again after a fantastic season Pools reached the League One playoffs playing Tranmere in the semi-finals. For the first time in Pools history they won a playoff game beating the Wirral side 2-0 at Victoria Park. But the story hadnt finished, Tranmere beat Hartlepool 2-0 at Prenton Park and Hartlepool. After a nervous penalty shootout Hartlepool won 6-5 on penalties booking their place at Cardiff against Sheffield Wednesday. The game at Cardiff finished 4-2 to Sheffield thanks to a dodgy refereeing decision 8 minutes from time making it 2-2 and sending Chris Westwood off.

The League 2 season was also full of action with the title race, the automatic promotion push and the playoff race all going down to the final game. In the end Yeovil won the title with 83 points, closely followed by Scunthorpe and Swansea on 80. Southen missed out on automatic promotion by 2 points but they went up through the playoffs beating Lincoln 2-0 at Cardiff. The 04/05 season also saw Kiddiminster and Cambridge leave the football league after they were relegated.

The 05/06 season started full of promise for Hartlepool. Fan favourite Martin Scott was appointed manager. Former Premiership players were signed like Michael Proctor and Darren Williams. Lee Bullock and Chris Llewellyn were also added to the side. The only first team players to leave us that season were Chris Westwood and Jack Ross (who had been gone for 4 months at that point).

Dispite all the optimism and the hopes of winning the league Pools ended up being relegated. The incompitence of Martin Scott and Steve Agnew were clear for everyone to see. They made bad team selections, they had poor tactics and by Christmas the chants of 'Scotty out' bellowed round the terraces. The season was a farce, we lost 2-1 to Tamworth in the cup, we were humiliated by the likes of Yeovil who outplayed us and the last straw came when Blackpool beat us 3-0 at the Vic. There was a reported bust up in the changing room afterwards between Martin Scott and a few of the players and Martin Scott was soon sacked. However it was to little to late Hartlepool were officially relegated on the last day of the season following a 1-1 draw with Port Vale.

The League 2 season was to be dominated by the most unexpected of teams. Carlisle had won the Conference title and went on to win the League 2 title with 86 points and top scorer Michael Bridges scoring 15 goals. Northampton and Leyton Orient were also promoted with 83 and 81 points. The playoffs were won by 5th place Cheltenham who beat 4th place Grimsby 1-0 at Cardiff.

The relegation fight in League 2 was almost as tight as that in League with 9 teams still in with a chance of relegation with 4 games left. In the end Oxford and Rushden were relegated. Rushden had pipped Hartlepool to the Division 3 title only 3 seasons before and they were now being relegated to the Nationwide Conference.

This upcoming season will see the return of Accrington Stanley (who are they?) to the football league along with Hereford. The bookies favourtes for the season include Swindon - Hartlepool - MK Dons and Darlington. It promises to be a great year.